00SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 25                                                                    
01 Relating to a ban on trawling in the eastern Gulf of Alaska east of 140 degrees                                         
02 west longitude.                                                                                                         
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the eastern Gulf of Alaska has been a significant hook and line fishing                                        
05 area for almost 100 years and most of the high value fisheries in the area are fully utilized by                        
06 the hook and line fishing fleet; and                                                                                    
07  WHEREAS the level of trawl fishing effort in the eastern Gulf of Alaska is expected                                    
08 to exert undue fishing pressure on fish stocks in the area and displace traditional hook and line                       
09 fisheries; and                                                                                                          
10  WHEREAS foreign trawl fishing in the Gulf of Alaska resulted in depressed                                              
11 populations of several species of rockfish; and                                                                         
12  WHEREAS the eastern Gulf of Alaska contains a unique assemblage of valuable                                            
13 rockfish species in amounts small enough that the rockfish stocks could be easily damaged                               
14 by large vessel activity; and                                                                                           

01  WHEREAS, under federal fishing regulations, if any single species in the rockfish                                      
02 complex reaches its overfishing level, the entire rockfish complex and any other fishery that                           
03 might take any of the overfished rockfish species are closed; and                                                       
04  WHEREAS the trawl fishery in the eastern Gulf of Alaska can significantly disrupt                                      
05 the traditional fisheries on which 3,000 Southeast Alaska hook and line fishermen depend; and                           
06  WHEREAS the narrowness of the continental shelf and continental slope in the eastern                                   
07 Gulf of Alaska concentrates trawl fishing effort in a small area and as a result prevents                               
08 recovery of trawl fishing areas and may permanently impoverish the ecosystem of the eastern                             
09 Gulf of Alaska; and                                                                                                     
10  WHEREAS the Southeast Alaska area contains limited smooth bottom areas suitable                                        
11 for trawls, but many rocky areas that support an abundant, diverse, but fragile deep water                              
12 habitat; and                                                                                                            
13  WHEREAS the impact of trawl roller gear and trawl doors could significantly affect                                     
14 corals and associated hard bottom species; and                                                                          
15  WHEREAS, only by closing the eastern Gulf of Alaska east of 140 degrees west                                           
16 longitude to trawl fishing, will the unique assemblage of local marine resources be protected;                          
17  BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the United States Secretary                                        
18 of Commerce is respectfully requested to immediately implement permanent regulations                                    
19 closing the eastern Gulf of Alaska east of 140 degrees west longitude to pelagic and bottom                             
20 trawling.                                                                                                               
21  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Ron Brown, Secretary, U.S.                                    
22 Department of Commerce; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank                                        
23 Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of                                  
24 the Alaska delegation in Congress.