FISH Act of 2025

This bill shifts who runs Endangered Species Act duties for certain migrating fish. It moves all ESA work for fish that spawn in fresh or estuarine waters and migrate to the ocean (anadromous), and for fish that spawn in the ocean and migrate to fresh or estuarine waters (catadromous), from the Commerce Department/National Marine Fisheries Service to the Interior Department. The bill also adds clear definitions of these two types of fish to the law.

After the transfer is complete, the Interior Department may reconsider any final NMFS decision made in the three years before the transfer, if someone requests it within 365 days after the transfer. The Secretary can grant or deny the request, and the final decision must be made public. Existing permits, rules, and court cases keep going without interruption, and any references in other laws or documents to the Commerce Department for these duties will now point to the Interior Department. Interior can use the same legal powers that previously applied to carry out the transferred duties .

• Who is affected: Interior Department; Commerce/National Marine Fisheries Service; anyone seeking reconsideration of recent NMFS decisions about these fish .
• What changes: ESA authority over these migrating fish shifts to Interior; the law adds definitions; there’s a one-time reconsideration process; existing actions continue; legal references are updated .
• When: After the transfer is complete; reconsideration requests are due within 365 days of transfer completion and apply to decisions made in the prior three years.