Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEGICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 9436, the Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act.

This bill is fundamentally about getting the science right. It gives the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, or NOAA, the State of Maine, and the lobster industry until 2035 to incorporate the most current, complete data available before implementing sweeping new gear, closure, and speed restrictions under the MMPA, restrictions that, based on outdated information, could devastate a $2 billion industry and 17,500 jobs.

Mr. Speaker, Alaska knows the cost of regulating with stale data. As the State with America's largest and most valuable commercial fishing industry, we have seen Federal agencies default to rigid one-size-fits- all mandates instead of investing in the modern surveys, monitoring, and technology needed to actually understand what is happening on the water.

That approach does not serve the resource and it doesn't serve the people who depend on it, whether they are lobstermen in Maine or fishermen in Alaska Native communities back home. Good regulation has to keep pace with good science.

H.R. 9436 does not weaken the MMPA or abandon right whale conservation. It gives regulators the runway to use better science and better tools to protect both the whales and the fishery. This committee endorsed that approach on a bipartisan 22-13 vote, and the Trump administration has backed it, as well.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense, bipartisan bill.

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