HR9436-119

What This Bill Does

The Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act changes every reference to 2028 in section 101 of division JJ of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, to 2035. Read with that existing law, the amendment extends the period during which the 2021 Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan rule is deemed sufficient for federal and state fishery authorizations to comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. It also shifts the section's new-regulation and risk-reduction timetable. This is not a repeal of all marine-mammal protections.

Who Benefits and How

American lobster fishing businesses and Jonah crab fishing businesses gain seven more years under the specified statutory compliance arrangement. Their operators can postpone costs associated with the replacement regulatory timetable. Coastal communities dependent on these fisheries may gain business continuity, although revenue and employment effects are not quantified in this short bill.

Who Bears the Burden and How

National Marine Fisheries Service officials must apply the extended dates. Conservation organizations and coastal community residents seeking faster protection for North Atlantic right whales may bear increased risk from delayed additional measures; actual biological consequences depend on fishing activity and other protections. Fishing industry employees may gain continuity of work, but the bill provides no employment guarantee. The existing exception for emergency rules in place when the 2023 appropriations law was enacted is not deleted by this amendment. Existing annual reporting language also remains.

Key Provisions

• Extends the statutory compliance period for the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries from 2028 to 2035.
• Modifies the deadline for replacement regulations and the referenced risk-reduction timetable by the same seven years.
• Protects the existing emergency-rule exception by leaving its language unchanged.