To require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue certain regulations relating to the taking of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. Ezell (for himself, Mr. Guest, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill reinstates and expands a federal regulation that expired in 2014, which allowed aquaculture operators to kill double-crested cormorants that prey on their fish stocks. The birds can cause significant economic losses at fish farms, particularly catfish operations in the South. The bill makes the authorization permanent with 5-year renewals.
Who Benefits and How
- Aquaculture facilities (fish farms) can legally kill cormorants eating their fish without obtaining individual permits, reducing losses from bird predation
- Catfish farmers particularly in Mississippi benefit from restored ability to control cormorant populations affecting their ponds
- Licensed lake and pond managers gain new authority to take cormorants (not included in original order)
- Coverage expands to 12 additional states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Double-crested cormorant populations face increased mortality from legal taking at aquaculture sites
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must reissue and administer the depredation order while complying with NEPA and Migratory Bird Treaty Act
- Wildlife conservation groups may oppose reduced protections for the migratory birds
Key Provisions
- Mandates Secretary of Interior to reissue the 2016 cormorant depredation order that expired
- Expands geographic coverage from original states to 12 additional states
- Adds licensed lake managers and pond managers as newly authorized entities
- Removes the expiration date, making the order permanent with 5-year renewals
- Modernizes recordkeeping requirements and simplifies federal compliance provisions
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to reissue and expand the expired depredation order allowing the taking (killing) of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities to protect fish stocks from bird predation.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Restore expired federal regulation allowing aquaculture operators to kill cormorants that prey on their fish stocks, expanding coverage to more states and to private lake/pond managers"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Aquaculture facilities (fish farms)
- Lake managers
- Pond managers
- Catfish farmers in Mississippi and other states
Likely Burden Bearers
- Double-crested cormorant populations
- Wildlife conservation interests
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (compliance obligations)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A person licensed by a State regulatory agency to manage a private lake
The depredation order for double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities in 50 CFR 21.47 (as in effect January 1, 2016)
A person licensed by a State regulatory agency to manage a private pond
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology