SCR 54

2026 Regular Session  ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 54
BY SENATOR WOMACK AND REPRESENTATIVE RISER
  A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
To memorialize the Congress of the United States to support H.R.1514 and R.S.1078 of the
       119th Congress, entitled the "Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act", and
       to take such actions as are necessary to ensure the state of Louisiana will join the
       commission as a voting member upon its passage.
       WHEREAS, the Mississippi River Basin is the fourth largest watershed in the world
and the largest watershed in the nation, draining all or part of thirty-one states and two
Canadian provinces, measuring approximately one million two hundred thousand square
miles, and covering forty-one percent of the continental United States; and
       WHEREAS, management of the inland fishery resources of the Mississippi River
Basin is shared by thirty-one states, multiple federal agencies, and two Canadian provinces;
and
       WHEREAS, the Mississippi River and its tributaries comprise one of the largest and
most valuable ecosystems in the world; and
       WHEREAS, multiple states, including Louisiana, within the Mississippi River Basin
have formed multiple regional interstate partnerships, and one basin-wide partnership, to
promote cooperation and communication among the conservation agencies in order to
manage the interjurisdictional fishery resources of the basin; and
       WHEREAS, twenty-eight Mississippi River Basin state fishery agencies, the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the United States Geological
Survey, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Chippewa-Cree Tribe, and the Chickasaw
Nation ratified the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Agreement in 1990 and
formed the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA) in 1991 to
improve the management of interjurisdictional fishery resources in the basin; and
       WHEREAS, recognizing the economic, ecologic, and cultural value of the diverse
interjurisdictional fishery resources in the Mississippi River Basin and the complexity and
severity of issues facing resource management agencies, Congress has acknowledged the
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SCR NO. 54  ENROLLED
need for the establishment of a Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission for basin-wide,
interagency collaboration in the establishment of shared management objectives, and the
collaborative planning, implementation, and evaluation of management actions to provide
for the long-term biologic and economic sustainability of interjurisdictional fishery resources
in the basin; and
       WHEREAS, with long-term sustainability of interjurisdictional fishery resources
depending on the control of aquatic invasive species within the Mississippi River Basin, the
commission is vital to provide for coordinated, inter-agency, basin-wide management,
control, and removal of invasive carps and other prioritized aquatic invasive species within
the basin; and
       WHEREAS, by consent of Congress, and as directed by federal law under the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, 16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq., and
the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act of 1986, 16 U.S.C. 4101 et seq., sustainable fisheries
within the United States coastal waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the Caribbean
Sea, and the Gulf of America have been managed by multi-state commissions and fishery
councils for many decades; and
       WHEREAS, the interjurisdictional and international fishery resources of the Great
Lakes are cooperatively managed by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, operating
through the 1954 Convention on Great Lake Fisheries; and
       WHEREAS, the Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission will improve the
management and utilization of sustainable interjurisdictional fishery resources in the
Mississippi River Basin through the development of a multi-agency program for the joint
management and protection of such fishery resources; and
       WHEREAS, in Louisiana, reproducing populations of invasive carp are expanding
in both range and numbers within the major rivers of the state, impacting fisheries
production and recreation; apple snails are increasing their range and disrupting food chains;
giant salvinia, water hyacinth, and other invasive plants are impacting boating and other
recreation and modifying aquatic habitat; and other aquatic invasive species are negatively
impacting fisheries production and recreation and the economic output and enjoyment that
a healthy fishery brings to the state; and
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       WHEREAS, freshwater fishing provides more than two billion dollars in economic
impact to the state of Louisiana.
       THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby
memorializes the Congress of the United States to support H.R.1514 and R.S. 1078 of the
119th Congress, entitled the "Mississippi River Basin Fishery Commission Act", and to take
such actions as are necessary to ensure the state of Louisiana will join the commission as a
voting member upon its passage.
       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted
to the secretary of the United States Senate and the clerk of the United States House of
Representatives and to each member of the Louisiana delegation to the United States
Congress.
  PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
  SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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