"The current administration does not want political activists like RFA representing our members at important fisheries meetings like HMS (Highly Migratory Species) or ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of AtlanticTunas), and they certainly don't want to hear our view about the present management of our coastal fisheries either," he added.
Donofrio and the RFA were longtime delegates at HMS and ICCAT representing the best interests of America's saltwater anglers. That all ended on inauguration day of 2009 when President Obama signed an executive order banning lobbyists from working on regulations directly related to any specific employer. Since RFA employs Donofrio who only lobbies in Washington DC on issues related exclusively to saltwater fisheries and recreational anglers, the Obama administration edict has ramifications that sometimes preclude RFA from working with certain committees that govern coastal fisheries.
"Let's just hope that the dozen or so congressional staffers attending this event will realize that they're being shuffled along through a stacked deck," Hutchinson said. "These are some of the wealthiest groups and individuals in the environmental industry hosting this event while simultaneously blocking all congressional efforts to provide relief to our hard-working, middle-class fishermen, it's really tragic."
"The President just made his top priorities known with his recent Commerce Secretary nomination, to grow the economy, create good middle-class jobs and to make sure that the next generation prospers, and current fishery policy which the ENGO's will be bragging about this week do not reconcile with those principles," Donofrio added.
|
|