Challenge:

Our ocean and coastal resources are threatened by a growing number of proposed activities and pressures ranging from energy development to habitat loss to commercial and recreational fishing pressure. The TRCP strives to balance the multiple and competing uses while conserving the vital resources found within our oceans.

Strategy:

The TRCP engages in strategic projects that address key issues and injects the voice of the recreational angling community into the policy process. We recognize the importance of thoughtful discussion of the policy issues affecting saltwater sportsmen and educating others about the great recreational and economic benefits provided by our marine resources. In this light, we have been successful in bringing our partners together to provide the sportsman’s perspective on marine fisheries issues.

In 2013, TRCP will again convene a blue ribbon panel of marine scientists and fisheries professionals to discuss the most pressing sportsmen-related fisheries management issues as Congress works toward the reauthorization of the Magnusson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The panel’s findings will be released in a report in early 2014 and will help guide fisheries management decisions made at the highest levels.

Throughout 2013, TRCP will again be working closely with the American Sportfishing Association, the Center for Coastal Conservation and the Coastal Conservation Association to convene workshops in all five Gulf of Mexico states to discuss priority projects that will improve recreational fishing habitat and access in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. As habitat and economic restoration dollars from spill settlements begin making their way to the Gulf, TRCP and its partners are working to ensure the needs of the region’s economically and culturally-vital recreational fishing community are fairly addressed. A report detailing project recommendations for Gulf-wide and state marine fishery improvements will be developed based on the conclusions reached in these workshops.

During the spring of 2011, the TRCP worked with these same partners and other groups and individuals to organize a series of workshops along the Gulf coast to gather input from recreational fishermen and businesses affected by the spill. That input became the basis for the report: Gulf Spill Recreational Fishing Response Group: Recommendations for Resource Recovery. The recommendations outline the broad consensus priorities that participants believe should be made to restore the quantity and quality of recreational fishing opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico.

TRCP will convene its third-annual Saltwater Media Summit in October 2013, this time in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. Considered by many the “Sportfishing Capitol of the World,” Islamorada will provide the perfect setting to bring together national and international outdoor writers, policy makers, fisheries managers, business leaders and scientists to discuss the state of marine recreational fishing and its future.

Finally, for the last two years, the TRCP has brought together a group of recreational fishing, environmental and conservation groups to help guide public policy surrounding saltwater angling and marine fisheries conservation. Known as the Fish Collaborative, the group is responsible for developing common-sense policy solutions to issues facing marine recreational fishing.

Action:

The TRCP continues to provide a voice for the saltwater recreational angling community in policy efforts and decision making in Washington, D.C. We joined a chorus of those supporting restoration efforts along the Gulf coast for passage in Congress of the RESTORE Act. Inserted as provision of the federal transportation bill, the RESTORE Act successfully survived both the House and Senate debate thanks to the hard work of many sportsmen and conservation groups’ efforts. The RESTORE Act was signed into law in July 2012, and will now direct 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties that will be assessed to BP directly to where it is needed most: the five Gulf states that were impacted by the spill.

The TRCP has also followed the federal damage assessment process in the Gulf and sought to inject the priorities from our 2011 report into the decision making. This will continue with our five Gulf workshops convened in 2013.

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