Florida gets a ban on feeding sharks in federal ocean waters.
H.R. 3831 — Florida Safe Seas Act of 2025 · Filed by Daniel Webster (R-FL) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 6, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
This bill makes it illegal to feed sharks in federal waters off Florida's coast. The same rule already existed for Hawaii. Federal waters start three nautical miles from shore. They extend to 200 nautical miles out.
Who it affects
People who fish, dive, or run boats in federal waters off Florida are affected. Shark-diving tour companies that feed sharks in those waters would have to stop. The rule protects swimmers and other people who use Florida's ocean.
One thing to notice
The bill bans shark feeding only in federal waters far from shore. Shark feeding in state waters is not covered by this law.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 4 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Jun 6, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 6, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Jul 22, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Mar 5, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Mar 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent”
- Jun 2, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3751)”
- Jun 2, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- federal waters — Ocean areas owned and controlled by the U.S. government, not by a state.
- nautical miles — A unit of distance used to measure ocean areas and distances at sea.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (418 characters) on Jul 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-21.
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