Marin’s representative to Congress, Jared Huffman (CA-02), voted to pass the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included one of the largest packages of ocean and Great Lakes bills in decades, aimed at addressing the global climate crisis by protecting and conserving oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. The Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2022 also passed as part of this year’s NDAA and included key North Coast and environmental priorities.
“As usual with the nation’s bloated defense budget, I have serious concerns that we’re pouring too much money into the Pentagon’s unnecessary slush fund,” said Rep. Huffman. “However, my colleagues and I were able to successfully negotiate to improve this flawed bill – securing unprecedented victories for our oceans and water resources development at a time when climate change and drought are ravaging the globe.”
“In my role as Chair of the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee I have worked on countless efforts to safeguard our oceans – from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, to eliminating the sale of shark fins in the United States, to improving our understanding and conservation of marine mammals, all of which made it into the final package. In the remaining and productive days of a House Democratic majority, this was an important opportunity to get these priorities across the finish line” he concluded.
Key provisions in the oceans package will:
– Prevent illegal fishing and forced labor in the seafood supply chain. This title strengthens laws surrounding illegal fishing and forced labor, originating from Rep. Huffman’s bipartisan H.R. 3075, the Illegal Fishing and Forced Labor Prevention Act, which he led along with Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA). Rep. Huffman has led numerous Subcommittee hearings on this topic and championed related provisions that passed the House as part of the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act.
– Eliminate shark fin sales in the United States, an issue that Rep. Huffman has fought since he first came to Congress and supported by consistently cosponsoring the Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act. The section prohibits the domestic sale of shark fins and creates a violation penalty under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
– Enhance marine mammal conservation, research, and stranding response; Rep. Huffman has worked to protect marine mammals his entire career. This provision contains several measures to aid marine mammals, including creating a “Marine Mammal Health Monitoring and Analysis Platform”, and providing for conservation and grant programs that harness technology to reduce ocean noise, monitor marine mammals and help vessels avoid them, and improve technology for marine mammal conservation.
– Study stormwater impacts on salmon, a threat to our salmon populations that we are only beginning to understand. Rep. Huffman has attended hearings on this topic, including the threat of the tire chemical 6PPD-quinone, and led investigatory letters to the administration.
– Restore resilient coral reefs with a reauthorized and updated Coral Reef Conservation Act to better address climate change, ecosystem loss, disease outbreaks, and other threats.
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