Delays new whale-protection rules for lobster and crab fishing gear to 2035

§1What it does

Why this matters: A plain-English description of the bill as it was voted on, written by us from the official summary and text.

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This bill would push back from 2028 to 2035 the deadline for the National Marine Fisheries Service to issue new rules to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from getting entangled in lobster and crab fishing gear.^2,3,4 The bill makes this change by replacing 2028 with 2035 in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a federal spending law, and the same change extends how long certain existing right whale regulations remain in effect.⁴ Under existing law, the new rules must require the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to use existing and new gear technologies, as appropriate, to reduce the risk of entangling whales.³

§2Status

§3How Congress voted

Why this matters: The official count.