# 119-hr-3714: Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025

119-hr-3714, Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] (D-MI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-05-02).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3714
- As of: 2026-05-02
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-3714
- Congress: 119
- Title: Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-06-04
- Sponsor: Rep. Dingell, Debbie [D-MI-6] (D-MI)
- Cosponsors: 6
- Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-05-02

## Summary

**Shift fisheries policy to protect forage fish as a foundation of marine food webs.** This bill would add a legal definition for "forage fish", raise science and management duties for those species, and push new monitoring and catch rules to account for their role feeding larger predators. - Regional councils and scientific committees would have to define "forage fish" within 12 months and provide ongoing advice on acceptable biological catch, rebuilding, and forage abundance. New directed forage-fish fisheries would be barred until councils consider the best science and prepare management plans, a change effective 2 years after enactment. - Commercial fleets in the Atlantic herring and mackerel fisheries would see river herring and shad added as managed stocks within 180 days. The bill would require at least 50 percent of relevant mid-water trawl trips to carry an at-sea observer or an electronic/video monitoring equivalent. - Fishery managers would have to set forage-fish annual catch limits based on the dietary needs of predators like marine mammals and seabirds, a requirement that takes effect 5 years after enactment. The bill also calls for more reporting on bycatch, habitat status, and fishing sustainability.

## Cosponsors (6)

- Rep. Mast, Brian J. [R-FL-21] (R-FL), 2025-06-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA), 2025-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2025-07-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA), 2025-07-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Foster, Bill [D-IL-11] (D-IL), 2026-01-07T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More monitoring for herring and mackerel trawls: cost, low. Vessels using mid-water trawl in the Atlantic herring and mackerel fisheries would need an observer or video on at least 50% of trips. This would start within 180 days of enactment, even if other rules say otherwise. NOAA would reassign existing monitoring resources to meet this. This could add cos…
- Shad and river herring added to plans: mixed, low. Within 180 days of enactment, the Secretary would add shad and river herring as managed stocks in two Atlantic fishery plans. River herring means blueback herring and alewife; shad means American shad and hickory shad. Within one year after the addition, further plan changes would set conservation…
- Stronger rules for forage fish management: mixed, low. The bill would have the Commerce Secretary define "forage fish" within 12 months and issue guidelines within 18 months. Two years after enactment, councils would need to list unmanaged forage fish and pause any new directed fisheries until full reviews, plans, and final rules are done. Five years a…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-452: Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-3714 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3714)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-452: Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-452)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3714 (as of 2026-05-02).