I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1514 
To establish the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 24, 2025 
Mr. EZELL (for himself and Mr. CARTER of Louisiana) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To establish the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act of 
2025’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Definitions. 
Sec. 4. Establishment of Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission. 
Sec. 5. Commission governance. 
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Sec. 6. Commission management duties. 
Sec. 7. Commission grant program. 
Sec. 8. Nonbinding authority. 
Sec. 9. Withdrawal from the Commission. 
Sec. 10. Report to Congress. 
Sec. 11. Appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Management of the inland fishery resources 
of the Mississippi River Basin are shared by 31 
States, multiple Federal agencies, and 2 Canadian 
provinces. 
(2) The Mississippi River Basin is the fourth 
largest watershed in the world, and the largest wa-
tershed in the Nation, draining all or part of 31 
States and 2 Canadian provinces. The watershed 
measures approximately 1,200,000 square miles, and 
covers 41 percent of the continental United States. 
(3) The Mississippi River and its tributaries 
comprise 1 of the largest and most valuable eco-
systems in the world. 
(4) The Mississippi River Basin supports eco-
nomically and culturally significant subsistence, com-
mercial, and recreational fisheries. 
(5) States within the Mississippi River Basin 
have formed multiple regional interstate partner-
ships, and 1 basin-wide partnership, to promote co-
operation and communication among the conserva-
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tion agencies to manage the interjurisdictional fish-
ery resources of the basin. Twenty-eight Mississippi 
River Basin State fishery agencies, the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Rec-
lamation, the United States Geological Survey, the 
Tennessee Valley Authority, the Chippewa-Cree 
Tribe, and the Chickasaw Nation ratified the Mis-
sissippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Agreement 
in 1990 and formed the Mississippi Interstate Coop-
erative Resource Association (MICRA) in 1991 to 
improve the management of interjurisdictional fish-
ery resources in the basin. 
(6) Recognizing the economic, ecologic, and cul-
tural value of the diverse interjurisdictional fishery 
resources in the Mississippi River Basin and the 
complexity and severity of issues facing resource 
management agencies, Congress acknowledges the 
need for the establishment of a Mississippi River 
Basin Fishery Commission for basin-wide, inter- 
agency collaboration in the establishment of shared 
management objectives, and the collaborative plan-
ning, implementation, and evaluation of management 
actions to provide for the long-term biologic and eco-
nomic sustainability of interjurisdictional fishery re-
sources in the basin. 
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(7) As long-term sustainability of interjurisdic-
tional fishery resources is dependent on the control 
of aquatic invasive species within the Mississippi 
River Basin, it is the further purpose of this Com-
mission to provide for coordinated, inter-agency, 
basin-wide management, control, and removal of 
invasive carps and other prioritized aquatic invasive 
species within the basin. 
(8) By consent of Congress, and as directed by 
Federal law under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 
Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 
et seq.) and the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 
1986 (16 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.), sustainable fisheries 
within the United States coastal waters of the Pa-
cific, Atlantic, and Caribbean Oceans, and the Gulf 
of Mexico, have been managed by multi-state com-
missions and fishery councils for many decades. 
(9) The interjurisdictional and international 
fishery resources of the Great Lakes are coopera-
tively managed by the Great Lakes Fishery Commis-
sion, operating through the 1954 Convention on 
Great Lake Fisheries. 
(10) The Mississippi River Basin Fishery Com-
mission will improve the management and utilization 
of sustainable interjurisdictional fishery resources in 
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the Mississippi River Basin through the development 
of a multi-agency program for the joint management 
and protection of such fishery resources. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AQUATIC
INVASIVE
SPECIES.—The term 
‘‘aquatic invasive species’’ means a nonindigenous 
species that threatens the diversity or abundance of 
native species in, or the ecological stability of, in-
fested 
waters, 
or 
commercial, 
agricultural, 
aquacultural, or recreational activities dependent on 
such waters. 
(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commis-
sion established under section 4. 
