WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, is introducing legislation to help improve conditions for kelp forest and marine life. The Help Our Kelp Act — which also has a companion bill in the House of Representatives — would invest federal resources to address ongoing crises that kelp forest ecosystems face along the Maine coastline and across the country.

Kelp forest ecosystems in Maine and along the nation’s shores provide food and habitat for hundreds of fish and marine mammals. These aquatic regions stabilize Maine’s coasts allowing for responsible economic activities including fishing, shipping and innovations in the blue economy. Over the last 50 years, changes in climate, poor water quality and overfishing have damaged between 40-60 percent of America’s kelp forests.

“Kelp forests are key to helping keep our waters clean — and healthy waters make for healthy people,” said Senator King. “However, climate change and human activity are having devastating consequences on our coastal ecosystems, putting at harm the iconic Maine fishery and our coastal communities. The Help Our Kelp Act is an important  investment that will help to restore these intricate, sensitive underwater habitats, and better protect Maine’s waters and way of life. I want to thank my colleagues for acknowledging the importance of our kelp forests and am encouraged that we are coming together in the House and Senate to safeguard this critical ecological and economic resource.”

The Help Our Kelp Act would:

1. Establish a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant program to fund conservation, restoration, and management efforts to support kelp forest ecosystems;
2. Take steps to address the greatest relative regional declines, long-term ecological or socioeconomic resilience, and focal recovery areas identified by Tribal, federal, or state management plans;
3. Authorize $5 million annually for FY2026 through FY2030.

In the Senate, this legislation is led by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and cosponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA).

Bill text can be found here and a bill summary can be found here.

As a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Senator King has been a longtime advocate for Maine’s wild ecosystems. For his dedication to preserving the outdoors, Senator King was awarded the inaugural National Park Foundation Hero Award. Last year, Senator King helped secure critical funding for the American Lobster Research Program—an organization that supports projects to address critical knowledge gaps about American lobster and its fishery in a dynamic and changing environment. Senator King also helped pass the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act, legislation that provides approval for the restoration of a Maine fishway to allow fish such as herring, alewives, and the endangered Atlantic salmon to migrate upstream.

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