00                CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 46(FSH)                                                               
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 bycatch by British Columbia                                      

01 fishermen and escaped farmed Atlantic salmon have been caught in Alaska commercial                                      
02 fisheries; and                                                                                                          
03       WHEREAS escaped farmed salmon are competing with native Alaska wild salmon                                      
04 for food; and                                                                                                           
05       WHEREAS disease transfers have been documented from farmed salmon to native                                     
06 wild salmon; and                                                                                                        
07       WHEREAS escaped Atlantic salmon from salmon farms in British Columbia are now                                   
08 spawning in approximately 80 streams; and                                                                               
09       WHEREAS the Pacific Salmon Treaty with Canada has provisions for the protection                                 
10 of habitat and the safe passage of fish; and                                                                            
11       WHEREAS escaped Atlantic Salmon are a threat to Alaska's marine environment and                                 
12 the ecology of Pacific salmon; and                                                                                      
13       WHEREAS Canada is now entering into finfish farming of halibut and sablefish; and                               
14       WHEREAS the long-term health of Alaska's wild salmon stocks, as well as halibut                                 
15 and sablefish, is of vital economic and cultural importance and is a major policy priority of                           
16 the State of Alaska;                                                                                                    
17       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the government of                                     
18 British Columbia to reinstate the moratorium on fish farming until Alaskans can be assured                              
19 that all possible steps have been taken to preclude further escapes of farmed fish from British                         
20 Columbia waters; and be it                                                                                              
21       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the                                       
22 United States Department of State, while negotiating trade agreements with Canada and in the                            
23 arena of the Pacific Salmon Commission negotiations on the Pacific Salmon Treaty, to                                    
24 consider the numerous negative effects that farmed salmon from British Columbia have on the                             
25 economy, environment, and fishing industry of Alaska.                                                                   
26       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Gordon Campbell, Premier,                              
27 Government of British Columbia, Canada; the Honorable John van Dongen, Minister of                                      
28 Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries, Government of British Columbia, Canada; the Honorable                                 
29 Colin Powell, United States Secretary of State; the Honorable Don Evans, United States                                  
30 Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Ann Veneman, United States Secretary of                                            
31 Agriculture; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S.                                   

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