Supporting the Health of Aquatic Systems Through Research Knowledge and Enhanced Dialogue Act of 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. HUFFMAN. 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.

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

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