00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23                                                                    
01 Relating to the labeling of salmon and salmon food products.                                                            
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS Americans deserve to know what is in their food and where it comes                                      
04 from; and                                                                                                               
05       WHEREAS, due in part to the increased production of farmed salmon from other                                    
06 countries, the Alaska seafood industry faces unfair market challenges; and                                              
07       WHEREAS new information on the health risks of farmed salmon has been released                                  
08 in a recent study entitled "Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon"                                 
09 by researchers from Indiana University, Citizens for a Better Environment, the State                                    
10 University of New York at Albany, AXYS Analytical Services, and Cornell University; and                                 
11       WHEREAS the study showed that farmed salmon contained consistently higher                                       
12 levels of organochlorine contaminants, such as PCBs and dioxins, which have been shown to                               
13 increase the risk of cancer in human beings; and                                                                        
14       WHEREAS organochlorine contaminant levels were found to be the highest in                                       
15 farmed salmon from Europe and the lowest in wild salmon from Alaska; and                                                
16       WHEREAS wild Alaska salmon contains omega-3 fatty acids that have numerous                                      

01 health benefits, and wild Alaska salmon does not contain antibiotics; and                                               
02       WHEREAS Americans should be informed of these health risks and benefits;                                        
03       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports efforts by the                                        
04 researchers involved in the Global Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Farmed Salmon                                  
05 study to clearly label all salmon as wild or farmed and with the place of origin; and be it                             
06       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports efforts by the                                      
07 Alaska congressional delegation to require labeling of salmon food products as wild or farmed                           
08 and with the place of origin.                                                                                           
09       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Don Evans, United States                               
10 Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Ann Veneman, United States Secretary of                                            
11 Agriculture; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S.                                    
12 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
13 delegation in Congress.