Responsible Cormorant Management Act

Full Title:
Responsible Cormorant Management and Control Act of 2026

Summary#

This bill requires the Secretary of the Interior, working with the Regional Flyway Councils, to create a regional management framework for the taking of double-crested cormorants for each flyway region. The Secretary must finish the frameworks within 180 days of enactment. Each framework must: ensure the species’ breeding population stays at a sustainable level consistent with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (using survey results starting with the first update); specify allowed methods and allowed time periods for taking cormorants; list who may take cormorants (including State and Tribal agencies, State-licensed hunters, lake managers, and pond managers, or others the Secretary authorizes); allow States and Tribes to carry out management actions; and consider effects of overabundant cormorants on fisheries, sensitive vegetation, other migratory birds, human health and safety, water quality, and threatened or endangered species. The Secretary must work with State and Tribal game and fish agencies and Flyway Councils to identify management actions that can be used within National Wildlife Refuge units while still fulfilling those units’ primary purposes. The bill requires the Secretary and Flyway Councils to carry out a population survey of double-crested cormorants no later than 5 years after enactment and every 5 years after that. The Secretary must review and update each regional framework every 5 years, incorporating the most recent survey. The bill defines key terms such as double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum), Regional Flyway Councils (Atlantic, Central, Mississippi, Pacific), lake manager, pond manager, Indian Tribe, Secretary (Interior, through USFWS), and “take” as defined in 50 CFR 10.12 as of enactment.

What it means for you#

  • If you are a State or Tribal wildlife agency, a licensed hunter, or a person licensed to manage a private lake or pond, the bill would set regional rules about whether, when, and how you may take double-crested cormorants.
  • If you work on or visit a National Wildlife Refuge, the bill directs coordination to identify what management actions are appropriate on refuge lands consistent with each refuge’s purposes.
  • Communities that are affected by cormorant impacts (for example on fisheries or vegetation) can expect regional frameworks that must account for those effects.
  • If you are not in one of the groups above, the bill may not change your daily activities directly; it primarily affects how Federal, State, Tribal, and certain licensed local managers can manage cormorant populations.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

The bill directs Federal and regional wildlife authorities to create coordinated regional rules and regular surveys to keep double-crested cormorant breeding populations at sustainable levels while allowing States, Tribes, and authorized local managers to take specified actions. It requires consideration of impacts on fisheries, vegetation, other birds, human health, water quality, and listed species, and it integrates management planning with National Wildlife Refuges.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.