00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 46                                                                     
01 Relating to the moratorium on fish farming in British Colombia.                                                         
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS fishing is not just a business in Alaska, it is a way of life; and                                      
04       WHEREAS, when Alaskans fought for statehood, control of our fisheries was a major                               
05 issue; and                                                                                                              
06       WHEREAS the Government of British Columbia, whose economic decisions affect                                     
07 the Alaska economy and environment both directly and indirectly, announced on January 31,                               
08 2002 that the provincial moratorium on fish farming would be lifted; and                                                
09       WHEREAS seafood is Alaska's number one export; and                                                              
10       WHEREAS the commercial fishing industry in Alaska is the state's largest private                                
11 sector employer; and                                                                                                    
12       WHEREAS Alaska produces 90 - 95 percent of the commercial harvest of wild                                       
13 salmon in the United States; and                                                                                        
14       WHEREAS, in 2001, there were 29,000 accidental releases of farmed salmon from                                   
15 British Columbia salmon farms; and                                                                                      
16       WHEREAS farmed Atlantic salmon are the largest catch by British Columbia                                        

01 fishermen and escaped farmed Atlantic salmon have been caught in Alaska commercial                                      
02 fisheries; and                                                                                                          
03       WHEREAS the inherent threat of interbreeding of Atlantic salmon and Alaska wild                                 
04 salmon seriously threatens populations of the native Alaska wild salmon; and                                            
05       WHEREAS farmed salmon are competing with native Alaska wild salmon for food;                                    
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS disease transfers have been documented from farmed salmon to native                                     
08 Alaska wild salmon; and                                                                                                 
09       WHEREAS escaped Atlantic salmon from salmon farms in British Columbia are now                                   
10 spawning in approximately 80 streams; and                                                                               
11       WHEREAS the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada has provisions for the protection                                 
12 of habitat and the safe passage of fish; and                                                                            
13       WHEREAS salmon farms are a threat to Alaska's marine environment and the                                        
14 ecology of Pacific salmon;                                                                                              
15       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the United                                  
16 States Department of State, while negotiating trade agreements with Canada and in the arena                             
17 of the Pacific Salmon Commission negotiations on the Pacific Salmon Treaty, to consider the                             
18 numerous negative effects that farmed salmon from British Columbia have on the economy,                                 
19 environment, and fishing industry of Alaska; and be it                                                                  
20       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                    
21 Governor of British Columbia to initiate an effort to remove Atlantic salmon originating in                             
22 British Columbia from Alaska streams or to reimburse the State of Alaska for that effort; and                           
23 be it                                                                                                                   
24       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly supports the                                        
25 reinstatement of the British Columbia moratorium on fish farming in waters adjacent to                                  
26 Alaska.                                                                                                                 
27       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Colin Powell, United States                            
28 Secretary of State; the Honorable Don Evans, United States Secretary of Commerce; the                                   
29 Honorable Ann Veneman, United States Secretary of Agriculture; the Honorable Gordon                                     
30 Campbell, Premier, Government of British Columbia, Canada, and the Honorable John van                                   
31 Dongen, Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries, Government of British Columbia,                                   

01 Canada; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                        
02 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
03 delegation in Congress; and to the members of the Pacific Salmon Commission.