Two years after the United We Fish’ rally in Washington, US fishermen will gather again on 21 March in a demonstration supporting the amendment of the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act.
Signed into law in 1976, in recent years the Act has been transformed from its original intent, to conserve the USA’s fish and support the nation’s fishermen, into what the rally organisers have described as a weapon employed by a handful of megafoundations and the anti-fishing ENGOs they support to drive fishermen off the water.
The 2010 rally saw 5,000 recreational, commercial and party/charter vessel owners and associated businesses from all over the country gather in Washington, and this year the organisers hope for at least that many to attend.
The rally is being billed as Keep Fishermen Fishing’, and once again will unite the commercial and recreational sectors under one common message: fix Magnuson now.
The initial Washington rally was a monumental success that helped put the plight of America’s coastal fisherman and those in related businesses in the public eye. However, organisers say that a continuous stream of regulatory requirements are leading to unnecessary and unacceptable restrictions in demonstrably sustainable fisheries.
Rally organisers are asking legislators for help to amend the law to provide a better balance of marine conservation and coastal commerce, as it was originally intended to do.
Those who didn’t attend or perhaps chose not to support the original rally are mostly unaware of the strides we’ve taken since 2010, said Jim Donofrio, executive director of the Recreational Fishing Alliance and one of the rally organisers. With the support of the two dozen members of Congress who addressed us at Upper Senate Park [in 2010], leaders from both sides of the aisle have pushed to make Magnuson reform a Congressional priority. As a result, the House Natural Resources Committee is now reviewing eight different pieces of fisheries reform legislation.
Mercator Media Ltd 2012