Senate committee reauthorizes Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Ahead of the August Recess, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund – a program that supports about $650 million annually in fishery restoration and conservation efforts, boating access and infrastructure, as well as fish stocking programs important to recreational anglers. 

In addition to reauthorizing the Trust Fund, the bill would require studies on the impacts of non-motorized vessel use on vessel waterway access and the impacts of abandoned vessels.

The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration. In the U.S. House of Representatives, lawmakers recently approved a large infrastructure measure that included the Sport Fish Restoration and Recreational Boating Safety Act of 2019.