WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump signed an executive order this past Thursday, Sept. 17, directing federal agencies to overhaul recreational saltwater fishing rules, data collection and permitting, potentially changing how fishing access, catch limits, charter businesses and offshore habitat projects are managed nationwide.
The order makes marine recreational fishing an explicit consideration in federal ocean, coastal and public-land decisions and directs agencies to work with states and the private sector on access, permitting and fisheries data. It also orders reviews of regulations the administration considers unnecessarily restrictive to anglers, boaters and outdoor businesses.
A central provision targets federal recreational catch estimates. The Commerce Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are directed to evaluate traditional mail-in surveys and consider phasing them out while expanding mobile applications for electronic reporting by recreational anglers and for-hire operators.
The administration wants real-time catch and effort data incorporated into a modernized federal system used for stock assessments, seasonal quotas, and other management decisions.
The order also directs NOAA to consider replacing federal Marine Recreational Information Program estimates with state data in certain fisheries when federal estimates reach a specified error threshold and state information has a lower error rate.
Within 180 days, the Commerce Secretary must review guidelines under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, including standards governing optimum yield and the best scientific information available. The review is intended in part to accelerate the use of state data in federal decisions.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the changes as an economic measure for coastal communities.
“Recreational fishing is an American powerhouse for jobs,” Lutnick stated. “This Order strengthens our nation’s coastal economies for generations to come.”
The executive order cites an outdoor recreation sector generating more than $1.2 trillion annually and supporting more than 5 million jobs.
Charter operators could also see changes to federal permitting. Agencies have 60 days to evaluate a transition to permits lasting at least three years, including a presumption of renewal where legally permissible for businesses meeting compliance requirements.
Federal agencies are additionally directed to work toward a single interagency Special Use Permit application and a “One-Stop” permitting portal within one year.
Another provision orders creation of a Federal Outer Continental Shelf Reef-in-Place Program within 60 days. The program would establish a pathway for qualifying decommissioned offshore oil, gas, and other structures to become permanent artificial reefs, subject to environmental, navigational, safety, and other legal requirements. Offshore wind infrastructure is excluded.
The administration is also targeting shark and pinniped depredation, in which predators take hooked or captured fish. The order establishes an interagency task force and requires development of a real-time depredation reporting protocol within 90 days.
NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs stated that the agency intends to improve stock assessments by incorporating state data while examining technologies to address shark depredation.
For depleted recreational fisheries, including Atlantic striped bass, Commerce is directed to identify key species and work with anglers, charter captains and state agencies on real-time data, tagging technologies and improved estimates of catch-and-release mortality. At least two pilot programs must be initiated.
The order also calls for a five-year plan to improve collection and use of economic data from recreational fishing and directs agencies to identify delays affecting money from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund.
Within 30 days, the departments of Interior, Agriculture and Commerce, along with the Army’s civil works leadership, are directed to begin reviewing regulations that the administration considers overly burdensome to boaters, anglers and outdoor businesses. Any resulting changes remain subject to existing law, agency authority and available appropriations.
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