Between now and the end of the year, recreational anglers who fish in the salt have a chance to influence the management practices employed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as it works to update the National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy.
Recreational anglers need to take the time to reach out during this process, largely because it appears that NOAA and its fisheries biologists are genuinely interested in what we have to say. NOAA went so far as to send a high-level delegation to the American Fly Fishing Trade Association dealer summit in South Carolina in October to discuss oceanic recreational fisheries directly with anglers, and the agency conducted several outreach events over the summer and through the fall in hopes of getting recreational anglers to engage. The federal agency in charge of managing oceanic recreational fishing clearly has its ears on — it wants to hear from recreational anglers about fisheries management for everything from striped bass to billfish and everything in between.
But time is short. The comment period ends Dec. 31.
