Interior Department gets permanent green light to kill protected birds for fish farms

What it does

This bill requires the Interior Secretary to reissue a federal regulation that allows the killing of double-crested cormorants at fish farms and private aquaculture facilities. The reissued rule expands the geographic scope (adding 12 named states plus others the Secretary deems appropriate), extends eligibility to lake and pond managers, modernizes language and recordkeeping, removes a 2014 expiration date, and requires renewal every 5 years. The bill does not waive compliance with environmental law or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core function is to expand and perpetualize a federal authorization allowing the killing of a protected bird species at commercial and private aquaculture sites. It is narrowly tailored to benefit fish-farming operations by removing regulatory barriers and expiration dates.

What the text implies

• Expansion to private lake and pond managers (not just commercial aquaculture) may create a de facto open season on cormorants at any licensed private water body, potentially far exceeding the original commercial fish-farming scope.
• Removal of the June 30, 2014 expiration date converts a time-limited depredation order into a permanent authorization, shifting the regulatory burden from periodic renewal/justification to indefinite continuation unless actively revoked.
• The bill requires NEPA and Migratory Bird Treaty Act compliance but does not mandate that the Secretary conduct new environmental review before reissuance—it only requires compliance with those laws, which may be satisfied by relying on prior analysis.
• Cormorants provide ecosystem services (controlling invasive fish species); expanded killing authority may have unintended ecological consequences that are not addressed in the bill's text.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

The bill benefits aquaculture operators and private fish-farm owners by making it easier and more permanent to kill cormorants that prey on farmed fish, reducing their operational costs. However, it may reduce wild cormorant populations and ecosystem services (cormorants control invasive fish species), and the expansion to private lake/pond managers creates a broader killing authorization that could affect bird populations beyond commercial aquaculture.

Who stands to gain

• aquaculture operators and fish farms
• private lake and pond management companies
• commercial fishing operations

Named in the bill

Secretary of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, double-crested cormorant, aquaculture facilities, 50 CFR 21.47, National Environmental Policy Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pe

Where it stands

3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.

• Mar 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Mar 24, 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”
• Apr 8, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
• Jul 15, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jul 15, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Unanimous Consent”
• Dec 9, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5076-5077)”
• Dec 9, 2025 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Hurd (CO) 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 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $720,409 in lobbying spend. A filing names 37 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Mike Ezell, the sponsor, reported $480,431 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• American Farm Bureau Fed — $720,409 on 3 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.