00CS FOR HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 9(FSH)                                                                           
01 Relating to state management of the Western Alaska Community Development                                                
02 Quota Program and state fisheries development policy.                                                                   
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program is                                                
05 a fisheries development program involving the federal Department of Commerce, the North                                 
06 Pacific Fishery Management Council, the State of Alaska, and 55 Bering Sea coast, Aleutian                              
07 Islands, and Pribilof Islands communities; and                                                                          
08  WHEREAS the CDQ program has set aside 7.5 percent of the available Bering Sea                                          
09 pollock quota during 1992 through 1995 for Bering Sea coast, Aleutian Islands, and Pribilof                             
10 Islands communities; and                                                                                                
11  WHEREAS the amount of pollock available for harvest under the CDQ program is                                           
12 more than 100,000 metric tons per year and has an estimated valued of $20,000,000; and                                  
13  WHEREAS the CDQ program allocates the available harvest of pollock among                                               
14 eligible communities, local fishermen's organizations, and local economic development                                   

01 organizations who in turn reinvest the proceeds from the harvest and processing of the pollock                          
02 in additional local fisheries development projects; and                                                                 
03  WHEREAS the CDQ program is important to the economic development of Bering                                             
04 Sea coast, Aleutian Islands, and Pribilof Islands communities; and                                                      
05  WHEREAS the operation of the CDQ program is governed by federal and state                                              
06 regulations that prescribe the goals and objectives of the program, the communities and other                           
07 groups that are eligible to participate in the program, application and review procedures, quota                        
08 allocation procedures, and reporting and performance requirements; and                                                  
09  WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council established the CDQ                                               
10 program as a component of the inshore/offshore allocation of Bering Sea pollock; and                                    
11  WHEREAS the Secretary of Commerce approved the CDQ program, thereby initiating                                         
12 one of the most extensive economic development efforts ever to occur in the poorest regions                             
13 of Alaska; and                                                                                                          
14  WHEREAS the CDQ program represents an unparalleled opportunity for long-term                                           
15 stable economic development for the communities of the Bering Sea coast, Aleutian Islands,                              
16 and Pribilof Islands; and                                                                                               
17  WHEREAS the Governor of Alaska is designated by the North Pacific Fishery                                              
18 Management Council to recommend allocations of CDQ resources among eligible                                             
19 communities; and                                                                                                        
20  WHEREAS the State of Alaska plays a significant role in the operation of the CDQ                                       
21 program because the Governor is responsible for requesting, accepting, and reviewing                                    
22 proposals from eligible communities and organizations that seek a community development                                 
23 quota allocation and for making recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce as to                                 
24 which applicants should receive a quota allocation and as to how much each applicant should                             
25 receive; the Secretary of Commerce accepted and approved all recommendations made by                                    
26 Governor Hickel for allocation of the 1992 - 1993 pollock community development quota; and                              
27  WHEREAS the CDQ program needs strong leadership and coordinated support from                                           
28 the State of Alaska to be successful; and                                                                               
29  WHEREAS the State of Alaska does not have a fisheries development policy to guide                                      
30 either community fisheries development or the Governor's allocative decision-making process                             
31 for the CDQ program;                                                                                                    

01  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the Governor is respectfully                                       
02 requested to continue support for the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ)                                  
03 Program and related fisheries development programs by                                                                   
04   (1)  devoting full-time staff to coordinate the state's participation in the CDQ                                      
05 program, to serve as technical advisors to and liaisons with CDQ program participants, to                               
06 work with all state agencies involved in the CDQ program, and to work closely with the                                  
07 federal Department of Commerce and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council;                                        
08   (2)  fairly applying state and federal CDQ program regulations to ensure                                              
09 accomplishment of all the objectives of the program and to ensure continued support for the                             
10 program among participants and state and federal agencies;                                                              
11   (3)  assuring that state residents have access to the fisheries resources in or off                                   
12 Alaska and that residents have the opportunity to engage in commercial fishing activities in                            
13 the area where they live; and                                                                                           
14   (4)  initiating a review of past fishery development policy proposals and                                             
15 formulating and adopting a state fisheries development policy, that includes the CDQ program,                           
16 to guide the long-range development of the state's fisheries resources, to take maximum                                 
17 advantage of the short-term fisheries development opportunities currently available, and to                             
18 minimize the effect of any short-term dislocations in the fishing industry of the state.