Press Releases Articles

NOAA is Taking Steps to Protect Sea Turtles in the Gulf

July 14, 2011 - With additional areas in the Gulf opening to shrimping on Friday, NOAA is continuing to help fishermen comply with Turtle Excluder Device (TED) regulations designed to prevent turtles from being caught in shrimp trawl nets.

RFA Members Ramp Up for Tournament Season

The Mid Atlantic summer season has really begun to heat up - in more ways than one - as hardcore recreational anglers are gearing up for another tournament season in support of the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA).

Are Preservation Groups Attacking Your Right to Fish?

For more than a decade, the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) has been extremely vocal about the infusion of preservationist rhetoric and funding coming into the world of fisheries management. RFA Executive Director Jim Donofrio lobbied extensively from 2004 to 2006 to defend the recreational fishing community against an onslaught of anti-fishing agenda, which began with the heavy-handed implementation of no take marine reserves off the California coast, continuing through the inclusion of ultra-restrictive measures included in the 2006 federal reauthorization of the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSRA).

Maine Launches Saltwater Registry

This past Friday, Maine Governor Paul LePage signed into law LD 210, "An Act Regarding the Saltwater Recreational Fishing Registry," which simplifies the requirements for both resident and non-resident anglers who wish to fish in the state's coastal waters. The new registry, effective immediately, replaces Maine's fee-based license program that was implemented this past January 1st, and meets the standards established by the federal government to exempt anglers from the federal registry.

NOAA Announces Aquaculture Initiative to Enable Domestic Seafood Production and Create Jobs in Coastal Communities

NOAA’s administrator today will announce a new aquaculture initiative to help meet our country’s growing demand for seafood, while creating jobs and restoring healthy ecosystems.

NY Looks to Cut Blackfish Season in Half

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is calling for a 53% reduction in the coastwide harvest of blackfish effective January 1, 2012, a measure which has the potential of creating economic disaster along the Atlantic Coast, particularly in New York.

Oil Spill In Yellowstone River

At approximately 11:00 PM on Friday, July 1 a break occurred in a 12-inch pipeline owned by ExxonMobil that resulted in a spill of crude oil into the Yellowstone River approximately 20 miles upstream of Billings, Montana. According to the company’s estimates, 1,000 barrels of oil entered the river, which is in flood stage, before the pipeline was cut off.

Kansas Man Nets 466-Pound Halibut in Southeast Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Kent Carmichael of Kansas has made fishing trips to Alaska with his dad and his brother for more than a decade before this summer but had yet to catch the big one.

NOAA, BOEMRE and Fish and Wildlife Service Advance Nation’s Largest Survey of Marine Protected Species

July 5, 2011- The nation’s largest survey of protected marine species is now underway for its second year along the East Coast, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced today.

Florida Joins Lapsed Boater Recruitment Effort to Increase Boat Registration Renewals

ALEXANDRIA, VA (July 1, 2011) – The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) today announced that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), with assistance from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, is participating in its Lapsed Boat Registration Pilot Program aimed at increasing boat registration renewals among lapsed boaters. Florida joins Oregon and Ohio as the third state to implement the direct mail pilot effort developed by RBFF in partnership with the Oregon State Marine Board (OSMB) and the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW).