‘Help our kelp’: Lawmakers promote aid for underwater forests

Seaweed will be on the agenda when a House Natural Resources panel examines legislation to provide more federal assistance for struggling kelp forests.

March 18, 2024

Seaweed could get a boost on Capitol Hill this week when a panel of the House Natural Resources Committee considers legislation that would provide more federal aid for underwater kelp forest ecosystems.

H.R. 5487, the “Help Our Kelp Act,” is one of four set for a hearing Thursday before the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries.

When Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) introduced the bill last September, he said that the changing climate, overfishing and poor water quality had damaged between 40 to 60 of the nation’s kelp forests over the last half-century.

As a fix, Huffman called for “an all-hands-on-deck approach” from the federal government to rescue the forests "before it’s too late.”

“Local communities are working hard to restore these vital ecosystems, but climate change and an epidemic of voracious kelp-eating urchins have created a perfect storm, making this problem especially difficult to solve,” said Huffman, the subcommittee’s ranking member.

The issue of seaweed could end up appealing to both Republicans and Democrats on the committee.

Oregon Republican Rep. Cliff Bentz cited seafood aquaculture as a top priority last year when he took over as the committee’s chair, saying it would help capture higher levels of carbon dioxide in the oceans.

"If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade," Bentz said in an interview with E&E News. “And if life gives you an ocean that has a higher level of CO2, why aren’t we harvesting that CO2 with seaweed? Those kind of discussions are of great interest to me, and we’ll be having them."

Huffman’s bill would authorize new spending of $5 million per year through 2028 to establish a new NOAA grant program to aid kelp forests.

It would be set up “to fund conservation, restoration and management efforts," focusing in part on areas with “the greatest relative regional declines.”

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Angus King (I-Maine) have introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

Other bills

The subcommittee will also take testimony on:

  • H.R. 1395, the “Delaware River Basin Conservation Reauthorization Act of 2023," sponsored by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa), would amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to reauthorize conservation programs to aid the Delaware River Basin.
  • H.R. 6814, the "Marine Fisheries Habitat Protection Act," sponsored by Louisiana Republican Rep. Garret Graves, would require NOAA to assess certain offshore oil and gas platforms and pipelines for potential use as artificial reefs.
  • H.R. 7020, the “Great Lakes Mapping Act,” sponsored by Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), would direct NOAA to conduct “high-resolution mapping of the lakebeds of the Great Lakes."

Schedule: The hearing is Thursday, Mar. 21, at 10 a.m. in 1324 Longworth and via webcast.


By:  Rob Hotakainen
Source: E&E Daily