Today, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held an oversight hearing examining barriers to access in federal waters, taking a closer look at the marine sanctuary and monument systems. Subcommittee Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) issued the following statement in response:

“Our federal waters are already well protected through planned management and regulations, yet Joe Biden continues to abuse executive authority to push his radical climate agenda with little meaningful conservation, limited benefits to marine life but at significantly higher costs and barriers for fishing activities.”

Background

Marine protected areas (MPA) can restrict activities that communities, including tribal and underserved areas, rely on to remain economically viable. The economic activities affected communities rely on include commercial fishing, mining, oil and gas production and renewable energy development. 

The best available science suggests that MPA designations are not the most effective strategy for fisheries management and that our federal waters are already well protected through planned management and regulation of fishing activities and other uses of the marine environment.

Today's hearing was essential in conducting necessary, and ongoing, oversight on the Biden administration's bureaucratic overreach. For nearly three years, President Joe Biden and his army of regulatory bureaucrats have hurt Americans across the country through overly burdensome red tape, including in MPA designations. Committee Republicans are devoted to investigating the regulatory overreach and will continue to do so throughout this Congress. 

Learn more here.