Fisheries managers set catch limits from stock assessments, and stock assessments come from surveys - ships, nets, time and money. A bipartisan bill introduced in the US Senate would add a cheaper method to that toolkit: reading the genetic material fish shed into the water.
The Fisheries Science Modernization Act, introduced in early August by Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski and Rhode Island Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, would set up a NOAA pilot program using environmental DNA, or eDNA, to assess fish stocks. It would also require NOAA to write an agency-wide eDNA implementation plan, collect samples routinely during existing surveys, and stand up a National Aquatic Biomolecular Coordination Network to set standards.
Cosponsors include Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), Patty Murray (D-Washington), Angus King (I-Maine) and Adam Schiff (D-California).
eDNA works by testing a water sample for the genetic fragments fish leave behind - scale flakes, mucus, waste - and identifying which species were present. It can pick up rare or invasive species and detect fish at any life stage, and it costs far less than putting a survey vessel over the same ground. Its known weaknesses are contamination and time lag, which can blur where and when a species actually was.
Murkowski's framing is about capacity.
"Without accurate stock assessments, we cannot make the informed, science-based management decisions needed to ensure our fisheries remain sustainable for generations to come," she said in a release quoted by SeafoodSource. "Environmental DNA is an innovative, cost-effective tool that will give our scientists a clearer picture of our fisheries while expanding survey coverage and reducing costs. This legislation is the product of extensive collaboration with NOAA, Alaska fishermen, Tribal partners, academia, and industry to modernize how we assess fish stocks using the best available science."
The timing is not incidental. As the Alaska Beacon noted, NOAA Fisheries has lost science capacity to staff cuts, and the extended federal shutdown in late 2025 hit the agency's ability to assess Alaska stocks right as managers were setting this year's harvest limits.
The sponsors have been careful to say eDNA is not meant to replace conventional surveys.
"As fish stocks shift and ocean conditions become more variable, we need to invest in both the traditional surveys that have served us for decades and innovative technologies that can make those surveys even stronger," Sullivan said. "By thoughtfully investing in and integrating new tools, we can improve the quality of stock assessments, better support our fishermen and communities, and ensure America's fisheries remain among the best managed in the world."
That distinction is doing a lot of work, and it is where the support starts to come with conditions.
Andrea Keikkala, executive director of United Catcher Boats, backed the bill and then spent most of her statement on the funding question.
"We recommend that Congress ensure NOAA Fisheries has adequate resources to successfully implement these important new responsibilities without reducing investment in existing stock assessments, fishery-independent surveys, cooperative research, observer programs, or other core science activities that are fundamental to science-based fisheries management," Keikkala said. "Investments in eDNA should complement, rather than displace, the core science programs that have made the United States the global leader in sustainable fisheries management."
"Environmental DNA is a promising new tool for fisheries and ecosystem assessment that could improve fisheries management while also lowering costs," Behnken said. "Senator Murkowski's Fisheries Science Modernization Act will advance this technology while also improving oversight and collaboration."
From the research side, Cornell University ecologist David Lodge, who works on eDNA, welcomed the bill and described it as accelerating something already underway.
"I am delighted to see this legislative effort to accelerate the use of eDNA in government decision making," Lodge said. "The bill builds on ongoing efforts by NOAA to bring the best available technology to fisheries stock assessments."
That groundwork is real. The White House issued a National Aquatic eDNA Strategy in 2024, and NOAA scientists have already used the technique to hunt invasive species in the Pacific Northwest and to sort out rockfish in Alaska, where conventional gear struggles.
"This new eDNA primer set represents a powerful addition to the fisheries management toolkit," NOAA Fisheries said of the rockfish work. "It offers a less invasive and more comprehensive way to assess rockfish populations, particularly in hard-to-reach habitats."
Backers of the bill also include the Cape Cod Fishermen's Alliance, the Alaska Ocean Observing System, the Pacific Seafood Processors Association, Ocean Conservancy, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program. The measure has been introduced but not passed; it now sits with the Senate committee process.
