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Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-110

§757b Authority of the Secretary with Regards to Anadromous and Great Lakes Fisheries; Development and Management

Title 16 › CHAPTER 9A — PRESERVATION OF FISHERY RESOURCES › § 757b

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

Under agreements made with section 757a(a), the Secretary can take actions to protect and improve anadromous fish and fish in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain that swim up streams to spawn. The Secretary may do surveys and research, clear streams, and build or run devices and structures to improve feeding and spawning, protect fish, help fish migrate, and control sea lamprey. The Secretary can build and operate fish hatcheries. The Secretary can study streams and waters and send reports and recommendations to the States, Congress, and federal water resources construction agencies. The law does not allow general water projects, except projects needed only for fish conservation; those limited projects may be planned and built by the Bureau of Reclamation (in its area), the Corps of Engineers, the Department of Agriculture, or the States, using funds provided under sections 757a–757f and following the cost-sharing and appropriation rules there. The Secretary may buy, lease, accept donations of, or exchange land or land interests for lands under federal control, equalizing values with cash if needed. The Secretary can accept donated money to buy or manage land and must manage acquired land for the purposes of sections 757a–757f. Title to lands acquired under these sections will be held by the cooperating States or other non‑Federal interests.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §757b

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary, in accordance with any agreements entered into pursuant to section 757a(a) of this title, is authorized (1) to conduct such investigations, engineering and biological surveys, and research as may be desirable to carry out the program; (2) to carry out stream clearance activities; (3) to construct, install, maintain, and operate devices and structures for the improvement of feeding and spawning conditions, for the protection of fishery resources, and for facilitating the free migration of the fish, and for the control of the sea lamprey; (4) to construct, operate, and maintain fish hatcheries wherever necessary to accomplish the purposes of sections 757a to 757f of this title; (5) to conduct such studies and make such recommendations as the Secretary determines to be appropriate regarding the development and management of any stream or other body of water for the conservation and enhancement of anad­romous fishery resources and the fish in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain that ascend streams to spawn: Provided, That the reports on such studies and the recommendations of the Secretary shall be transmitted to the States, the Congress, and the Federal water resources construction agencies for their information: Provided further, That sections 757a to 757f of this title shall not be construed as authorizing the formulation or construction of water resources projects, except that water resources projects which are determined by the Seretary to be needed solely for the conservation, protection, and enhancement of such fish may be planned and constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation in its currently authorized geographic area of responsibility or by the Corps of Engineers, or by the Department of Agriculture, or by the States, with funds made available by the Secretary under sections 757a to 757f of this title and subject to the cost-sharing and appropriations provisions of sections 757a to 757f of this title; (6) to acquire lands or interests therein by purchase, lease, donation, or exchange for acquired lands or public lands under his jurisdiction which he finds suitable for disposition: Provided, That the lands or interests therein so exchanged shall involve approximately equal values, as determined by the Secretary: Provided further, That the Secretary may accept cash from, or pay cash to, the grantor in such an exchange in order to equalize the values of the properties exchanged; (7) to accept donations of funds and to use such funds to acquire or manage lands or interests therein; and (8) to administer such lands or interests therein for the purposes of sections 757a to 757f of this title. Title to lands or interests therein acquired pursuant to sections 757a to 757f of this title shall be in the cooperating States or other non-Federal interests.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1979—Pub. L. 96–118 substituted “cooperating States or other non-Federal interests” for “United States”. 1978—Cl. (5). Pub. L. 95–464 inserted “and Lake Champlain” after “Great Lakes”. 1974—Cl. (3). Pub. L. 93–362 inserted reference to the control of the sea lamprey.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 757b

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110