White House EO directs catch-reporting apps, reef-in-place, and a depredation task force

The White House on Sept. 17, 2026 issued an executive order titled Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation. It directs the Commerce Department, through NOAA, to modernize recreational catch-and-effort data: evaluate phasing down mail-in surveys, and deploy user-friendly mobile apps for mandatory and voluntary electronic reporting by anglers and for-hire operators. Commerce also has 180 days to review Magnuson-Stevens National Standard 1 (optimum yield) and National Standard 2 (best scientific information) guidelines for how they treat recreational fisheries.

On the Gulf of America and the Atlantic Coast, the order says inaccuracies in NOAA’s Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) have restricted recreational access. It tells NOAA to consider a data-replacement threshold tied to Percent Standard Error: where MRIP error meets or exceeds that threshold and a state collects catch-and-effort data with a lower error rate, NOAA would consider substituting the state numbers for management of that fishery.

Agencies are told to evaluate multi-year permits (minimum three years) with a presumption of renewal for operators in good standing, including full compliance with the new electronic catch reporting. Interior is directed to establish an Outer Continental Shelf reef-in-place program converting decommissioned oil and gas platforms into artificial reefs (offshore-wind infrastructure excepted). Commerce is to create an interagency shark and pinniped depredation task force and a real-time depredation reporting protocol.

The order is a directive to agencies, not a change in bag limits or seasons. Implementation is subject to existing law and appropriations. Confirm live NOAA, council, and state rules until any follow-on rulemakings land.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: The White House — Restoring American Saltwater Angling and Recreation (Sept. 17, 2026).