Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025

The Forage Fish Conservation Act of 2025 aims to elevate the management of forage fish—small to mid-sized species that serve as a key energy conduit in marine ecosystems. It would require a formal definition of forage fish, integrate their ecological role into science and management decisions, and tighten controls on new directed forage fish fisheries until careful review and planning are completed. The bill also strengthens scientific advice, mandates diet-based considerations in setting annual catch limits, and adds river herring and shad as managed stocks with expanded monitoring requirements. Overall, it seeks to protect ecosystem function and the predators that rely on forage fish (like tuna, pollock, seabirds, and marine mammals) while guiding Council and regulatory actions. Key elements include establishing a formal definition of forage fish, embedding ecosystem considerations into scientific and management processes, restricting new directed forage fish fisheries until approved plans are in place, requiring diet-based accountability in catch limits, and expanding monitoring and planning for river herring and shad in Atlantic fisheries. The measures would be phased in over several years and require coordination among Congress, the Secretary of Commerce, fishery management councils, and scientific bodies.