CSHJR 23(FSH): Relating to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's inshore/offshore allocations and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program.
00CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23(FSH) 01 Relating to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's inshore/offshore 02 allocations and the Western Alaska Community Development Quota Program. 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 56 Bering Sea coast, Aleutian 07 Islands, and Pribilof Islands communities; and 08 WHEREAS the inshore/offshore allocation of fishery resources assures Alaska's 09 coastal communities, which are economically dependent on fishing, access to the fishery 10 resources off their coast; and 11 WHEREAS the current inshore/offshore allocations and the CDQ program are 12 scheduled to expire in December 1995; and 13 WHEREAS the CDQ program has set aside 7.5 percent of the available Bering Sea 14 pollock quota during 1992 through 1995 for Bering Sea coast, Aleutian Islands, and Pribilof
01 Islands communities; and 02 WHEREAS the amount of pollock available for harvest under the CDQ program is 03 more than 100,000 metric tons per year and has an approximate annual value of $20,000,000; 04 and 05 WHEREAS the CDQ program allocates the available harvest of pollock among 06 eligible communities, local fishermen's organizations, and local economic development 07 organizations who in turn reinvest the proceeds from the harvest and processing of the pollock 08 in additional local fisheries development projects; and 09 WHEREAS the CDQ program is important to the economic development of the 10 Bering Sea coast, Aleutian Islands, and Pribilof Islands communities; and 11 WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council established the CDQ 12 program as a component of the inshore and offshore allocation of Bering Sea pollock; and 13 WHEREAS, in 1992, according to the Department of Commerce and Economic 14 Development, Department of Labor, Department of Revenue, and the Alaska Seafood 15 Marketing Institute, the Alaska seafood processing industry harvested more than 5,500,000,000 16 pounds of fish; processed these fish in more than 500 large and small Alaska seafood 17 processors registered with the state; paid fish harvesters $1,400,000,000; provided more than 18 35,000 shore-based jobs in Alaska; spent $280,000,000 to support its activities; paid over 19 $80,000,000 in taxes and cash benefits to the state and Alaska's coastal communities; paid 20 $10,000,000 for salmon enhancement; paid $700,000 in fisheries related and marine mammal 21 research and $3,200,000 for domestic marketing of Alaska seafood products; invested 22 $1,000,000,000 in shoreside plants; paid $11,000,000 to local governments in municipal fish 23 taxes; and paid over $3,000,000 in local real and personal property taxes; and 24 WHEREAS, in Western Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and Kodiak, shore-based 25 processors pay over $400,000,000 annually to fish harvesters; process 1,250,000,000 pounds 26 of crab, groundfish, salmon, herring, and halibut; employ over 13,000 people; pay over 27 $90,000,000 in annual payroll; purchase $45,000,000 in goods, services, and utilities; pay over 28 $7,000,000 in local raw fish taxes; and in 1992 paid over $900,000 in grants to nonprofit 29 organizations; 30 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly supports reauthorization 31 of the inshore/offshore allocations and CDQ program before they expire in December 1995.
01 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Ron Brown, Secretary of the 02 U.S. Department of Commerce; the Honorable Richard Lauber, chair of the North Pacific 03 Fishery Management Council; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank 04 Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of 05 the Alaska delegation in Congress.