Bill sets up federal fish farming program with fast permit approval.
H.R. 9673 — MARA Act of 2026 · Filed by Mike Ezell (R-MS) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 14, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill creates a new Office of Aquaculture in NOAA. It lets companies get permits to run demonstration fish farms. The bill funds training programs and research centers at colleges. It also orders studies on fish farm environmental effects. It studies whether the rules work.
Who it affects
Fish farming companies want to build and run ocean farms. Coastal towns may get jobs from the farms. Colleges that serve minority students get grant money for research.
One thing to notice
If NOAA does not say no within 90 days after public comment, the permit is automatically approved. Permits renew for 10 more years if the farm follows rules.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.
- Jul 14, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 14, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- aquaculture — Raising fish or other water animals on farms in the ocean.
- NOAA — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency managing oceans.
- permits — Official written permission from the government to do something.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,012 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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 2026-09-23.
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