Great Lakes Mass Marking Program Act of 2025

Key Points

• This bill creates a formal program to tag and track fish raised in hatcheries before they are released into the Great Lakes. By marking these fish with automated technology, scientists can tell them apart from wild fish to see how well stocking efforts are working.
• The program would help protect the Great Lakes fishing industry, which is worth about $7 billion to the regional economy. It provides better data to help state and Tribal agencies decide how many fish to add to the lakes to keep the ecosystem healthy and balanced.
• If passed, the government would spend $5 million each year through 2030 on this project. The money would pay for high-tech tagging machines, fish tags, and the staff needed to manage all the data collected from the lakes.
• This effort aims to fix problems caused by invasive species and changes in the food chain that have hurt local fish populations. It helps ensure that the 21 million fish stocked in the lakes every year are actually helping native species recover and supporting local fishers.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.