I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1514
To establish the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY24, 2025
Mr. E
ZELL(for himself and Mr. CARTERof Louisiana) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To establish the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3
(a) S
HORTTITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4
‘‘Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act of 5
2025’’. 6
(b) T
ABLE OFCONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7
this Act is as follows: 8
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Establishment of Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission.
Sec. 5. Commission governance.
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Sec. 6. Commission management duties.
Sec. 7. Commission grant program.
Sec. 8. Nonbinding authority.
Sec. 9. Withdrawal from the Commission.
Sec. 10. Report to Congress.
Sec. 11. Appropriations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
1
Congress finds the following: 2
(1) Management of the inland fishery resources 3
of the Mississippi River Basin are shared by 31 4
States, multiple Federal agencies, and 2 Canadian 5
provinces. 6
(2) The Mississippi River Basin is the fourth 7
largest watershed in the world, and the largest wa-8
tershed in the Nation, draining all or part of 31 9
States and 2 Canadian provinces. The watershed 10
measures approximately 1,200,000 square miles, and 11
covers 41 percent of the continental United States. 12
(3) The Mississippi River and its tributaries 13
comprise 1 of the largest and most valuable eco-14
systems in the world. 15
(4) The Mississippi River Basin supports eco-16
nomically and culturally significant subsistence, com-17
mercial, and recreational fisheries. 18
(5) States within the Mississippi River Basin 19
have formed multiple regional interstate partner-20
ships, and 1 basin-wide partnership, to promote co-21
operation and communication among the conserva-22
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tion agencies to manage the interjurisdictional fish-1
ery resources of the basin. Twenty-eight Mississippi 2
River Basin State fishery agencies, the United 3
States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Rec-4
lamation, the United States Geological Survey, the 5
Tennessee Valley Authority, the Chippewa-Cree 6
Tribe, and the Chickasaw Nation ratified the Mis-7
sissippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Agreement 8
in 1990 and formed the Mississippi Interstate Coop-9
erative Resource Association (MICRA) in 1991 to 10
improve the management of interjurisdictional fish-11
ery resources in the basin. 12
(6) Recognizing the economic, ecologic, and cul-13
tural value of the diverse interjurisdictional fishery 14
resources in the Mississippi River Basin and the 15
complexity and severity of issues facing resource 16
management agencies, Congress acknowledges the 17
need for the establishment of a Mississippi River 18
Basin Fishery Commission for basin-wide, inter- 19
agency collaboration in the establishment of shared 20
management objectives, and the collaborative plan-21
ning, implementation, and evaluation of management 22
actions to provide for the long-term biologic and eco-23
nomic sustainability of interjurisdictional fishery re-24
sources in the basin. 25
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(7) As long-term sustainability of interjurisdic-1
tional fishery resources is dependent on the control 2
of aquatic invasive species within the Mississippi 3
River Basin, it is the further purpose of this Com-4
mission to provide for coordinated, inter-agency, 5
basin-wide management, control, and removal of 6
invasive carps and other prioritized aquatic invasive 7
species within the basin. 8
(8) By consent of Congress, and as directed by 9
Federal law under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 10
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 11
et seq.) and the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 12
1986 (16 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.), sustainable fisheries 13
within the United States coastal waters of the Pa-14
cific, Atlantic, and Caribbean Oceans, and the Gulf 15
of Mexico, have been managed by multi-state com-16
missions and fishery councils for many decades. 17
(9) The interjurisdictional and international 18
fishery resources of the Great Lakes are coopera-19
tively managed by the Great Lakes Fishery Commis-20
sion, operating through the 1954 Convention on 21
Great Lake Fisheries. 22
(10) The Mississippi River Basin Fishery Com-23
mission will improve the management and utilization 24
of sustainable interjurisdictional fishery resources in 25
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the Mississippi River Basin through the development 1
of a multi-agency program for the joint management 2
and protection of such fishery resources. 3
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 4
In this Act: 5
(1) A
QUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES .—The term 6
