WeVote
Log In

Bill

Bill

HR 9953

Bycatch Reduction Act

119th Congress

HR 9953 would reduce trawl gear impacts and bycatch in the Bering Sea region by setting gear performance standards, adding seafloor detection, expanding salmon excluders, modernizi

Introduced in House
2
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HR 9953

Summary of HR 9953 (Session 119)

Purpose and intent

HR 9953 aims to reduce trawl gear impacts on bycatch and seafloor habitat in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. The bill seeks to modernize and expand several aspects of fisheries management, including gear performance standards, seafloor contact detection, salmon excluder requirements, Council transparency and participation, ecosystem analyses, and electronic monitoring. It also proposes prohibiting unsustainable foreign seafood imports and creating a Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund to support these efforts.

Key provisions and changes

  • Trawl gear impact reduction

    • Establishes standards intended to minimize bycatch and damage to seabed habitats in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska.
    • Introduces or strengthens requirements related to gear performance to lessen ecological harm.

  • Gear performance standards

    • Sets measurable performance criteria for trawl gear to ensure reduced bycatch rates and less seabed contact.
    • Likely to require ongoing compliance testing and verification, with potential timelines for adoption.

  • Seafloor contact detection

    • Requires mechanisms or technologies to detect and monitor when gear contacts the seafloor.
    • Aims to improve accountability and data collection on habitat disturbance.

  • Salmon excluder requirements

    • Implements or expands requirements for devices or methods that exclude salmon from trawl gear.
    • Designed to reduce salmon bycatch while maintaining harvest efficiency.

  • Council transparency and participation

    • Enhances procedures for public access to meetings, data, and decision-making processes.
    • Potentially expands opportunities for stakeholders (fishing industry, scientists, coastal communities) to participate.

  • Prioritization of ecosystem analyses

    • Shifts emphasis toward ecosystem-level analyses in fishery management decisions.
    • Supports integrated assessments of ecological interactions, habitat health, and species stocks.

  • Electronic monitoring modernization

    • Updates requirements for electronic monitoring (EM) systems on vessels.
    • Could include data standards, reporting capabilities, and broader adoption to improve compliance and data quality.

  • Import controls on unsustainable foreign seafood

    • Prohibits imports deemed unsustainable, aiming to level the playing field for domestic fisheries and protect U.S. ecosystems.
    • Would involve criteria or certification for determining unsustainability of foreign seafood products.

  • Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund

    • Establishes a dedicated fund to support bycatch reduction, gear innovation, habitat protection, and related activities.
    • Likely provides grants or appropriations to research, implementation, and enforcement efforts.

Who and what would be affected

  • Fisheries and vessels operating in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska, particularly those using bottom trawl gear.
  • Salmon fisheries due to new or expanded excluder requirements.
  • Fisheries management processes through the United States Congress and the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, due to enhanced transparency and ecosystem-focused analyses.
  • Electronic monitoring programs and vessel operators, through updated standards and broader implementation.
  • Importers and foreign seafood suppliers subject to new prohibitions on unsustainable sources.
  • Researchers and coastal communities via expanded access to data and greater involvement in decision-making.
  • The Bycatch Mitigation and Habitat Protection Assistance Fund as a new funding stream to support compliance, innovation, and habitat protection.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Introduced and referred: HR 9953 was introduced in the House and referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources (as of 2026-07-27).
  • The bill’s subsequent timeline (markup, amendments, and potential passage) would depend on committee actions, floor consideration, and potential amendments that align with committee priorities and floor schedules.

Potential impacts and considerations

  • Could improve ecosystem stewardship and habitat protection in regions with sensitive seabed and important salmon stocks.
  • May increase costs and operational changes for trawl vessels due to gear modifications, EM requirements, and compliance with new standards.
  • Aims to strengthen domestic seafood market integrity by restricting unsustainable foreign imports.
  • The new fund could accelerate research, innovation, and habitat mitigation projects but would require appropriation and administrative oversight.
  • Enhanced transparency and stakeholder participation may influence policy outcomes and stakeholder trust.

If you’d like, I can pull specific section-by-section highlights or compare this bill to existing law to show where exactly these provisions would modify current authorities.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

Sign in to ask a question.