3 minute read
Exec. Director's Report: Endorsement for President
Executive Director's Report
by Jim Donofrio
Advertisement
RFA Endorses Trump for President
The Recreational Fishing Alliance is proud to endorse President Donald J. Trump for reelection to a second term as president of the United States. This is a bold statement made during one of the most divisive periods in American history and a contentious election campaign between two candidates with very different backgrounds and visions for our country. Yet it is a wellreasoned position for us to take. Let me explain. At the RFA, we understand what a Biden/ Harris administration would do to fisheries access and the damage it will potentially cause to the recreational fishing and marine industries that depend on angler access to sustainable fish stocks. Actions taken earlier in Joe Biden’s political career, and most recently as Vice President in the Obama Administration, paint a clear picture of what to expect under his presidency. More regulation, more waters closed to recreational fishing and an open-door policy toward the radical environmentalists.
It wasn’t that long ago, when Bill Clinton was president, that his Democratic administration was very easy for representatives of the recreational fishermen to work with. That openness allowed us to get a lot done, but that was at a time before fisheries management was hijacked by the extreme environmental movement lead by a handful of very powerful NGO’s that spent millions of dollars to infiltrate and influence NOAA Fisheries and federal agencies like the Department of Commerce. After Clinton’s two terms a whole new mindset began to invade the NOAA Fisheries and subsequently the National Marine Fisheries Service. It became apparent that there was a growing number of people placed in administrative positions in these organizations that were pushing policy objectives taken right out of the PEW, EDF and NRDC playbook. Keep in mind that much of this takeover was accomplished during the Republican administration of George W. Bush. It became obvious that people in positions to influence agency policy and actions at NOAA/NMFS were always turning to what they called a “Precautionary Approach” to management, building layer upon layer of hurdles to overcome that negatively impacted recreational fishing access. These people were quite comfortable using what later was found to be flawed science and faulty data to push it through some of the most egregious management decisions in the drafting of fisheries management plans, a good deal of which did little to rebuild fish stocks, but hurt the two primary user groups, commercial and recreational fishermen.
Some of those same decision-makers still reside within NOAA/NMFS, and President Trump is slowly replacing them with people who will follow the real science where it
leads and not support regulation for regulation’s sake. Hopefully, during a second term, the swamp of enviro acolytes can be further cleaned out.
The RFA stands firm in its conviction that the management process requires stronger and more accurate science and honest data to combine recreational access to sustainable fisheries while continuing to rebuild our marine resources to even greater levels of abundance. It goes without saying that our sector can only benefit from such an approach in the future.
The RFA is hopeful that after November 3, 2020 we will be able to continue our discussions with the President and the new policy people he puts in place on such important
subjects as fixing the systemic problems negatively impacting the way NOAA/NFMS manages recreational fishing in the future. The RFA has maintained its non-partisanship over the years and anyone who follows the work we do knows that we work closely with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and support the election campaigns of those who, through their willingness to work with us, and their efforts on behalf of recreational marine anglers and the industry, have earned that support. As a political action organization, we make our decisions on who to support and endorse on that basis only. After serious review, these are the reasons we feel President Trump has earned our endorsement.