The Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership
Council is a federally chartered advisory committee established
in 1993. The Council advises the Interior Department Secretary,
through the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
on recreational fishing and boating issues. Its 18 members,
who serve 2-year terms, include state resource agency directors,
representatives of fishing and boating industries and associations,
and experts in public outreach, resource conservation, and
recreation (with the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service and the president of the International Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies serving as ex officio members).
- January 1993 Sport Fishing and Boating
Partnership Council established.
- April 1994 Council releases
Recreational Fisheries Stewardship
Initiative outlining major
threats to fisheries and aquatic systems and recommending
efforts to combat them. Top priority given to policy for "achieving
balance" in the administration
of the Endangered Species Act as it relates to recreational
fisheries. Another was Executive Order on Recreational Fisheries.
- October 1994 Council convenes more than
70 state, tribal, and federal fisheries advocates to recommend
ways to reduce conflicts between traditional fishery management
practices and federally listed species recovery efforts.
- November
1994 Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt formally endorses Recreational
Fisheries Stewardship Initiative; says he will recommend
Executive Order on Recreational Fisheries.
- February 1995 Council
releases "position paper" called
Conserving Federally Threatened, Endangered, and Proposed Species
While Providing and Enhancing Recreational Fisheries Programs.
- March
1995 Council releases special report called The Impact of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on the Federal
Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program.
- June 1995 President
Bill Clinton signs Executive
Order (12962) on Recreational Fisheries requiring federal agencies to improve recreational
fisheries within the context of their programs and responsibilities.
The Order required development of a policy to improve administration
of the Endangered Species Act as it relates to recreational
fisheries, required the development of a comprehensive fisheries
conservation plan for federal agencies, and broadened the
Council's responsibilities by charging it with monitoring
federal agencies' progress under the fisheries conservation
plan.
- August 1995 former Service Director Mollie Beattie requests
the Council convene fisheries stakeholder meetings to compile
recommendations on the appropriate role of the Service in
recreational fisheries management.
- September 1995 Congress
directs the Service to develop $2.1 million in cost savings
for its fisheries program in the 1997 budget (1996 budget
totaled $64.7 million); Beattie asks Council for recommendations.
- October
1995-April 1996 Council holds several stakeholder meetings,
including state agency directors, state fisheries chiefs,
representatives of the Native American Fish and Wildlife
Society, conservation organizations, and industry representatives.
- December
1995 Council gives former Service Director Mollie Beattie
its fiscal year 1997 cost savings recommendations.
- December
1995 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries
Service announce draft policy on administration of the Endangered
Species Act as it relates to recreational fisheries.
- June
1996 Recreational
Fishery Resources Conservation Plan unveiled.
- June
1996 Final Policy for Conserving Species Listed or Proposed
for Listing Under the Endangered Species Act While Providing
and Enhancing Recreational Fisheries Opportunities announced.
- August
1996 Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council completes
recommendations on the appropriate role of the Service in
fisheries management and presents them to Acting Service
Director John Rogers. Council recommends additional stakeholder
meetings; at the national level as well as in each of the
Service's seven geographical regions.
- August 1996 Sport Fishing
and Boating Partnership Council completes its first
annual report on federal implementation of Executive
Order for Recreational Fisheries. Agencies reported internal
restructuring and a stir of planning activities to set up
recreational fisheries offices and develop their respective
agency's strategies for implementing the Recreational
Fishery Resources Conservation Plan.
- October 1996 Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council
convenes more than 100 recreational fisheries stakeholders
to identify actions by non-Federal partners to complement
the Recreational Fishery Resources Conservation Plan. Recommended
actions include: 1) address habitat conservation and restoration
issues through amendment to the Clean Water Act, 2) provide
access to fishing waters in partnership with private entrepreneurs,
3) educate and recruit new anglers through aggressive marketing/education
programs in urban areas, and 4) compile socio-economic data
pertaining to recreational fisheries.
- November 1997- May 1998 The Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act of 1998 directs the
Secretary of the Interior to “develop
and implement, in cooperation and consultation with the Sport
Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, a national plan for
outreach and communications.”
- Between November 1997 and
May 1998, 11 national stakeholder meetings were
hosted by the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council
(SFBPC) to 1) receive input from states, fisheries administrators,
industry leaders, and interested user groups on factors contributing
to the stagnation and decline in boating and angling as a
recreational activity, and 2) to strategize about objectives
and solutions for halting or reversing these trends. Secretary
of the Interior Bruce Babbitt approved the 1998
Strategic Plan for the National Outreach and Communications Program
in February 1999 (Exhibit 3).
- September 2000 Sport Fishing
and Boating Partnership Council releases Saving a System
in Peril: A Special Report on the National Fish Hatchery
System. The project was undertaken at the behest of Members
of Congress and the Fish and Wildlife Service to help establish
a clear mission for the National Fish Hatchery System. The
process garnered input from a wide array of interested partners
and stakeholders, including States, conservation organizations,
Tribes, industry and NGOs. Many of the 20 consensus recommendations
of the report were incorporated into a strategic plan for
the hatchery system.
- January 2002 Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council releases A
Partnership Agenda for Fisheries Conservation.
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