‘‘aquatic invasive species’’ means a nonindigenous 7
species that threatens the diversity or abundance of 8
native species in, or the ecological stability of, in-9
fested waters, or commercial, agricultural, 10
aquacultural, or recreational activities dependent on 11
such waters. 12
(2) C
OMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 13
means the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commis-14
sion established under section 4. 15
(3) D
IRECTOR OF FISHERIES .—The term ‘‘di-16
rector of fisheries’’ means the individual in a State 17
who is the highest designated officer in charge of 18
fishery management employed by the State, regard-19
less of the formal title of such individual. 20
(4) E
LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-21
ty’’ includes— 22
(A) any political subdivision, agency, or de-23
partment of a Mississippi River Basin State 24
that regulates Mississippi River Basin fisheries; 25
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(B) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 1
4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-2
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) or an 3
entity controlled by an Indian Tribe that man-4
ages Mississippi River Basin fisheries; 5
(C) the United States Geological Survey; 6
(D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 7
Service; 8
(E) the United States Army Corps of En-9
gineers; 10
(F) the Engineer Research and Develop-11
ment Center of the United States Army Corps 12
of Engineers; and 13
(G) the Tennessee Valley Authority. 14
(5) F
ISHERY RESOURCE .—The term ‘‘fishery 15
resource’’ means finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and 16
any other form of animal or plant life, other than 17
mammals or birds. 18
(6) I
NTERJURISDICTIONAL FISHERY RE -19
SOURCE.—The term ‘‘interjurisdictional fishery re-20
source’’ means— 21
(A) a fishery resource located in a fishery 22
in waters under the jurisdiction of 2 or more 23
Mississippi River Basin States; 24
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(B) a fishery resource for which there ex-1
ists an interstate fishery management plan; or 2
(C) a fishery resource that migrates be-3
tween the waters under the jurisdiction of 2 or 4
more Mississippi River Basin States. 5
(7) I
NVASIVE CARP.—The term ‘‘invasive carp’’ 6
means an aquatic invasive species of finfish that— 7
(A) originated in Europe and Asia; 8
(B) spread quickly once they are estab-9
lished in a body of water or waterway; 10
(C) cause serious damage to the native fish 11
populations, as well as economic and physical 12
harm to humans; and 13
(D) include the bighead carp, black carp, 14
grass carp, and silver carp. 15
(8) M
EMBER ENTITY.—The term ‘‘member en-16
tity’’ means an eligible entity that maintains an ac-17
tive membership in the Commission. 18
(9) M
ISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN STATE .—The 19
term ‘‘Mississippi River Basin State’’ means a State 20
whose borders include waters that drain into the 21
Mississippi River Basin, including Alabama, Arkan-22
sas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan-23
sas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Min-24
nesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, 25
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New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Da-1
kota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, 2
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wis-3
consin, and Wyoming. 4
(10) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 5
means the Secretary of the Interior. 6
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN 7
FISHERY COMMISSION. 8
(a) I
NGENERAL.—There is established in the De-9
partment of the Interior the Mississippi River Basin Fish-10
ery Commission. 11
(b) M
EMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.—Any eligible 12
entity may join the Commission by notifying the executive 13
director and existing members of the Commission in writ-14
ing of its intent to join the Commission. 15
SEC. 5. COMMISSION GOVERNANCE. 16
(a) V
OTINGDELEGATES.— 17
(1) S
TATES.—With respect to each eligible enti-18
ty described in section 3(4)(A) that joins the Com-19
mission, the director of fisheries of such eligible enti-20
ty shall serve as the voting delegate to represent 21
such entity’s interests on the Commission. 22
(2) F
EDERAL AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBES .— 23
With respect to each eligible entity described in any 24
of subparagraphs (B) through (G) of section 3(4) 25
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that joins the Commission, such entity shall appoint 1
1 individual to serve as the voting delegate to rep-2
resent such entity’s interests on the Commission. 3
(b) B
ODYCORPORATE.—The Commission shall be a 4
body corporate with the powers and duties described in 5
this Act. The member entities shall establish a governance 6
structure for the Commission. 7
(c) E
XECUTIVEDIRECTOR ANDSTAFF.—The Com-8
mission shall— 9
