The sportfishing community is hopeful that a Trump administration will bring positive policies for the recreation.
Trump’s eldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr., are anglers and hunters.
That’s good news for sport fishermen and their families, Center for Sportfishing Policy president Jeff Angers wrote in Sport Fishing magazine.
“The economic impact of America’s 11 million saltwater recreational anglers should make any president proud,” Angers wrote. “Recreational anglers make a combined economic contribution of $70 billion annually and support more than 450,000 American jobs. Why would an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce — focused on jobs and growth — not pay more attention to the recreational fishing sector, which creates the most jobs with the lightest footprint?”
The recreation was “an afterthought” to the Obama administration, Angers wrote.
Although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration created recreational fisheries policies under Obama, “the rubber hasn’t met the road,” the publication said.
“The folks who understand recreational fishing the most are state fisheries managers from the areas of the country with significant recreational and commercial components, such as the Southeast,” Angers wrote.
“In those areas, the state agencies have found a way to balance the interests of both sectors. They strive to manage for a high level of access for the public and for the health of the natural resources they steward. And they do that job extraordinarily well. Those coastal states have a strong familiarity with the federal fisheries management system and can bring proven ideas from their states to solve federal problems. The knowledge they would bring to Washington is backed by the deep respect of anglers from coast to coast.”
