Sponsors (2)
The bill lets existing captive sturgeon holders legally breed and manage animals while increasing transparency and reducing duplicative regulation, but it raises ecological risks from releases and imposes new compliance costs and potential inequities for future breeders.
Nonprofits and state governments that lawfully hold sturgeon as of enactment (and their progeny) can breed, house, and manage those sturgeon in captivity without triggering certain ESA prohibitions or consultation requirements.
Holders must demonstrate eligibility and maintain inventories, increasing transparency about captive sturgeon stocks and making it easier for regulators and partners to track and oversee collections.
Directs the Secretary to avoid unnecessary overlap with existing ESA rules when issuing implementing regulations, which can reduce duplicative regulatory burden and simplify compliance for holders.
Releasing captive sturgeon (intentionally or accidentally) could harm imperiled wild sturgeon populations and reduce protections for wild stocks, raising ecological and local-livelihood risks.
Nonprofits and state governments will face increased compliance costs and administrative burden to collect, store, and provide inventories and records on request.
Limiting eligibility to animals lawfully held as of enactment and their progeny may create inequities and legal uncertainty for prospective breeders, dealers, and small businesses seeking to enter captive-sturgeon activities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Exempts sturgeon legally held in captivity at enactment and their progeny from certain ESA prohibitions and consultation while captive, with recordkeeping and regulatory requirements; exemption ends if returned to the wild.
Introduced June 17, 2025 by Richard Lynn Scott · Last progress June 17, 2025
Creates a limited exemption under the Endangered Species Act for certain sturgeon that are legally held in captivity at the time the law takes effect and for their captive-born progeny. While those animals remain in captivity, they are excluded from specified ESA prohibitions and from the Section 7(a)(2) consultation requirement, but holders must keep demonstrable records and inventories and the Secretary must issue implementing regulations that avoid duplicating existing ESA rules; the exemption ends if an animal is intentionally returned to the wild.