(1) appoint a full-time executive director and 10
staff as needed to carry out the administrative du-11
ties of the Commission, who shall— 12
(A) provide advice to, and carry out oper-13
ational duties of, the Commission; and 14
(B) have no voting rights on the Commis-15
sion; and 16
(2) at its pleasure, appoint, remove, or dis-17
charge such executive director and staff, as may be 18
needed, and fix and determine their duties, qualifica-19
tions, and compensation. 20
(d) C
HAIR ANDVICECHAIR.—The Commission shall 21
elect a Chair and a Vice Chair of the Commission from 22
the member entities. 23
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(e) RULE AND REGULATIONS.—The Commission 1
shall adopt rules and regulations for the conduct of its 2
business. 3
(f) O
FFICES ANDMEETINGS.—The Commission— 4
(1) may establish and maintain 1 or more of-5
fices for the transaction of its business, which shall 6
be located within the Mississippi River Basin; and 7
(2) may meet at any time or place but not less 8
often than annually. 9
(g) D
ECISIONMAKING.—The Commission may make 10
a recommendation or take an action regarding its general 11
affairs only by an affirmative vote of a majority of the 12
member entities. The Commission shall strive for una-13
nimity in its decisions but shall operate by consensus in 14
its decision making. 15
(h) FACA N
OT TOAPPLY.—Chapter 10 of title 5, 16
United States Code, shall not apply to the Commission. 17
SEC. 6. COMMISSION MANAGEMENT DUTIES. 18
(a) O
VERSEEINGSUB-BASINFISHERYMANAGE-19
MENT.— 20
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Commission shall over-21
see the management plans and the implementation 22
and evaluation of the effectiveness of management 23
actions of the 6 Mississippi River sub-basins de-24
scribed in paragraph (2) to provide for the long-term 25
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biologic and economic sustainability of interjurisdic-1
tional fisheries in the Mississippi River Basin. 2
(2) S
UB-BASINS.—The 6 Mississippi River sub- 3
basins are the Arkansas-Red-White, the Lower Mis-4
sissippi, the Missouri, the Ohio, the Tennessee-Cum-5
berland, and the Upper Mississippi. 6
(b) C
OMMISSIONMANAGEMENTPLAN.— 7
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As the framework for a 8
management plan for the Commission, the Commis-9
sion shall adopt and use the MICRA Joint Strategic 10
Plan for Management of Mississippi River Fisheries, 11
which— 12
(A) was adopted and approved by 28 13
States in the Mississippi River Basin; and 14
(B) establishes a formal commitment to a 15
set of strategic procedures for a coordinated, 16
inter-agency approach to cooperatively man-17
aging self-sustaining interjurisdictional fishery 18
resources in the Mississippi River Basin. 19
(2) B
EST METHODS, PRACTICES, AND CONDI-20
TIONS.—The Commission shall work to research and 21
implement the best scientific methods, best prac-22
tices, and best conditions to bring about the con-23
servation and sustainable management of interjuris-24
dictional fisheries in the Mississippi River Basin. 25
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(3) STRATEGIES TO CONTROL INVASIVE SPE -1
CIES.—The Commission shall— 2
(A) develop and coordinate inter-agency 3
and inter-basin strategies to prevent the intro-4
duction and control the abundance and spread 5
of invasive carps and other prioritized aquatic 6
invasive species within the Mississippi River 7
Basin; and 8
(B) draft and recommend to the appro-9
priate management agencies strategies and ap-10
proaches for dealing with the conservation of 11
interjurisdictional fisheries and the manage-12
ment and control of aquatic invasive species 13
within the Mississippi River Basin. 14
(4) C
ONSULTATION AND ADVICE .—The Com-15
mission shall consult with and advise the pertinent 16
administrative agencies party to the Commission re-17
garding problems connected with the fisheries in the 18
Mississippi River Basin and recommend the adop-19
tion of such regulations as it determines advisable. 20
(5) R
EEXAMINATION AND EVALUATION OF 21
JOINT STRATEGIC PLAN .—Not later than 30 years 22
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-23
sion, in consultation with the Secretary, shall— 24
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(A) reexamine and evaluate the Joint Stra-1
tegic Plan described in paragraph (1) to— 2
(i) determine which portions of the 3
Plan have been completed and which need 4
updating; and 5
(ii) add new objectives, if any, to the 6
Plan; and 7
(B) issue a report to Congress on the sta-8
tus of interjurisdictional fishery populations and 9
the state of the ongoing work to eradicate, 10
manage, and control aquatic invasive species in 11
the Mississippi River Basin in accordance with 12
the management plan of the Commission. 13
SEC. 7. COMMISSION GRANT PROGRAM. 14
(a) E
STABLISHMENT OF GRANTPROGRAM.—Not 15
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, 16
the Commission, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 17
establish— 18
(1) a competitive grant program to award 19
