I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2890

To protect the public’s ability to fish for sport, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2003

Mr. SAXTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To protect the public’s ability to fish for sport, and for 

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Freedom to Fish Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 The Congress makes the following findings: 

7 (1) Recreational fishing is traditionally one of 

8 the most popular outdoor sports with more than 

9 50,000,000 participants of all ages, in all regions of 

10 the country. 
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1 (2) Recreational fishing makes a substantial 

2 contribution to the local, State, and national econo3 mies. According to the most recent economic figures, 

4 recreational fishing infuses $116,000,000,000 annu5 ally into the national economy. Nationally, over 

6 1,200,000 jobs are related to recreational fishing; 

7 this represents approximately 1 percent of the na8 tion’s entire civilian work force. For those commu9 nities and small businesses that rely on seasonal 

10 tourism, the expenditures of recreational anglers re11 sult in substantial benefits to the local economies. 

12 (3) Recreational anglers have long dem13 onstrated a conservation ethic through their support 

14 of reasonable fisheries management laws and regula15 tions including minimum size requirements, posses16 sion limits, and seasonal closures, as well as through 

17 their voluntary practice of catch-and-release fishing 

18 when appropriate. 

19 (4) In addition to payment of Federal excise 

20 taxes on fishing equipment, motorboats, and fuel, as 

21 well as license fees, recreational anglers contribute 

22 over $500,000,000 annually to State fisheries con23 servation management programs and projects. 

24 (5) It is a long standing policy of the Federal 

25 Government to allow public access to public lands 
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1 and waters for recreational purposes consistent with 

2 sound conservation. This policy is reflected in the 

3 National Forest Management Act of 1976, the Na4 tional Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 

5 1966, the Wilderness Act, the Wild and Scenic Riv6 ers Act, and the National Parks and Recreation Act 

7 of 1978. 

8 (6) In most instances, recreational fishery re9 sources can be maintained through a variety of man10 agement measures including minimum size require11 ments, possession limits, and seasonal closures, with12 out restricting public access to places to fish. 

13 (7) Comprehensive standards must be estab14 lished to demonstrate to the public that recreational 

15 fishing can be managed effectively without unneces16 sarily closing marine waters and to direct the imple17 mentation, use, and monitoring of marine protected 

18 areas. 

19 SEC. 3. POLICY. 

20 Consistent with sound marine conservation, it is the 

21 policy of the Congress in this Act—

22 (1) to create standards to direct the implemen23 tation, use, and monitoring of marine protected 

24 areas; 
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1 (2) to ensure that all Federal regulations pro2 mote open access for recreational fishing to the max3 imum extent practicable; 

4 (3) to ensure that recreational anglers will be 

5 actively involved in any regulatory procedures that 

6 contemplate restrictions on their access to places to 

7 fish; and 

8 (4) to ensure that whenever access to fishing 

9 places is restricted, the restricted areas are as small 

10 as scientifically necessary to provide for the con11 servation of the fishery resource. 

12 SEC. 4. MAGNUSON-STEVENS FISHERY CONSERVATION AND 

13 MANAGEMENT ACT AMENDMENT. 

14 Section 303(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

15 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1853(a)) 

16 is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

18 paragraph (13); 

19 (2) by striking ‘‘fishery.’’ in paragraph (14) 

20 and inserting ‘‘fishery; and;’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(15) not establish areas closed to recreational 

23 fishing unless—

24 ‘‘(A) there is a clear indication that rec25 reational fishermen are the cause of a specific 
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1 conservation problem and that less severe con2 servation measures, including minimum size re3 quirements, possession limits, seasonal closures, 

4 or gear restrictions, will not adequately provide 

5 for conservation and management of the af6 fected stocks of fish as determined by the ap7 propriate Regional Fishery Management Coun8 cil; 

9 ‘‘(B) the closed area regulation includes 

10 specific measurable criteria to determine the 

11 conservation benefit of the closed area on the 

12 affected stocks of fish and provides a timetable 

13 for periodic review of the continued need for the 

14 closed area at least once every 3 years; 

15 ‘‘(C) the closed area is no larger than that 

16 which is supported by the best available sci17 entific information; and 

18 ‘‘(D) provisions are made to reopen the 

19 closed area to recreational fishing whenever the 

20 basis of the closure no longer exists.’’.

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