I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7166 

To establish the Great Lakes Mass Marking Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2024 

Mrs. DINGELL (for herself and Mr. HUIZENGA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Great Lakes Mass Marking Program, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Mass 

5 Marking Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Great Lakes have experienced rapid 

9 changes in recent years due to— 

10 (A) the introduction of multiple aquatic 

11 invasive species; 


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1 (B) alterations in the food web; and 

2 (C) decreases in the abundance of prey 

3 species; 

4 (2) due to rapid biological change in the Great 

5 Lakes, the Great Lakes need a collaborative, science6 based program to assist in making management ac7 tions regarding fish stocking rates, the rehabilitation 

8 of important fish species, and habitat restoration; 

9 (3) the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, 

10 Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wis11 consin and Indian Tribes in those States, working 

12 through the Council of Lake Committees of the 

13 Great Lakes Fishery Commission, have identified 

14 that mass marking is— 

15 (A) a precise tool to keep hatchery-pro16 duced fish in balance with wild fish; and 

17 (B) essential to achieving fishery manage18 ment and research objectives through producing 

19 a better understanding of— 

20 (i) the quantity of hatchery produced 

21 fish compared to wild fish in the Great 

22 Lakes; 

23 (ii) the effectiveness of hatchery oper24 ations; and 


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1 (iii) the effectiveness of fishery man2 agement actions; 

3 (4) the mass marking program of the United 

4 States Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great 

5 Lakes— 

6 (A) was initiated in 2010 on a limited 

7 scale; 

8 (B) annually tags approximately 9,000,000 

9 to 11,000,000 of the hatchery-produced fish 

10 stocked in the Great Lakes; 

11 (C) is a basinwide cooperative effort 

12 among the United States Fish and Wildlife 

13 Service, Indian Tribes, and State management 

14 agencies; and 

15 (D) produces data used by State and Trib16 al fish management agencies to make manage17 ment decisions regarding Great Lakes fisheries; 

18 (5) annually, Federal, State, and Tribal agen19 cies stock approximately 21,000,000 hatchery-pro20 duced fish in the Great Lakes to support— 

21 (A) native species recovery; and 

22 (B) recreational and commercial fishing; 

23 (6) mass marking of hatchery-produced fish, 

24 using automated technology, is an efficient method 


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1 of implementing a collaborative, science-based fish2 ery program; and 

3 (7) the Great Lakes are an important and val4 ued resource that— 

5 (A) supports a robust regional economy 

6 valued at more than $7,000,000,000; and 

7 (B) provides stability to the economy of 

8 the United States. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

12 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

13 Service. 

14 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

15 the Great Lakes Mass Marking Program established 

16 by section 4(a). 

17 SEC. 4. GREAT LAKES MASS MARKING PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—To assist in determining the effec19 tiveness of hatchery operations and fisheries management 

20 actions and to support Great Lakes fisheries, there is es21 tablished within the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv22 ice a program for the mass marking of hatchery-produced 

23 fish in the Great Lakes basin, to be known as the ‘‘Great 

24 Lakes Mass Marking Program’’. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIONS.—In carrying out the Pro2 gram, the Director may— 

3 (1) purchase capital and expendable equipment, 

4 fish tags, and other items necessary to support and 

5 carry out tagging and tag recovery operations, in6 cluding data processing and data dissemination re7 lating to those operations; and 

8 (2) hire additional personnel, as necessary. 

9 (c) REQUIRED COLLABORATION.—In carrying out 

10 the Program, the Director shall collaborate with applicable 

11 Federal, State, and Tribal fish management agencies, the 

12 Council of Lake Committees of the Great Lakes Fishery 

13 Commission, and signatories to the Joint Strategic Plan 

14 for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries. 

15 (d) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Director shall 

16 make the data collected under the Program available to 

17 applicable Federal, State, and Tribal fish management 

18 agencies— 

19 (1) to increase the understanding of the out20 comes of management action; 

21 (2) to assist in meeting the restoration objec22 tives of the Great Lakes, including the fish commu23 nity objectives and fish management plans described 

24 in the Joint Strategic Plan for Management of 

25 Great Lakes Fisheries; 


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1 (3) to assist in balancing predators and prey; 

2 (4) to support and improve the economic status 

3 of Tribal, recreational, and commercial fisheries; and 

4 (5) to assist in evaluating the effectiveness of 

5 habitat restoration efforts in the Great Lakes. 

6 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 the Program $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

9 through 2029. 

Æ 


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