Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 182 (Tuesday, September 22, 2026)] [Presidential Documents] [Pages 60293-60297] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-19417] Presidential Documents Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 182 / Tuesday, September 22, 2026 / Presidential Documents [[Page 60293]] Executive Order 14430 of September 17, 2026 Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose and Policy. (a) America's outdoor recreation sector generates over $1.2 trillion annually and supports over 5 million jobs. To ensure America's recreational fishing remains strong, Federal fisheries management must appropriately prioritize both recreational and commercial fishing. From saltwater anglers and offshore boaters to charter operators, the recreational fishing industry is a strong driver of our Nation's outdoor economy. Aligning both with the Make America Beautiful Again (MABA) Commission, established under Executive Order 14313 of July 3, 2025 (Establishing the President's Make America Beautiful Again Commission), and with Executive Order 14276 of April 17, 2025 (Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness), this order modernizes Federal management by shifting the Federal posture from restricting recreational access to fishing to actively empowering affiliated industries and coastal communities. (b) It is the policy of the United States to elevate the marine recreational fishing industry as an important consideration in all Federal ocean, coastal, and public land decision-making. Sec. 2. Agency Implementation. (a) To effectuate the policy described in section 1 of this order, all relevant executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall partner with States and the private sector to vigorously rebuild, expand, permit, and modernize data collection. All such agencies shall eliminate unnecessary restrictions that harm our coastal economies, burden charter fishing businesses, and limit public access to our marine resources. Furthermore, it is the policy of my Administration to demand accurate cutting-edge data collection and empower State-Federal partnerships to produce the information needed for responsible management. (b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 1851, the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) shall review targeted National Standards Guidelines issued under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) for consistency with the purpose of this order. Specifically, the Secretary shall, at a minimum, consider revising the guidelines for National Standard 1 (Optimum Yield) and National Standard 2 (Best Scientific Information Available), to ensure they appropriately account for the unique biological, economic, and social characteristics of the recreational fishery, and to facilitate the rapid integration of State-level data into Federal management decisions, where appropriate. Sec. 3. Modernizing Data Collection Infrastructure for Recreational Catch-and-Effort Estimates. (a) To resolve chronic inaccuracies and latency in Federal recreational catch and effort estimates, the Federal Government must transition away from antiquated data collection and sampling practices. Accordingly, the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), shall to the extent feasible and consistent with applicable law, take appropriate action, including through rulemaking pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 1851 and 1855(d), where necessary, to modernize Federal data collection infrastructure. (b) The Secretary, acting through the NOAA Administrator, shall evaluate the statistical reliability of traditional mail-in survey systems for recreational [[Page 60294]] catch-and-effort data collection and their adequacy for dynamic fishery management. The results of this analysis should be considered in determining whether, and to what extent, such mail-in survey systems shall be phased out. (c) The Secretary, acting through the NOAA Administrator, shall harness existing platforms and potential successor platforms and technologies to deploy standardized, user-friendly mobile applications for mandatory and voluntary electronic reporting by recreational anglers and for-hire operators. (d) To the extent feasible and consistent with applicable law, data collected via mobile applications described in subsection (c) of this section shall be securely aggregated into a modernized Federal data architecture. This data architecture will process real- time catch, effort, and observational data, serving as the primary analytical repository for fishery managers to inform stock assessments, establish seasonal quotas, and make rapid, data-driven regulatory decisions. Sec. 4. Restoring Integrity to Fisheries Science and Data. (a) To further ensure that management decisions made during the modernization transition outlined in section 3 of this order are based on improved data collection practices, I have determined that certain additional measures are necessary. (b) Along the Gulf of America and the Atlantic Coast, recreational access has been improperly restricted by inaccuracies within NOAA's Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) data. To ameliorate these data deficiencies, the Secretary, acting through the NOAA Administrator, shall, consistent with applicable law, including 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., consider establishing a data-replacement threshold tethered to the Percent Standard Error (PSE) for MRIP data collected for any seasonal fishery. Where the PSE for MRIP data for a seasonal fishery meets or exceeds such specified data-replacement threshold, and an affected State collects recreational catch-and- effort data with a lower error rate, NOAA shall then consider substituting the relevant State's data in place of MRIP data for management decisions concerning such fishery. This approach will help ensure that, consistent with National Standard 2, conservation and management measures are based upon the best scientific information available. (c) To address the decline of iconic recreational fisheries, such as the Atlantic striped bass and other depleted stocks, the Secretary shall generate a list of key species to use in partnership with the recreational angling community, charter captains, and State agencies to gather real-time data, deploy advanced tagging technologies, and improve catch-and-release mortality estimates. The Secretary shall develop and initiate at least two new pilot programs for recreational fisheries data collection or management approaches working with the angling community that test innovative solutions for achieving sustainable fisheries management that maximizes fishing access. (d) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall develop a comprehensive 5-year strategic plan with clear implementation milestones to improve the collection, analysis, and application of recreational fisheries economic data to support fisheries management. This plan shall ensure that the economic impact and value of recreational fishing, including for-hire fisheries and shoreside support industries, is fully accounted for in Federal fishery management decisions and harvest opportunities. Sec. 5. Rescission of Regulations that Restrict Marine Infrastructure and Access. