Time is Running Out: Support ASA’s Congressional Efforts Today

Use your voice and support ASA’s advocacy.

While August was a busy time for fishing across the country, the opposite was true on Capitol Hill. Congress has been in recess since late July, with Senators and Representatives back in their home states meeting with constituents, campaigning and holding town hall meetings. During this time, ASA has been active prepping our advocacy work for the rest of the year.

Now that Congress is back, our Government Affairs team is using the last few months of the year to encourage policymakers to support several key issues that will promote the health of this industry.

Pressing Fisheries Bills Need YOUR Help

As members of the sportfishing community, we need your help engaging with Congress toward smart policies that advance our sport.

To make it easy for you to get involved, ASA launched a toolkit series that gives you the essentials for engaging decision-makers and garnering their support for critical fisheries policy. Take advantage of these new platforms and demonstrate to policymakers how important these issues are to our industry. Topics Include:

• Push back against NOAA Fisheries’ proposed vessel speed rule. The rule was designed to protect the North Atlantic right whale. It does not do this and instead makes offshore fishing excursions next to impossible. We need you to use this toolkit to convince your members of Congress to support legislation that prevents NOAA from implementing this measure.
• Ensure anglers have the right to use traditional fishing tackle. The USFWS seeks to limit the use of traditional tackle on several wildlife refuges despite a lack of evidence that they are harmful to wildlife. This toolkit helps you contact Congress in support of legislation that curbs the USFWS’ ability to fully implement this rule.
• Support the Youth Coastal Fishing Program Act. This bipartisan legislation creates a NOAA grant program to take children fishing in coastal and Great Lakes waters. Taking kids fishing at an early age will create a lifelong love of the sport that they will carry with them through adulthood.
• Pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. Legislation in the U.S. Senate provides $1.4 billion for at-risk species. If enacted, this would be the most consequential wildlife law since the Endangered Species Act and grow fish populations for years to come.
• Limit shark depredation. Shark encounters are a natural part of fishing, but they are unfortunately rising. This new House bill coordinates shark solutions among the various federal fishery managers.
• Pass the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act. This Senate bill offers dozens of provisions dedicated to expanding access to public lands. Easing access has been a goal of ASA since our founding, and we need our supporters’ assistance in getting this over the finish line.

In addition to our toolkit priorities, there are still several other ways to advance our priorities this year.

Spending Bills Offer Some Solutions

Every year, Congress appropriates money to fund the federal government through the next fiscal year. There are twelve appropriations bills relating to government funding and within them are several unique benefits to sportfishing. We hope to see the appropriations bills include the following:

• The House and Senate Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Appropriations bills include funds for essential technology to track North Atlantic right whales. This could mitigate the implementation of NOAA’s onerous vessel speed restrictions off the Atlantic coast as mentioned above.

• The House Interior appropriations bill includes language prohibiting the EPA from using funds to ban traditional fishing tackle under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This falls in line with ASA’s goal of preserving traditional tackle use.

• The House Interior appropriations bill funds the National Fish Habitat Partnership. ASA is an advocate for this national program that supports fish habitat restoration projects, and we look forward to supporting it in the upcoming fiscal year.

Farm Bill: Not Just for Farmers 

One additional effort ASA is undertaking to advance our policies is supporting the passage of a Farm Bill—a five year authorization bill. The last one is due to expire, and ASA is weighing in on a number of fisheries programs included in this year’s bill.

In February we published a blog on how the Farm Bill provides important funding for programs that advance fisheries. To recap, the Farm Bill houses several programs that will expand access to water and further conservation efforts, including:

• The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). EQIP provides payments to farmers that voluntarily purchase, grow and upkeep vegetation that keeps soil and sedimentation in place. This limits erosion and pollution that impacts fish populations.

• The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP pays landowners in exchange for an acreage of their farms to be used for conservation purposes.

• The Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP). VPA-HIP incentivizes landowners to open their lands to fishing and other forms of outdoor recreation.

We expect debate on the Farm Bill to ramp up shortly and as always, your support and outreach to your Representatives is greatly appreciated.

Join Us in Advancing Smart Fish Policies! 

As the sportfishing community’s thought leaders in the nation’s capital, we are dedicated to supporting the interests of our industry as we make the final push this fall to get these measures over the finish line.  Your support is critical. In addition to our toolkits, please keep up with ASA’s advocacy arm, Keep America Fishing. Count on us to keep you informed and make your voice heard. Let’s work together to make smart fishing policies a priority this Congress!