00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 65                                                                                         
01 Requesting that Alaska wild salmon be included as an organic food under federal                                         
02 law.                                                                                                                    
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                              
04  WHEREAS the ocean waters off the coast of Alaska are among the most                                                  
05 environmentally clean waters on the globe; and                                                                          
06  WHEREAS Alaska wild salmon thrive in these waters, returning to Alaska shores at                                     
07 the end of their life cycle; and                                                                                        
08  WHEREAS Alaska wild salmon are recognized by dieticians and other nutritionists                                      
09 to be a source of healthful food; and                                                                                   
10  WHEREAS, in an attempt to confuse the consumer, farmed salmon have been                                              
11 marketed as wild salmon; and                                                                                            
12  WHEREAS efforts to resolve this intentional identification confusion by the massively                                
13 subsidized foreign salmon farm industry has proved to be a difficult task; and                                          
14  WHEREAS a key difference between Alaska wild salmon and farmed salmon is the                                         

01 use of various drugs and chemicals by the salmon farmers; and                                                           
02  WHEREAS Alaska wild salmon legitimately deserve a label that indicates the organic                                   
03 and superior qualities of this food; and                                                                                
04  WHEREAS the Agricultural Marketing Service, United States Department of                                              
05 Agriculture, is seeking comments on a proposal to establish a national organic production                               
06 program under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6501 - 6522); and                                      
07  WHEREAS the organic food industry is a $3,500,000,000 industry growing at the rate                                   
08 of 20 percent each year; and                                                                                            
09  WHEREAS having Alaska wild salmon recognized under the national organic                                              
10 production program will allow the Alaska commercial salmon industry to develop this new                                 
11 market; and                                                                                                             
12  WHEREAS any effort by the United States Department of Agriculture to avoid                                           
13 defining Alaska wild salmon as organic because there is no control over the oceans would be                             
14 tantamount to penalizing organic vegetable farmers because they do not have control over the                            
15 rain; and                                                                                                               
16  WHEREAS there are molecular tests that can readily indicate the organic qualities and                                
17 lack of chemicals of Alaska wild salmon;                                                                                
18  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the                                              
19 Agricultural Marketing Service, United States Department of Agriculture, to give careful                                
20 consideration to including Alaska wild salmon on its list of organic foods; and be it                                   
21  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the National Organic                                        
22 Standards Board, if there is not a currently clearly defined section or category for wild salmon,                       
23 to include a section for wild salmon as an organic food under federal law; and be it                                    
24  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the members of                                           
25 Alaska's delegation to the United States Congress to pursue expeditiously the inclusion of                              
26 Alaska wild salmon as an organic food under federal law.                                                                
27  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Daniel R. Glickman,                                         
28 Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                               
29 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
30 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.