Sponsors (3)
The bill tightens protections and enforcement to better conserve coral reef species and create legal markets for compliant breeders, at the cost of imposing new compliance, enforcement, and livelihood impacts on small businesses, collectors, and government agencies.
General public and coastal ecosystems: the bill strengthens protections for coral reef species by restricting destructive harvest and trade, reducing risk to reef biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Small aquaculture and qualified breeding businesses: lawful producers that meet the bill's standards can sell covered species legally, creating market incentives for conservation-focused supply chains.
Federal enforcement and conservation efforts: the bill provides civil and criminal penalties, forfeiture authority, and citizen-suit mechanisms that strengthen enforcement options to deter illegal trade in reef species.
Small businesses and hobbyists who import, export, or sell reef species: face new compliance costs, paperwork, and potential criminal penalties (including imprisonment for commercial violators) that raise financial and legal risks.
Private collectors and small-scale harvesters in some communities: lose the ability to legally possess or trade covered species, which could harm livelihoods and informal local economies reliant on aquarium/curio trade.
Agencies and regulated importers: enhanced enforcement measures and requirements for forensic testing (e.g., poison/metabolite evidence) increase administrative burdens, operational costs, and resource needs for implementation and compliance verification.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bans most take, trade, and possession of designated reef species, automatically covering CITES Appendix II reef species, with five narrow exceptions for authorized science, breeding, aquaculture, and incidental takes.
Prohibits most taking, import, export, possession, sale, purchase, transport, or receipt of designated marine reef species (called “covered coral reef species”) in U.S. waters and in interstate or foreign commerce. Species listed in CITES Appendix II are automatically covered unless the Interior Secretary (with Commerce when required) determines within 90 days that trade does not pose a substantial risk; the Secretaries may also jointly designate or remove other species based on risk or mortality in trade/captivity. Creates five narrow exceptions that allow otherwise-prohibited activities when authorized: activities under Secretary‑approved fishery/management plans, products from approved cooperative breeding programs, products from approved aquaculture/mariculture facilities, scientific/museum/zoological authorizations, and incidental take permits under the Endangered Species Act (and equivalent authorizations). The measure creates a standalone statutory prohibition and definitions for covered reef species rather than amending the cited wildlife statute.
Introduced March 18, 2025 by Ed Case · Last progress March 18, 2025