Thousands of recreational anglers, charterboat operators and commercial fishermen from every coastal state descended on Washington at a rally to support proposed legislation that would reform provisions contained in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). Captains Mike Rowell and Bobbi Walker and Ken Cooper (Orange Beach Community website) from Orange Beach were among those who participated in the march at the Capitol Building.
Called the Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act of 2009, House Bill H.R.1584 and Senate Bill S 1255 would allow fisherman to retain reasonable access to healthy fisheries as fish stocks continue to rebuild and meet conservation objectives. It also calls for the assessment of the relationship between predator and prey and other environmental and ecological changes to the marine conditions in the stock assessment in addition to the impact of commercial and recreational fishing. The bills’ purpose is to end regulations based on flawed science using insufficient data with very large margins of error.
In addition to these two bills, there is a proposed House Bill, H.R.3307, which specifically addresses the Red Snapper Fishery in the South Atlantic (including the Gulf of Mexico). The bill would require the Secretary of Commerce to gather additional information on the health of the red snapper stock before enacting complete closures and that previous interim rules will have no force or effect.
Read the complete story at The Orange Beach Community Website.