Cormorant Relief Act of 2025

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2293) to require the Secretary of the Interior to reissue certain regulations relating to the taking of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 2293, the bill now under consideration.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2293, the Cormorant Relief Act of 2025, sponsored by Representative Ezell from Mississippi. This legislation would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate the Aquaculture Depredation Order for double-crested cormorants, which was in place from 1998 until 2016, until it was vacated by a judge in response to yet another activist lawsuit.

Double-crested cormorants are waterbirds common to the Great Lakes States and the Southeast. They are opportunistic and intelligent predators that often feed at aquaculture facilities, where fish are easy to catch. A variety of studies have determined that predation from double-crested cormorants costs the aquaculture industry nearly $65 million annually in economic losses.

This legislation would streamline the permitting process to take double-crested cormorants, restoring protections for aquaculture producers without negatively impacting cormorant populations.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Ezell for his continued leadership and urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2293. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Ezell), the lead sponsor of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, this commonsense bill allows aquaculture producers to effectively manage the overpopulation of double-crested cormorants, which threatens their way of life and harms coastal economies. I once again thank Mr. Ezell for his diligent work and attention to this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 2293 and yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am here today to speak on H.R. 2293, the Cormorant Relief Act of 2025.

Aquaculture facilities nationwide are facing issues with predatory birds. We experience it in Washington State as well, along with the pinnipeds that we spent some time discussing last week.

Double-crested cormorants consume large quantities of fish from these operations, negatively impacting businesses that provide jobs and support their local communities.

From 2003 to 2014, the Fish and Wildlife Service implemented the 2003 proposed rule adopting the Aquaculture Depredation Order and the Public Resource Depredation Order, a Federal program that allowed aquaculture operators, States, and Tribes to manage cormorant populations in a controlled way with proper oversight. That program was found to be unlawful by the courts.

This bill would lawfully reinstate the depredation order for aquaculture facilities. Further, it would expand coverage to 12 States and allow the Secretary to add others as appropriate. The bill would also include aquaculture lake managers and pond managers who face similar challenges.

I am pleased we were able to work out a bipartisan solution that maintains environmental safeguards under bedrock environmental protections like NEPA and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This approach will provide a reasonable regulatory framework with proper oversight and require renewal every 5 years to ensure that it is working as intended and that, moving forward, the Fish and Wildlife Service conducts proper environmental assessments as it renews the program.

This bill will help U.S.-based aquaculture producers deliver healthy and affordable protein for American families.

Mr. Speaker, I think this is a workable approach we can support, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2293, the Cormorant Relief Act of 2025, which reinstates the Aquaculture Depredation Order for double-crested cormorants. The double-crested cormorant is a nuisance, plain and simple.

A single cormorant can eat up to 1\1/2\ pounds of fish every day. Even the Fish and Wildlife Service has classified them as opportunist and generalist feeders that prey on a wide range of species.

Yet, farmers are still forced to jump through needless hoops to prevent these birds from wiping out their stock. The Aquaculture Depredation Order is nothing new. It is the same commonsense tool that was easily reinstated in 2003, 2009, and 2014.

Aquaculture farmers have been struggling for years with the importation of nondomestic catfish flooding the market. Every year, American catfish farmer communities lose up to $64 million in stock to the cormorants alone.

For far too long, catfish farmers in Mississippi and across the Southeast have been weighed down by burdensome permits and processes created by people too far removed from the realities of everyday, working-class Americans.

It is past time we restore a commonsense approach to this and ensure that our farmers can finally defend their ponds without any Federal red tape in the way.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Westerman, Leader Scalise, the Gulf Coast officials, and numerous Mississippians who have worked hard to bring this bill to the floor. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''