While most of Washington remains shut down, there is movement at NOAA and new momentum for fisheries reform. The Senate confirmed Dr. Neil Jacobs as NOAA Administrator, and he is hard at work.

Dr. Jacobs brings a scientist’s precision and an angler’s perspective to the job. With a Ph.D. in weather modeling and prior service in the Trump Administration’s first NOAA leadership team, he understands the agency, the science and the stakes. And although his doctorate isn’t in fisheries, his passion for fishing gives us confidence that he recognizes mismanagement of a plentiful resource.

For anglers across the South Atlantic, NOAA’s new leadership represents a real opportunity to right the ship. We look to Dr. Jacobs to help empower the state leaders who have stepped forward with their own plan for modern, accountable management of red snapper.

Adding momentum, Attorneys General from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina joined their governors and congressional delegations urging the Department of Commerce to move quickly toward state management. Their letter calls for an immediate transfer of data collection and management authority to the states.

Their message – and ours – is clear: The time has come for NOAA’s leadership to steer away from entrenched bureaucracy and work with the states to get red snapper management right.

With Dr. Jacobs at the helm, we’re optimistic progress is finally within reach.

Jeff Angers