00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 38 01 Relating to reauthorization of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management 02 Act. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act (hereinafter 05 "the Act") established a fishery conservation zone, now known as the exclusive economic zone 06 (EEZ), out to 200 miles from the shoreline of Alaska and the other states to protect, conserve, 07 and manage the extensive fisheries resources of the continental shelf; and 08 WHEREAS coastal communities of Alaska lie adjacent to, and depend upon, the 09 fishery resources of the federally managed EEZ in the Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, and North 10 Pacific Ocean off Alaska; and 11 WHEREAS the Act provides for the management of the fishery resources of the EEZ 12 through regional fishery management councils and by the National Marine Fisheries Service; 13 and 14 WHEREAS the United States Congress is currently considering the reauthorization of 01 the Act; and 02 WHEREAS several issues of national and regional importance are being considered 03 as part of the reauthorization process for the Act; 04 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 05 Congress to reauthorize the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act with the 06 following provisions: 07 (1) authorize the regional fishery management councils to minimize the bycatch 08 of unwanted species, sizes, or sexes of fishery resources and to promote full utilization of 09 fishery resources; 10 (2) require the regional fishery management councils to establish and 11 implement protections against overfishing of all species of fishery resources; 12 (3) establish reasonable restrictions on direct, personal, and financial conflicts 13 of interest by members of the regional fishery management councils, provided that those 14 restrictions recognize that minor insignificant conflicts are inevitable and acceptable given the 15 nature of the membership of the regional fishery management councils; 16 (4) establish a moratorium, for a minimum of three years, upon the 17 establishment and implementation of individual fishery quota systems for federally managed 18 fisheries; and 19 (5) authorize the establishment and implementation of community development 20 quota or community protection set-aside programs for the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands 21 areas to aid fishery development and recognize the economic dependence of coastal 22 communities upon fishing; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that fees, taxes, or royalties 24 levied on the harvesting or processing of fishery resources in the exclusive economic zone 25 must recognize and give credit for other federal, state, and local fees, taxes, and royalties also 26 levied on those same activities and that revenue derived from fees, taxes, or royalties levied 27 on the harvesting or processing of fishery resources in the exclusive economic zone be utilized 28 for the management, enforcement, research, and administration of fishery programs in the 29 areas where the revenue was derived; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the National Marine 31 Fisheries Service should receive the funding necessary to provide the regional fishery 01 management councils with sufficient biological information to implement controls against 02 overfishing and with the research needed to understand and manage fishery resources; and be 03 it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully opposes any 05 proposal to alter the established composition of the North Pacific Fishery Management 06 Council. 07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Frank Murkowski, Chair, 08 United States Senate, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; the Honorable Don 09 Young, Chair, United States House of Representatives, Committee on Public Lands and 10 Resources; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens, member of the Alaska delegation in Congress.