The Dizzying Spin of the National Park Service in Banning Fishing
Editor’s Note: The National Park Service has been increasingly aggressive nationwide at shutting anglers out of traditional fishing areas in the name of conservation, with Biscayne N.P. one of the most recent targets. Here’s a well-worded response, from Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy Director of the American Sportfishing Association.
Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy Director
American Sportfishing Association
from The Fishing Wire
A recent press release from Biscayne National Park that ran in the Friday, July 10 edition of the Fishing Wire highlights the creative spin that the National Park Service is using to support its railroading of the recreational fishing community in implementing a 10,000 acre no-fishing zone in the park.
The National Park Service claims that its final General Management Plan was, “crafted with extensive involvement from the public and local, state, and federal agencies.” In reality, the marine reserve concept was initiated by the previous park superintendent and forced through the plan development process by Park Service staff despite consistent objections from the Park’s own fisheries working group, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the recreational fishing and boating community.
Backing the Park Service throughout this process has been the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), an environmental organization whose seemingly sole purpose is to defend the National Park Service. The Park Service is citing the majority of the 43,000 public comments it received in support of the marine reserve as justification for its decision. Most of these comments were provided by form letters initiated by NPCA and its national database. The Park Service seems to be giving greater weight to these form letters than input from local users of the resource and from the state fisheries agency that shares management responsibility with the Park Service.
Florida has one of the nation’s premier fisheries management agencies in the FWC, as evidenced by the tremendous fishing opportunities it helps to provide throughout the state. The FWC knows how to balance public access with resource sustainability. Overfishing simply doesn’t occur in fisheries managed by the state.
Nevertheless, the Park Service believes it knows best and completely disregarded the objections to the marine reserve by the state. The FWC’s position is that the marine reserve is excessively restrictive, and that other, less restrictive management options could achieve resource management goals while allowing for continued public access.
If the marine reserve was so resoundingly supported by the public and such an obviously positive approach, as the Park Service is now spinning it, one has to wonder why, back in 2012, the Park Service stepped back from it and entered into negotiations with the FWC on other alternatives. These alternatives, which included options like fishing permits or seasonal closures, would have required more active and intensive management, but still would have achieved resource goals while allowing for continued public access. In the end, the Park Service decided take its ball and go home, and instead went with the easier, lazier approach in which it simply gets to tell the public, “you can’t fish here.”
Ultimately, this closure drives home the point that recreational fishing is under attack from organizations and agencies that don’t understand or appreciate the economic, social and conservation benefits that recreational fishing provides to the nation. There were many individuals and organizations who stepped up in a big way to fight back against the Biscayne marine reserve, but clearly it wasn’t enough to overcome the Park Service’s predestined decision. Hopefully Florida’s Congressional delegation will take action to stop this and similar unwarranted closures from being implemented without state approval. But nevertheless, the recreational fishing community needs to be better positioned to engage in these issues going forward.
Through our new Keep Florida Fishing initiative, the American Sportfishing Association is working to unite Florida’s recreational fishing community to ensure that these types of unwarranted closures don’t happen again in the state. There are 5 million saltwater anglers in Florida, and thousands of recreational fishing-dependent businesses. If we can come together and speak loudly with one voice, even the Park Service can’t ignore us.