Cormorant Relief Act of 2025
The Cormorant Relief Act of 2025 directs the Secretary of the Interior to reissue the existing depredation order that governs the taking (i.e., management, including lethal control) of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities. The reissued order would largely mirror the original order but with several updates: it would apply to more states (and to private lake and pond managers in those jurisdictions), use modern terminology, simplify how the rule interacts with other federal laws, modernize how records are kept, and remove the 2014 expiration date. The order would be renewed at least every five years. The bill preserves important environmental protections by ensuring compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). Definitions clarify terms like “lake manager” and “pond manager,” and anchor the authority to the Secretary of the Interior through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In short, the bill creates a formal, long-term framework to allow regulated take of double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities, expands who may be covered (including private lake and pond operators in additional states), and updates administrative details while maintaining environmental safeguards.
Key Points
- 1Reissue of the original depredation order for double-crested cormorants at aquaculture facilities, under the same authority as the 2016 order described in 50 CFR 21.47, with specific updates.
- 2Expansion of applicability: the reissued order would apply to additional states (including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) and to lake managers and pond managers, in the same manner as the original covered entities.
- 3Modernization and simplification: the reissued order would use modern terminology, simplify how it addresses compliance with other federal laws, and modernize recordkeeping requirements.
- 4Removal of expiration and periodic renewal: the original depredation order’s expiration date (June 30, 2014) would be removed, but the reissued order must be renewed at least every five years.
- 5Safeguards and definitions: the act preserves NEPA and MBTA compliance and provides definitions for key terms (e.g., lake manager, pond manager, original depredation order, Secretary).