# H.R. 9436 (119th): Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026

Northeast Lobsterman Protection Act of 2026 This bill extends the deadline from 2028 to 2035 for the National Marine Fisheries Service to issue new regulations that protect the endangered Atlantic large whale from certain lobster and crab fishing gear. Under current law, the new regulations must include requirements for the American lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to utilize existing and innovative fishing gear technologies as appropriate to reduce the risk of whales becoming entangled in their gear.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: endangered_species. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: environmental_protection. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: environmental_regulation. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: fisheries. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: regulatory_timing. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 290: On Motion to Recommit. Vote type: recommit.
Roll 291: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill delays a regulatory deadline for protecting an endangered species from fishing-gear entanglement, which may weaken a protective measure. It also addresses the economic interests of fishing communities and a prudential question about implementation timing. The text presents no direct moral evil, so mixed is the prudent classification. The existing tags debt_spending and omnibus do not match the operative text, which concerns a regulatory deadline and not appropriations, so the existing evil polarity is not adopted.
Theological note: The bill concerns the stewardship of God's creation, including the protection of an endangered species, alongside the livelihoods of fishing communities. Its issue relevance lies in weighing prudent regulatory timing against the duty to protect vulnerable creatures from avoidable harm. It does not directly authorize or advance a moral evil.

## Recorded votes

Roll 290: On Motion to Recommit. Yea 202 · Nay 212 · Other 18.
Roll 291: On Passage. Yea 219 · Nay 196 · Other 17.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-9436-119/