Mike Markrich’s commentary on the Billfish Conservation Act of 2012 and the amendment (H.R. 4528) recently signed into law by President Donald Trump is misleading and inaccurate (“Hawaii’s commercial billfish industry loses vital protection,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 13).

The original intent of the conservation measure passed by Congress in 2012 was to close the U.S. market for imported marlin, sailfish and spearfish, and to establish a greater leadership role for the U.S. in the international protection of billfish. The loophole allowing commercially caught billfish to be transported from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland has circumvented the intent of the law ever since and undermined the enforceability of this law.

H.R. 4528 requires billfish caught by U.S. vessels and landed in Hawaii to be retained for sale in Hawaii. To suggest that Hawaii’s congressional delegation has endangered a multimillion-dollar industry and hundreds of jobs is false and outrageous.

Closing this niche market helps the country meet its conservation standards while providing more local fish to Hawaii residents — with little impact to local jobs or the economy.

Jeff Angers

President, Center for Sportfishing Policy

Click here to read more Letters to the Editor.