Bill sets up ocean fish farms with auto-approval if agency misses deadline.
H.R. 9802 — MARA Act of 2026 · Filed by Mike Ezell (R-MS) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
The bill creates a new office in NOAA. It lets companies get 10-year permits to raise fish at sea. The bill requires studies on how fish farms affect the ocean. If NOAA does not act within 90 days, the permit is approved.
Who it affects
Fish farming companies and hatcheries can apply for permits. Fishing communities and tribal nations get to comment but cannot block permits.
One thing to notice
Permits are issued right away, but the science study takes five years. The bill approves fish farms before scientists finish checking if they are safe.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
7 cosponsors: 4 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
- Jul 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- NOAA — The federal agency that manages oceans, coasts, and weather.
- tribal nations — Native American groups with their own governments and lands.
- 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.
“Bill sets up ocean fish farms with auto-approval if agency misses deadline.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9802/simple Report an error