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works shall, consistent with applicable law, take steps to initiate action to suspend, revise, or rescind regulations that overly burden boaters, anglers, and outdoor businesses. (b) Accordingly, the Secretary shall, to the extent feasible and consistent with applicable law, make use of technological advancements for marine mammal avoidance. In so doing, the Secretary, acting through the NOAA Administrator and, where necessary, in consultation with the Commandant [[Page 60295]] of the United States Coast Guard, shall facilitate coordination with the private sector to integrate key technologies. (c) To reduce administrative burdens, within 60 days of the date of this order, relevant agencies shall evaluate existing agency permitting authorities to effectuate a transition to multi-year permit terms (minimum of 3 years) that include, to the extent permitted by applicable law, a standard presumption of renewal. To implement this presumption of renewal without creating new information collection burdens, these agencies shall, to the extent feasible and consistent with applicable law, rely on interagency data sharing agreements and internal database verification rather than new applicant submissions. Agencies shall consider whether this presumption of renewal should apply exclusively to permittees in ``good standing,'' which may be defined as permittees about which agency records confirm: (i) are in full compliance with United States Coast Guard safety regulations; (ii) have incurred no major environmental or fisheries violations; and (iii) maintain a 100-percent compliance rate with the mandatory electronic catch-reporting requirements established in section 3 of this order. (d) To minimize duplicative applications across Federal agencies, relevant agencies shall, to the extent feasible and consistent with applicable law, establish the infrastructure necessary to develop a single, unified interagency Special Use Permit (SUP) application, with the aim of deploying a unified ``One- Stop'' joint permit portal within 1 year of the date of this order. Sec. 6. Fast-Tracking Artificial Reefs and Habitat Creation. (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Marine Minerals Administration, shall establish a Federal Outer Continental Shelf Reef-in-Place Program (Program) to facilitate the conversion of decommissioned offshore oil and gas and other-use structures, with the exception of infrastructure associated with offshore wind energy facilities, into permanent artificial reefs through reef-in-place, topple-in-place, or other approved reefing methods, where consistent with applicable law. (b) The Program shall be available to qualifying offshore structures and leaseholders that satisfy all applicable statutory, regulatory, environmental, navigational, and safety requirements. The Secretary of the Interior shall establish criteria and standards for the program that ensure protection of navigation and national security interests. (c) In establishing the Program, the Secretary of the Interior shall coordinate with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of War, the Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, and the heads of other appropriate agencies to streamline interagency review and permitting to the maximum extent permitted by law, reduce unnecessary administrative delays, and promote timely decisions for qualifying reef projects. (d) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary, acting through the NOAA Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of the Interior, shall review and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, revise policies and procedures governing SUPs and other applicable authorizations for the placement and management of artificial reefs within National Marine Sanctuaries and Marine National Monuments. Such revisions shall seek to establish transparent and efficient permitting pathways, identify areas suitable for artificial reef development and other national interest uses, and enhance fisheries, recreational fishing, diving, and other compatible public uses. Sec. 7. Managing Predators. (a) To address the rising rates of shark and pinniped depredation, the Secretary shall establish an Interagency Shark and Pinniped Depredation Task Force. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Commerce, along with the United States Trade Representative, shall actively address international and domestic barriers to sustainable shark fisheries to the extent permitted by applicable law. Such actions shall include assessing listings under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, directing the United States [[Page 60296]] Fish and Wildlife Service to expedite Non-Detriment Findings for global export, and reviewing all regional fisheries management organizations, conventions, treaties, and agreements to ensure that their measures and actions promote robust commercial and recreational harvests. (b) To reduce the economic and ecological impact of shark depredation on the recreational angling sector, the Secretary shall, to the extent permitted by law: (i) Pursuant to the Secretary's grant-making authority, including under 15 U.S.C. 713c-3(c), give priority to partnerships involving charter boat captains and recreational angling organizations. (ii) Within 90 days of the date of this order, develop and implement, including through rulemaking as necessary, a standardized ``Real-Time Depredation Reporting'' protocol. Consistent with applicable law, the Secretary shall integrate this protocol into existing Federal and State- linked mobile data collection platforms to enable the rapid mapping of depredation events and support dynamic fishery management decisions. Sec. 8. Projects for Increasing Fish Abundance. (a) The Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shall identify regulatory and administrative hurdles that delay the disbursement from the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and shall, to the extent consistent with applicable law, remove such hurdles. (b) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the MABA Commission shall convene a Restoration Coordination Working Group to develop a shared framework to identify and reduce duplicative restoration efforts within the same watersheds, ensuring that Federal resources are used effectively across agencies. Agencies are encouraged to transition habitat restoration metrics toward production-based goals. Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. [[Page 60297]] (d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Commerce. (Presidential Sig.) THE WHITE HOUSE, September 17, 2026. [FR Doc. 2026-19417 Filed 9-21-26; 11:15 am] Billing code 3510-DT-P