Tomorrow we join together to Demand Shore Based Fisherman Access To Bluefin Tuna- this is the moment we need you to show up.

📅 Tomorrow at 4:25 PM Eastern (1:25 PM Pacific)
💻 Virtual Meeting: NOAA HMS Advisory Panel
🎯 Public Comment Begins at 4:30 PM Eastern
🔗 Join here: https://noaanmfs-meets.webex.com/noaanmfs-meets/j.php?MTID=m21e90e12963c618d1e696c4d5c3699d0

Webinar number:
2818 788 0643

Webinar password:
XNjGm3K (9654635 when dialing from a phone or video system)

Join by phone: +1-415-527-5035 US Toll ; Access code: 281 878 80643

What is meeting about

This meeting will address future rules for the conservation and management of Atlantic Highly Migratory Species, including shore-based access to bluefin tuna.

We need every voice at the table. Even if you don’t speak, your presence counts. NOAA needs to see that this issue matters to real people—anglers, families, small businesses, and everyone who believes in fair, equitable access.

Be there. Be heard. Let’s make history together.

Here is the letter we sent to all of the members of the HMS advisory panel:

On April 8th, 2024, multiple once-in-a-lifetime bluefin tuna were caught and released by anglers fishing from Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head, North Carolina. 

The next day, those anglers—and the pier—were threatened with $2,000 fines and official censorship by NOAA Fisheries for “promoting illegal activity,” despite fishing during an open recreational season and having no legal avenue to comply under the current HMS permit structure.

If you can’t afford a boat, you’re denied access to a legal public fishery. That’s not conservation — that’s exclusion.

The core problem lies in NOAA’s Highly Migratory Species (HMS) permit system, which only allows vessels to apply. There is no permit path for shore or pier-based anglers, even when fish are within casting distance and the season is open. As a result, everyday fishermen are criminalized not for violating conservation rules, but for existing outside a vessel-based framework.

Instead of viewing this access question as a regulatory risk, NOAA has an opportunity to frame it as a milestone: the result of effective science-based management restoring the species to such abundance that it’s now occasionally accessible to everyday Americans fishing from public piers and beaches.

By offering a limited, well-regulated individual permit pathway for these rare shoreline opportunities, NOAA can enhance equity and transparency while maintaining full control over monitoring and reporting. Excluding these anglers entirely only ensures the activity remains unmonitored, increases resentment to a once in a lifetime opportunity, and perceives Bluefin Tuna as illegal, rather than celebrated as a testament to decades of effective U.S. stewardship.

Operation Inflate: The Bluefin Uprising

Over the past month, this moment has gained international attention and inspired a nationwide protest.  We have also learned that this was not a once in a lifetime event but is just not being covered across the east coast:
Operation Inflate: The Bluefin Uprising.

• Millions of views across social media
• 1,700+ signatures on the official petition
• Coverage from news stations, podcasts, and equal access Fishing/Hunting Nonprofit organizations, and others
• Anglers registering inflatable unicorns as vessels to showcase an absurd law equals and absurd protest just to qualify for HMS permits
• A growing coalition of veterans, families, low-income anglers, and access advocates speaking out

What We’re Asking This Panel to Consider:

The Current Law Already Allows This: Under 16 U.S.C. § 971c and 50 CFR § 635.71, NOAA has authority to issue HMS permits to individuals—not just vessels.  Importantly, there is no explicit legal boundary in either the Magnuson-Stevens Act or the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act that terminates federal HMS jurisdiction at the shoreline. In practice, the federal permitting framework already applies within state-managed waters without conflict—states recognize NOAA’s authority over ICCAT-regulated species.

Therefore, allowing individual HMS permits for shore-based anglers would not constitute regulatory overreach—it would provide equitable access within a system NOAA already manages.

• The Precedent Exists: The Federal Duck Stamp allows individual access to migratory species under international treaty. HMS should do the same.
• Compliance & Reporting Can Be Maintained: Individual permit holders can use tools like iAngler and SAFIS to meet reporting obligations.
• ICCAT Quotas Are Protected: Vessel-based limits would supersede in all cases, preventing overharvest or loopholes.
• The Disparity Is Real: The current vessel-only rule excludes millions of Americans who legally fish from piers, jetties, and beaches.
   
  We are not asking for a new permit class—only for the existing HMS permit to be available to individuals as well as vessels. This small change would restore fairness, preserve conservation goals, and bring one of the most iconic American fish back within reach of the public.  

We respectfully urge the panel to recommend initiating a rulemaking process, and we would welcome the opportunity to participate in any working group or advisory process going forward.

Thank you for your leadership—and for ensuring recreational fishing policy reflects the diverse public it serves.

#OperationInflate #BluefinUprising #ShoreBasedAccess #FishingForAll