SHARKED Act of 2025

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this bill would establish a new task force led by the National Marine Fisheries Service to identify shark conservation needs and depredation research. That is fine.

Before getting into that, I want to point out that the suspensions today are supposed to reflect some of the bipartisan work of the Committee on Natural Resources to find common ground and move bills that had process last Congress. This legislation should certainly be one of those, but committee Republicans blocked an accompanying bill, Representative Keating's Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Act. We should be voting on that bill today, and we are not.

Last year's hurricanes and floods damaged key sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation facilities, forcing them to lose money and space that would otherwise go toward recovering stranded turtles. Representative Keating's legislation would help support these facilities as they care for Endangered Species Act-listed sea turtles.

The Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Commerce Committee secured a deal in December to move that bill, along with this SHARKED Act and two other bills. Unfortunately, unelected billionaire Musk's last-minute power play on the CR scuttled that modest package, and here we are.

It is disappointing that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have decided to forgo those bipartisan commitments and move this legislation as a standalone. If House Republicans won't even follow through on these easy bipartisan agreements, it is hard to see how Democrats can trust them to keep their word in the midst of the tougher negotiations that lie ahead. It is very disappointing and part of a growing pattern of striking deals and then immediately walking away from them.

Turning to this bill, sharks are critical to healthy ocean ecosystems. As the oceans' apex predators, they help shape marine food webs, and they are a key indicator of ocean health. Unfortunately, many shark species are also threatened or endangered. Oceanic sharks and rays have declined by a whopping 71 percent since 1970. That happened in many of our lifetimes. Three-quarters of these remaining species are at risk of going extinct.

In the seventies and eighties, a fundamental lack of understanding of shark biology and their ecological importance, combined with widespread fear, was partially responsible for dramatic increases in the recreational harvest of sharks in the U.S.

Some shark populations are recovering now, but human activities are reversing even those meager gains. Scientific estimates are that humans are causing nearly 100 million shark deaths every single year, and current levels of fishing pressure will cause the majority of shark populations to continue to decline. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, overfishing threatens half of coastal sharks and rays with extinction.

Given these declines and their causes, any effort to address shark depredation must align with our Nation's goal to recover shark populations and consider the impact of heightened fishing pressure and climate change.

Last year, we passed the SHARKED Act in the House. However, I recognize the concern over whether this legislation goes far enough to ensure good outcomes for shark populations and isn't just a slippery slope toward increasing shark harvests.

Through a collaborative effort, we refocused this bill on changing angler behavior and managing expectations, as well as building out the scientific understanding of shark ecology and the impacts of climate change on predators and prey in the ocean. This is vital because nonlethal deterrents and simple changes in angler behavior are proven to reduce the probability of sharks taking fish by 65 percent.

NOAA admitted in the legislative hearing on this bill that depredation research is complex and requires sustained investment due to sharks' high intelligence and adaptability.

Another area of concern is that this bill doesn't include funding. Without it, NOAA will be unable to expand their work to address shark conservation and depredation.

I hope my colleagues who support this bill will also work with us to ensure robust funding for shark conservation priorities, like increased shark stock assessments.

This bill should promote better collaboration between the fishing community and shark researchers. That is a good thing. This partnership is necessary to reduce risks to both sharks and humans from depredation events and build our understanding of the importance of sharks and how to conserve them. These are goals we should all support.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 207) to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force regarding shark depredation, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 207, the bill now under consideration.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 207, sponsored by the Committee on Natural Resources vice chairman, Congressman Rob Wittman of Virginia.

Concerns over shark depredation are increasingly common in the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico, and North Carolina's Outer Banks. Shark interactions can be frustrating for anglers, resulting in loss of catch, damaged gear, and degraded fishing experiences. They also potentially impact the post-release survival of both target fish and bycatch.

As the number of reports of shark depredation has increased, the underlying cause remains uncertain. It could be due to an increase in the number of sharks as stocks rebuild, a learned behavior by sharks as they recognize motors, fishing techniques, or shark feeding locations as a source of food. We simply don't have enough information to answer all the questions.

To emphasize the scale of this issue, during the consideration of this legislation, we heard from Captain Jack Graham, who fishes out of the renowned Oregon Inlet in North Carolina. Captain Graham has been keeping records of tuna depredation impacting his small marina of about 25 boats. By his estimates, a staggering 250,000 pounds of tuna are depredated each month during tuna season just within his marina.

To make matters worse, shark depredation involves many Federal and State jurisdictions, but because no single entity is responsible for addressing it, very little is being done.

H.R. 207 would require the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force to address shark depredation. The task force membership would include representatives from NOAA, the Regional Fishery Management Councils, marine fisheries commissions, State fish and wildlife agencies from the States within the Regional Fishery Management Councils, and non-Federal experts.

In the 118th Congress, this legislation was passed unanimously through the Committee on Natural Resources, and it passed the House by voice vote. I am grateful that we are again considering this legislation that will help the Federal Government respond to the challenge.

Madam Speaker, I applaud Representative Wittman for his work, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Wittman), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I again thank my colleague, Mr. Wittman, for taking action to address the challenge that fishing communities across the United States currently face.

I have had the opportunity to do some recreational fishing in the western and eastern Gulf. I have had the opportunity to go out on research vessels and even down in the Florida Keys and on the Atlantic Coast. There is one thing in common, and it is you can be certain somebody is going to be reeling in a fish and a shark is going to take everything but pretty much the lips off of the hook.

People who fish more than I do and who are around this will tell you that it has gotten much more common over the years. Improving coordination between fisheries managers, State agencies, and other experts to solve the challenge of shark depredation is an approach that respects the bottom-up approach that has allowed the United States to be the gold standard in fisheries management.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge support for my bill, H.R. 207, the Supporting the Health of Aquatic systems through Research Knowledge and Enhanced Dialogue Act, also known as the SHARKED Act. As a lifelong recreational fisherman, I am particularly passionate about this bill.

Picture this: A charter boat fisherman takes an excited group of anglers 90 miles off the coast in hopes of reeling in a bluefin tuna, tarpon, or other big game species. One of the individuals hooks the first fish and starts to fight to reel it in, but before the fish ever gets to the boat, sharks have bitten and eaten the fish. This phenomenon is called depredation, which occurs when sharks interfere with fishing activities. It is essentially a massive impact on the coastal recreational fishing industry, especially the charter industry.

Shark depredation is accepted as a natural part of fishing, but it has become a widespread issue in our waters and has increased rapidly in recent years.

During the House Natural Resources Committee hearing for the SHARKED Act last year, we heard from experts discussing the impact of this phenomenon.

According to the American Sportfishing Association, 52.4 million people went fishing in the United States in 2023, supporting 826,000 jobs and contributing $129 billion to the economy.

The American Sportfishing Association also found that 87 percent of charter guides surveyed said they experienced depredations with clients, resulting in negative impacts on their business.

Anglers are losing their catch and tackle to sharks at alarming rates, and they are understandably becoming increasingly frustrated by it.

I introduced the SHARKED Act to study this issue and evaluate how we can improve sportfishing conditions for anglers while protecting sharks.

This bill establishes a fishery management task force to focus on identifying research opportunities, recommending management strategies, and developing educational materials for fishermen. The task force's membership would be appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and include representatives from the Regional Fishery Management Councils, marine fisheries commissions, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and State fish and wildlife agencies, as well as folks who enjoy recreational fishing.

This legislation will help fishermen and -women understand which species of sharks have higher rates of depredation and where you are most likely to run into that species. It will also serve as the first major step in improving communication and coordination among fisheries managers in addressing shark depredation nationwide.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 207.