Today I am flying the 1st Navy Union Jack. I fly this Patriot Flag when Liberty is threatened. President Obama’s new Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force is recommending limiting SPORTS fishing in some saltwater areas on our coasts and freshwater withing the United States! The document is “up” for public comment. Now he has DONE IT with an Executive Order.
UPDATE: 08.11.10 … it really doesn’t matter what the American Public wants, Obama just goes ahead and does anything he wants. What a perfect example of a man who was “elected but would be King” …
Executive Order by Obama: (09.18.10) WASHINGTON, DC, July 20, 2010 (ENS) – President Barack Obama has established a national ocean policy that will for the first time create a coordinated system for managing America’s oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. In an Executive Order issued Monday, President Obama adopted the final recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that has been gathering facts and drafting the policy since June 2009.
The order creates a National Ocean Council to implement the new policy.
Marine management under this policy will be “ecosystem-based,” which means that regulation of specific activities, such as oil and gas development, will take into account impacts on the broader ecosystems that could be affected.
The California coast at Santa Barbara (Photo by Paul Rumsey)
For the first time, it provides for the development of coastal and marine spatial plans that build upon and improve existing federal, state, tribal, local, and regional decisionmaking and planning processes.
Marine spatial planning is intended to protect ocean ecosystems and minimize conflicts between new and existing ocean uses through science-based decision making and the involvement of stakeholders and the public.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said, “The new national policy provides a clear road map for all federal agencies to work together, with local partners, to protect our vital waters for future generations.”
The regional plans “will enable a more integrated, comprehensive, ecosystem-based, flexible, and proactive approach to planning and managing sustainable multiple uses across sectors and improve the conservation of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes,” Obama states in the Executive Order.
“President Obama recognized that our uses of the ocean are expanding at a rate that challenges our ability to manage significant and often competing demands,” said Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, who led the task force that included 24 senior-level policy officials from across the federal government.
“With a growing number of recreational, scientific, energy, and security activities,” said Sutley, “we need a national policy that sets the United States on a new path for the conservation and sustainable use of these critical natural resources.”
“As we witness the gut-wrenching devastation in the Gulf of Mexico, this announcement is welcome news for the future health of our oceans,” said Bill Eichbaum, WWF vice president for marine policy. “We commend President Obama for his leadership in convening the task force and heeding its recommendations.”
In 2003 and 2004, reports issued by the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, respectively, warned that poor management and lack of coordination among federal agencies were threatening the health and economic productivity of our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes.
“This first-of-its kind framework will help our nation plan wisely for the future of our oceans and coastlines, so that we can continue to experience their beauty and bounty for generations to come,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
“Today, possibly more so than any point in our nation’s history, we appreciate that healthy oceans matter,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“The Task Force’s Final Recommendations provide a balance between protecting and preserving the marine environment, and promoting economic progress,” said said Admiral Bob Papp, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. “The framework protects the interests of all users, improves ocean stewardship, and provides the foundation for improving maritime governance at the international, regional, state, and local levels.”
“The Department of the Navy strongly supports the principles and framework laid out in this new Executive Order,” said Donald Schregardus, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for environment. “Strengthening the vital link between our global maritime mission and our responsibility to safeguard the environment is a key component to our environmental strategy. The establishment of the National Ocean Council will be important in advancing this strategic priority.”
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the move, saying, “The Deepwater Horizon spill has emphasized what a vital role our oceans play in our environment, economy and overall well-being. California has long demonstrated leadership with ocean and coastal protection and we stand ready to continue assisting President Obama at all levels of government to ensure that we safeguard our treasured natural resources.”
The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force has published its “interim” document for public comment you can find that document HERE. The agency is recommending restrictions on fishing in both saltwater and freshwater … “consistent with international law.”
- (Since when does International Law tell the citizens of the USA whether or not they can fish! Also notice this isn’t about “commercial” fishing, it is SPORTS fishing!)
Shimano Corp: IRVINE, Calif. USA – October 5, 2009 – A recently published administration document outlines a structure that could result in closures of sport fishing in salt and freshwater areas across America. The White House created an Interagency Oceans Policy Task Force in June and gave them only 90 days to develop a comprehensive federal policy for all U.S. coastal, ocean and Great Lakes waters. Under the guise of ‘protecting’ these areas, the current second phase of the Task Force direction is to develop zoning which may permanently close vast areas of fishing waters nationwide. This is to be completed by December 9, 2009.
When you see this, DOUBT it!
- White House Memo: The original White House memo and not surprisingly the Task Force report contains multiple references to developing a national policy where Great Lakes and coastal regions are managed, “consistent with international law, including customary international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” – a 300-page treaty the U.S. has never ratified.
KeepAmericaFishing.org Without recreational angler input, decisions made under this national oceans policy could be used to unnecessarily close saltwater and freshwater recreational fishing areas.
The Bottom Line
Its not about fishing, is it? It is about this this administration once again taking a God-Given Liberty from us and replacing it with a “rule”. The government, with any slight expansion of this “rule” will actually have the power to tell me I am not free to fish. This even though the sports fishermen in this country, without any government help, spend millions on making their fishing habitats even more viable and productive every year.
- In fact, according to NOAA Fisheries, saltwater anglers contribute over $82 billion to the economy and support over half a million jobs.
No Fishing!
This is about a government reaching into our personal lives, once again, and taking away Liberty and Freedom. How much more of the “Nanny State” will you allow before YOU stand up and say “ENOUGH!”? Do you want President Obama telling you where and when you can fish? Do you want the United Nations setting the guidelines for fishing in your pond?
If the answer is “NO!” then you can take action one of two ways. Want to be part of the Patriotic Grassroots of this country? Here’s you chance, jump in an help make a difference:
From KeepAmericaFishing.org:
The Task Force’s
Interim Report is currently under a public review and comment period. The single most obvious flaw in the report is the omission of responsibly regulated recreational fishing as a key activity for the oceans and the Great Lakes. In addition, as a national policy document governing the oceans and Great Lakes, the report is skewed toward a preservationist policy of locking up public waters instead of one that promotes sustainable uses such as recreational fishing.
- Send a letter to the White House Council on Environmental Quality urging the Task Force to include recreational fishing and boating in the national policy by simply copying this linked letter and pasting it into the form at this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiati…
Press “send message” below to send the letter to your Members of Congress.
Go to the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force site and fill out their form writing your own letter.
"The Constitution is a Limiting Document" - Obama
Personal Note:
One more time an “government agency” has sprung up without our knowledge, once more its “output” threatens Liberty and Freedom. We’ve got to be fighting back from the grass roots. There is NO Constitutional precedent for this. “Control of fishing” is on in the Constitution and the 10th amendment states the government then cannot regulate this aspect of our lives. Please send your thoughts to these people and tell them,
- They do not have the authority to tell us where to fish (read the 10th amendment again)
- We do not need guidelines, we already spend MILLIONS of our own dollars making sure our fishing environments are healthy and kept up to date.
We need Patriotic grass roots help, even if you are not a fisherman, this is YOUR issue too. Here is another perfect example of the government taking control of our lives … one “policy” at a time. Please join all Patriots to say “NO!”
Thank you
Doug
1st Navy Union Jack - Liberty Threatened
Rein them in! The RNC had better start reigning these people in because these weak links are going to destroy anything the Republicans could “stand for” in 2010. I want to hear some outrage … and all I hear is silence. Does silence equal acceptance? I’d like to hear Michael Steele tell us what Republicans stand for and basically tell Olympia Snow, Lindsey Graham and John McCain that they are either “with us or they are against us.” And if they are against us, then simply leave the party and stop using RNC dollars to support your own personal causes!
