NOAA To Create Saltwater Angler Registry In 2010

NOAA’s Fisheries Service released its final rule today to create a national saltwater angler registry of all marine recreational fishermen to help the nation better protect our shared marine resources. A requirement to establish a registry was included in a statute approved by Congress in 2007.

“Better national surveys of the more than 15 million saltwater anglers will help us demonstrate the important contributions of recreational anglers to both local economies and to the nation’s,” said Jim Balsiger, NOAA acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. "The registry will help us gather comprehensive data to ensure sustainable fisheries built on the best available science."

The improved quality of recreational fishing data achieved through a national saltwater angler registry will help demonstrate the economic value of saltwater recreational fishing, and will provide a more complete picture of how recreational fishing is affecting fish stocks. This kind of information is essential to NOAA’s goal to end overfishing as required under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. All recreational anglers who fish in federal waters will be required to participate, with some exemptions for those already registered in their states.

The registry is the product of a major recommendation to NOAA in a 2006 independent scientific review by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. The NRC found that NOAA needed a comprehensive list of everyone who fishes recreationally in marine waters to improve surveys of saltwater anglers used to help manage and rebuild fish stocks. The NRC recommendation became law in 2007 with the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary federal law that enables NOAA to manage ocean fish stocks.