President Trump signed an executive order last Thursday titled “Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation” that directs federal agencies to prioritize recreational fishing and reconsider environmental regulations governing U.S. fisheries. The National Marine Fisheries Service characterized the action as addressing deficiencies in federal data collection, streamlining permitting processes, and expanding marine habitats to support the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy.
Conservation organizations, however, expressed alarm about the order’s direction. The Marine Conservation Institute’s president stated that the administration is dismantling progress in ocean protection, contending the nation risks moving away from a global leadership position in marine conservation. Environmental advocates raised concerns about how the administration may reinterpret key fisheries management standards, including definitions of overfishing, species rebuilding requirements, and scientific standards under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the primary law governing U.S. federal fisheries since 1976.
Specific provisions drew particular criticism from environmental groups. The order directs the interior department to establish a program converting decommissioned offshore oil and gas structures into artificial reefs, which the Center for Biological Diversity characterized as a handout to the oil industry. Separately, the directive creates an “Interagency Shark and Pinniped Depredation Task Force” to address instances where sharks and marine mammals take fish from anglers’ lines, including examining barriers to shark fisheries and international trade restrictions. Environmental attorneys and marine scientists warned this provision could weaken protections for shark populations that remain significantly depleted from historical levels.
The order also mandates agencies to “suspend, revise or rescind regulations that overly burden boaters, anglers and outdoor businesses.” Conservation lawyers cautioned this language could jeopardize protections such as vessel-speed restrictions designed to prevent deadly collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales. The order represents another step in the administration’s effort to reshape federal marine conservation policy and reduce environmental regulations.
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