00CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 59(FSH)                                                                               
01 Relating to reduction of wanton waste in North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea                                             
02 fisheries.                                                                                                              
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS more fish were discarded in the federally managed fisheries of the North                                       
05 Pacific Ocean than were landed by American fishermen in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1992;                               
06 and                                                                                                                     
07  WHEREAS over 500,000,000 pounds of fishery resources were dumped overboard in                                          
08 the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean, including 20,000,000 pounds of halibut,                                     
09 1,000,000 pounds of herring, and over 20,000,000 crabs; and                                                             
10  WHEREAS, in 1993, over 360,000 salmon were intercepted by North Pacific Ocean                                          
11 and Bering Sea trawl fisheries; and                                                                                     
12  WHEREAS these discarded herring, crab, and salmon are State of Alaska managed                                          
13 resources that were intercepted in offshore federal waters; and                                                         
14  WHEREAS these resources are the economic and cultural lifeblood for many Alaskans                                      

01 who depend on the sea for their livelihoods and subsistence; and                                                        
02  WHEREAS this continued wanton waste undermines any long-term management                                                
03 strategy for sustained commercial, subsistence, and recreational fisheries, and places our rural                        
04 communities at risk; and                                                                                                
05  WHEREAS Alaska marine waters face declining wildlife populations and potential                                         
06 endangered species listings of several marine species that depend on fish for food; and                                 
07  WHEREAS minimizing the catch of undersized fish and reducing wanton waste will                                         
08 conserve fisheries resources for present and future generations of subsistence users,                                   
09 commercial and recreational fishermen, seafood industries, coastal communities, consumers,                              
10 and the nation; and                                                                                                     
11  WHEREAS fisheries can technically or operationally reduce waste or the incidental                                      
12 taking of nontarget species if given economic incentives or through appropriate regulatory                              
13 measures;                                                                                                               
14  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the wanton waste now                                               
15 occurring in federal fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea is of utmost                               
16 importance ecologically, socially, and economically; and be it                                                          
17  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the                                              
18 Congress to amend the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act, or to enact                                     
19 other legislation, encompassing a broad range of measures to reduce wanton waste in North                               
20 Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea fisheries, including harvest priority incentives for clean fishing                         
21 practices and other management tools.                                                                                   
22  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Ron Brown, Secretary of the                                   
23 United States Department of Commerce; the Honorable Richard B. Lauber, chair of the North                               
24 Pacific Fishery Management Council; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable                                  
25 Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative,                                       
26 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.