Enrolled HJR 44: Relating to research into the decline of the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter in the western Gulf of Alaska.
00Enrolled HJR 44 01 Relating to research into the decline of the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea 02 Otter in the western Gulf of Alaska. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter in the 06 western Gulf of Alaska may have declined as much as 65 percent since the mid-1970s; and 07 WHEREAS the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter is found in 08 the nearshore water of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Kodiak 09 Archipelago; and 10 WHEREAS the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has recently proposed to list 11 the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter as threatened under the 12 Endangered Species Act; and 13 WHEREAS commercial fishing activity in the western Gulf of Alaska may be 14 restricted if the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter is listed under the 15 Endangered Species Act; and 16 WHEREAS coastal communities of western Alaska, and the State of Alaska, as a 17 whole, are heavily dependent upon the revenue generated by commercial fishing in the
01 adjacent nearshore water of the western Gulf of Alaska; and 02 WHEREAS Kodiak, a major commercial fishing port of the United States, is located 03 in the western Gulf of Alaska, the area of the sea otter population decline; and 04 WHEREAS the cause of the decline in abundance of the Southwest Alaska 05 population of the Northern Sea Otter is unknown; and 06 WHEREAS long-term studies are necessary to assess changes in the population of sea 07 otter off Alaska and to determine the extent of variability in sea otter population levels; and 08 WHEREAS previous surveys of sea otter population levels off western Alaska have 09 been sporadic and asynchronous; 10 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the 11 United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Congress provide $5,000,000 a 12 year over the next five years to conduct research into the abundance of the Northern Sea Otter 13 and the cause of the decline of the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter in 14 the western Gulf of Alaska; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that 16 research regarding the Southwest Alaska population of the Northern Sea Otter be centered in 17 Kodiak with field stations located in the coastal communities of western Alaska where the 18 Northern Sea Otter occurs. 19 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Gale Norton, United States 20 Secretary of the Interior; the Honorable Steve Williams, Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, 21 U.S. Department of the Interior; the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House 22 of Representatives; the Honorable Ted Stevens, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate and 23 member of the Alaska delegation in Congress; the Honorable James M. Inhofe, Chair, U.S. 24 Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works; the Honorable Richard W. Pombo, 25 Chair, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Resources; Margaret Roberts, President 26 and Chair, Alaska Sea Otter and Steller Sea Lion Commission; and to the Honorable Lisa 27 Murkowski, U.S. Senator, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of 28 the Alaska delegation in Congress.