Federal program to tag and track Great Lakes fish

What it does

The bill sets up a program in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program will tag fish raised in hatcheries. These fish are put into the Great Lakes. The program will track how many hatchery fish live in the lakes. It will also track wild fish. It will spend $2.7 million per year for five years. The money buys tagging equipment and hires workers. The program shares data with state, tribal, and federal agencies. The data helps managers decide if stocking fish works.

Who it affects

States, tribes, and federal agencies use the data to manage fish. Recreational and commercial fishers benefit from stronger fish populations. Fish hatchery operators and tagging equipment makers gain business.

One thing to notice

The program only works if Congress keeps paying for it through 2030. If funding stops, scientists will lose track of long-term fish trends.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

6 cosponsors: 4 Republicans, 2 Democrats.

• Mar 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
• Mar 25, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jun 25, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
• Jul 22, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required)…”
• Jul 22, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Tiffany moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 1 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $900,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 62 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 0% of bills with any report.

Debbie Dingell, who sponsored the bill, received $736,085 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Nature Conservancy — $900,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Great Lakes — Eight large freshwater lakes shared by the United States and Canada.
• hatcheries — Facilities where fish are born and grown before release into lakes.
• tagging equipment — Tools used to mark fish so scientists can identify and track them.
• tribal — Related to Native American nations and their governments.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.