(3) DIRECTOR OF FISHERIES.—The term ‘‘di-
rector of fisheries’’ means the individual in a State 
who is the highest designated officer in charge of 
fishery management employed by the State, regard-
less of the formal title of such individual. 
(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ includes— 
(A) any political subdivision, agency, or de-
partment of a Mississippi River Basin State 
that regulates Mississippi River Basin fisheries; 
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(B) an Indian Tribe (as defined in section 
4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu-
cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) or an 
entity controlled by an Indian Tribe that man-
ages Mississippi River Basin fisheries; 
(C) the United States Geological Survey; 
(D) the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service; 
(E) the United States Army Corps of En-
gineers; 
(F) the Engineer Research and Develop-
ment Center of the United States Army Corps 
of Engineers; and 
(G) the Tennessee Valley Authority. 
(5) FISHERY
RESOURCE.—The term ‘‘fishery 
resource’’ means finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and 
any other form of animal or plant life, other than 
mammals or birds. 
(6) 
INTERJURISDICTIONAL
FISHERY
RE-
SOURCE.—The term ‘‘interjurisdictional fishery re-
source’’ means— 
(A) a fishery resource located in a fishery 
in waters under the jurisdiction of 2 or more 
Mississippi River Basin States; 
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(B) a fishery resource for which there ex-
ists an interstate fishery management plan; or 
(C) a fishery resource that migrates be-
tween the waters under the jurisdiction of 2 or 
more Mississippi River Basin States. 
(7) INVASIVE CARP.—The term ‘‘invasive carp’’ 
means an aquatic invasive species of finfish that— 
(A) originated in Europe and Asia; 
(B) spread quickly once they are estab-
lished in a body of water or waterway; 
(C) cause serious damage to the native fish 
populations, as well as economic and physical 
harm to humans; and 
(D) include the bighead carp, black carp, 
grass carp, and silver carp. 
(8) MEMBER ENTITY.—The term ‘‘member en-
tity’’ means an eligible entity that maintains an ac-
tive membership in the Commission. 
(9) MISSISSIPPI
RIVER
BASIN
STATE.—The 
term ‘‘Mississippi River Basin State’’ means a State 
whose borders include waters that drain into the 
Mississippi River Basin, including Alabama, Arkan-
sas, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan-
sas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Min-
nesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, 
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New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Da-
kota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, 
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wis-
consin, and Wyoming. 
(10) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN 
FISHERY COMMISSION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the De-
partment of the Interior the Mississippi River Basin Fish-
ery Commission. 
(b) MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.—Any eligible 
entity may join the Commission by notifying the executive 
director and existing members of the Commission in writ-
ing of its intent to join the Commission. 
SEC. 5. COMMISSION GOVERNANCE. 
(a) VOTING DELEGATES.— 
(1) STATES.—With respect to each eligible enti-
ty described in section 3(4)(A) that joins the Com-
mission, the director of fisheries of such eligible enti-
ty shall serve as the voting delegate to represent 
such entity’s interests on the Commission. 
(2) FEDERAL AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 
With respect to each eligible entity described in any 
of subparagraphs (B) through (G) of section 3(4) 
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that joins the Commission, such entity shall appoint 
1 individual to serve as the voting delegate to rep-
resent such entity’s interests on the Commission. 
(b) BODY CORPORATE.—The Commission shall be a 
body corporate with the powers and duties described in 
this Act. The member entities shall establish a governance 
structure for the Commission. 
(c) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND STAFF.—The Com-
mission shall— 
(1) appoint a full-time executive director and 
staff as needed to carry out the administrative du-
ties of the Commission, who shall— 
(A) provide advice to, and carry out oper-
ational duties of, the Commission; and 
(B) have no voting rights on the Commis-
sion; and 
(2) at its pleasure, appoint, remove, or dis-
charge such executive director and staff, as may be 
needed, and fix and determine their duties, qualifica-
tions, and compensation. 
(d) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 
elect a Chair and a Vice Chair of the Commission from 
the member entities. 
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