HJR 34: Relating to proposed regulations of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council creating a new discriminatory halibut fishery in Alaska.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 34 01 Relating to proposed regulations of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council 02 creating a new discriminatory halibut fishery in Alaska. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has recently 05 been urged to initiate a regulatory amendment outlining options for addressing certain 06 unlawful practices in the conduct of personal consumption halibut fisheries in Alaska; and 07 WHEREAS the NPFMC Halibut Subsistence Committee has developed proposed 08 regulatory options that include the creation of discriminatory qualifications based on race and 09 residency; and 10 WHEREAS there is questionable legal authority for the NPFMC to adopt 11 discriminatory regulations, especially those that are racially constructed; and 12 WHEREAS the proposed regulatory options provide the potential for an expanding 13 new fishery on a resource that is currently fully allocated; and 14 WHEREAS the proposed regulatory options include possible commercial sale of
01 subsistence caught halibut in violation of existing state law; and 02 WHEREAS the passage of the proposed special interest regulations will create major 03 enforcement problems for federal and state enforcement officials throughout the coastal areas 04 of Alaska; and 05 WHEREAS the Twentieth Alaska State Legislature is supportive of providing adequate 06 legal means for Alaska residents to harvest fish and wildlife to meet their personal 07 consumption needs; and 08 WHEREAS the Twentieth Alaska State Legislature is equally concerned about its 09 constitutional responsibilities to provide for the "sustained yield" of Alaska's renewable 10 resources by assuring that the first basic concern is the protection of the resource base; and 11 WHEREAS the proposed regulations discriminate against many major coastal 12 communities and will create serious racial, social, and economic conflicts within the coastal 13 communities of Alaska; and 14 WHEREAS all Alaskans have a personal use catch limit of two halibut a day, and the 15 creation of this type of new fishery is not needed to meet the personal consumption needs of 16 Alaskans; and 17 WHEREAS alternative regulatory options for personal consumption should be 18 considered, such as special seasons, special methods and means, and special areas for 19 harvesting halibut for personal consumption; and 20 WHEREAS the Alaska delegation in Congress, the Governor's office, and the Alaska 21 State Legislature are already working hard to find common ground and permanent solutions 22 to the already serious conflicts existing between state and federal laws over fish and wildlife 23 management in Alaska; and 24 WHEREAS the passage of this type of new fishery as proposed under all identified 25 options will result in the further polarization of positions regarding state and federal 26 jurisdictional conflicts; 27 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the North 28 Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Secretary, United States Department of 29 Commerce, to provide for personal use fisheries for halibut by all Alaskans through 30 modification of existing regulations, such as special seasons and special methods and means, 31 to provide a reasonable opportunity to meet personal consumption needs; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 02 the North Pacific Fishery Management Council reject regulations designed to divide Alaskans 03 along ethnic or other discriminatory lines. 04 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable William M. Daley, Secretary, 05 United States Department of Commerce; Rick Lauber, Chair, North Pacific Fishery 06 Management Council; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, 07 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 08 delegation in Congress.