The Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs is responsible for all issues pertaining to wildlife resources, fisheries, oceanography, and insular areas. The insular areas of the U.S. include the territories of American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), as well as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Republicans on the Subcommittee are committed to implementing commonsense policies to protect wildlife and ensure public access to our public lands. The Subcommittee is also working to ensure the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have sufficient resources to effectively manage their programs and keep our ocean resources thriving and sustainably managed.
The U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles offshore and is the largest in the world, spanning over 95,000 miles of shoreline and containing 3.4 million square nautical miles of ocean—larger than the combined land area of all fifty states.
The U.S. marine transportation system moves over 90 percent of the United States' overseas cargo trade (by volume). Over 1.29 billion metric tons of cargo, valued at $1.78 trillion, shipped in and out of U.S. ports in foreign trade in 2012. Those ports support, directly and indirectly, more than 13 million American jobs.
According to 2011 estimates, all coastal-related activities in the United States generated $6.6 trillion, just under half of our nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), and supported over 51 million jobs.
The National Wildlife Refuge System is comprised of 561 units located in all 50 states and U.S. territories that provides hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and other recreational opportunities to the more than 47 million Americans who visit at least one refuge each year.
Membership:
The Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs consists of 18 Members, 10 Republicans and 8 Democrats.
All matters regarding insular areas of the United States.
All measures or matters regarding the Freely Associated States and Antarctica.
Fisheries management and fisheries research generally, including the management of all commercial and recreational fisheries (except for the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act), interjurisdictional fisheries, international fisheries agreements, aquaculture, seafood safety and fisheries promotion.
Wildlife resources, including research, restoration, refuges and conservation.
All matters pertaining to the protection of coastal and marine environments, including estuarine protection.
Coastal barriers.
Oceanography.
Ocean engineering, including materials, technology and systems.
Coastal zone management.
Marine sanctuaries.
U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Sea Grant programs and marine extension services.
Cooperative efforts to encourage, enhance and improve international programs for the protection of the environment and the conservation of natural resources otherwise within the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee.
General and continuing oversight and investigative authority over activities, policies and programs within the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee.