grants to entities to carry out an eligible project; 20
and 21
(2) a formula grant program to award grants 22
to State member entities to carry out eligible inter-23
jurisdictional fisheries projects carried out in accord-24
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ance with the recommendation of the Commission or 1
the Joint Strategic Plan described in section 6(b)(1). 2
(b) E
NTITIESELIGIBLETORECEIVEGRANTS.—The 3
Commission may provide— 4
(1) formula grants and competitive grants to 5
State member entities; and 6
(2) competitive grants to private entities, Fed-7
eral agencies, nongovernmental organizations, public 8
and private institutions of higher education, and 9
partnerships between entities described in this sub-10
section. 11
(c) C
OMPETITIVEGRANTS.— 12
(1) A
PPLICATIONS.—An entity desiring a com-13
petitive grant under this section shall submit to the 14
Commission an application at such time, in such 15
manner, and containing such information as the 16
Commission may require. 17
(2) P
RIORITY FOR ENTITIES PROVIDING 18
MATCHING FUNDS.—In awarding competitive grants 19
under this section, the Commission shall give pri-20
ority to entities that will provide matching funds 21
from non-Federal sources of not less than 10 per-22
cent of the grant award, which may be provided in 23
cash or in-kind. 24
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(d) FORMULAGRANTPROGRAM.—The Commission 1
shall determine the amount that each State member entity 2
shall receive annually under the formula grant program. 3
(e) U
SE OFFUNDS.—An entity that receives a grant 4
under this section shall use the grant funds— 5
(1) in the case of— 6
(A) a competitive grant, in accordance with 7
the goals and objectives of the Joint Strategic 8
Plan described in section 6(b)(1) and each of 9
the interjurisdictional fishery management 10
plans of the 6 Mississippi River sub-basins de-11
scribed in section 6(a)(2); and 12
(B) a formula grant, to carry out eligible 13
interjurisdictional fishery projects carried out in 14
accordance with the recommendation of the 15
Commission or the Joint Strategic Plan de-16
scribed in section 6(b)(1); and 17
(2) only for projects, research, personnel, work, 18
and programs located wholly or partially in a Mis-19
sissippi River Basin State. 20
(f) A
DMINISTRATIVECOSTS.—An entity awarded a 21
grant under this section may use not more than 5 percent 22
of the grant funds for administrative costs relating to the 23
grant. 24
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(g) REPORTREQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 1 year 1
after the disbursement of grant funding under this sec-2
tion, the Chair of the Commission shall submit to Con-3
gress a report on— 4
(1) the entities awarded grants under this sec-5
tion; 6
(2) the amount each such grant; 7
(3) how such entities used the grant awards; 8
and 9
(4) how such grant awards enhanced the man-10
agement and sustainability of the interjurisdictional 11
fisheries of the Mississippi River Basin. 12
SEC. 8. NONBINDING AUTHORITY. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The authority of the Commission 14
shall be nonbinding. 15
(b) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 16
shall be construed— 17
(1) to limit the powers of any member entity 18
that is a State to repeal or enact State laws; or 19
(2) to limit the enforcement of any requirement 20
by any member entity that is a State imposing addi-21
tional conditions and restrictions to conserve its fish-22
eries within the borders of the State. 23
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SEC. 9. WITHDRAWAL FROM THE COMMISSION. 1
A member entity that intends to withdraw from the 2
Commission shall submit a notice of intent to withdraw 3
in writing not later than 6 months before the date of the 4
withdrawal to— 5
(1) the Commission; and 6
(2) each of the other member entities of the 7
Commission. 8
SEC. 10. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 9
Not later than September 1 of each year after the 10
date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall sub-11
mit a report to Congress which shall set forth the activities 12
of the Commission during the previous year. 13
SEC. 11. APPROPRIATIONS. 14
There are authorized to be appropriated— 15
(1) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 to carry out 16
the initial administrative steps necessary to set up 17
operations, house, and administer the Commission; 18
(2) to carry out sections 6 and 7— 19
(A) $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20
2027 through 2029, to remain available until 21
expended; and 22
(B) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 23
2030 through 2032, to remain available until 24
expended; and 25
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(3) $500,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 1
through 2032 to the Secretary of the Interior for 2
housing the Commission, to remain available until 3
expended. 4
Æ
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