Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
The Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025 amends the Magnuson-Stevens Act to require ecosystem-based management for forage fish. It directs the Secretary to define 'forage fish', requires councils and scientific committees to account for forage fish roles, restricts new directed forage fisheries until assessments occur, mandates guidelines and workshops, and adds river herring and shad as managed stocks with increased at-sea monitoring for certain Atlantic herring and mackerel trips.
Left emphasizes ecosystem protection; right emphasizes regulatory burden and costs.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a substantive modification of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that introduces new definitional, planning, and procedural requirements to prioritize forage fish in management.
The Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025 amends the Magnuson-Stevens Act to require ecosystem-based management for forage fish.
It directs the Secretary to define 'forage fish', requires councils and scientific committees to account for forage fish roles, restricts new directed forage fisheries until assessments occur, mandates guidelines and workshops, and adds river herring and shad as managed stocks with increased at-sea monitoring for certain Atlantic herring and mackerel trips.
Focused regulatory reforms with modest fiscal footprint improve odds, but industry opposition, monitoring costs, and Senate hurdles reduce probability.
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a substantive modification of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that introduces new definitional, planning, and procedural requirements to prioritize forage fish in management. It specifies responsible actors and timelines and integrates with existing statutory structure, but leaves several important implementation specifics, resourcing considerations, and quantitative performance measures to subsequent rulemaking or plan amendments.
Left emphasizes ecosystem protection; right emphasizes regulatory burden and costs.
These are examples from the analysis, not a ranked list of the most-affected groups.
Left emphasizes ecosystem protection; right emphasizes regulatory burden and costs.
Overall supportive: the bill embeds ecosystem-based management and precaution for forage fish, protecting food webs and dependent species.
It adds science requirements, monitoring, and quicker protections for river herring and shad, aligning with conservation priorities.
Cautiously supportive: the bill advances science-based, precautionary management while preserving council process.
Concerns focus on costs, implementation timelines, and coordination with states and stakeholders.
Skeptical to opposed: the bill expands federal regulatory reach over forage species and may restrict fishing opportunities.
Concerns center on economic impacts, added monitoring costs, and federal preemption of new fisheries.
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Reached or meaningfully advanced
Still ahead
Still ahead
Still ahead
Focused regulatory reforms with modest fiscal footprint improve odds, but industry opposition, monitoring costs, and Senate hurdles reduce probability.
The bill has not accumulated any surfaced votes yet.
Left emphasizes ecosystem protection; right emphasizes regulatory burden and costs.
Focused regulatory reforms with modest fiscal footprint improve odds, but industry opposition, monitoring costs, and Senate hurdles reduce…
Relative to its intended legislative type, this bill is a substantive modification of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that introduces new definitional, planning, and procedural requirements to prioritize forage fish in managem…
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