Enrolled SCR 21: Establishing the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force as a joint legislative task force.
00Enrolled SCR 21 01 Establishing the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force as a joint legislative task force. 02 _______________ 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS art. VIII, sec. 2, Constitution of the State of Alaska, mandates that 05 Alaska's resources be managed for the maximum benefit of its people; and 06 WHEREAS Southcentral Alaska has the highest concentration of population in the 07 state, and Cook Inlet is located in Southcentral Alaska; and 08 WHEREAS the sport fishing community is a vital part of the local and statewide 09 tourism industry, and the Cook Inlet region sustains 55 percent of the statewide sport and 10 personal use fishing effort; and 11 WHEREAS the economic contribution to the state of the in-river sport and personal 12 use fisheries in Cook Inlet far exceeds the ex-vessel value of the Cook Inlet commercial 13 fishing harvests; and 14 WHEREAS the Department of Fish and Game has repeatedly failed to successfully 15 manage the competing goals of maximizing the commercial fishing harvest of Central District 16 salmon stocks and meeting minimum escapement goals in the Northern District; and 17 WHEREAS the Yentna River has failed to achieve the minimum escapement goal
01 during six of the last nine years, despite the Department of Fish and Game's and the Board of 02 Fisheries' lowering the minimum escapement goals on two separate occasions; and 03 WHEREAS the Board of Fisheries, in accordance with the sustainable salmon 04 management policy, declared Susitna drainage sockeye salmon a yield stock of concern, but 05 failed to take action to reduce the commercial harvest of those stocks; and 06 WHEREAS the Department of Fish and Game has failed to provide a comprehensive 07 management and research strategy to reduce allocative conflict within Cook Inlet; 08 BE IT RESOLVED that the Twenty-Fifth Alaska State Legislature forms the Cook 09 Inlet Salmon Task Force composed of 10 legislators: five members from the senate appointed 10 by the president of the senate and five members from the house of representatives appointed 11 by the speaker of the house of representatives; and be it 12 FURTHER RESOLVED that the president of the senate and the speaker of the house 13 of representatives shall jointly appoint the chair and vice-chair of the task force; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall examine the conservation and 15 allocation issues in fisheries management of Cook Inlet; and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall examine the economic effect of 17 Cook Inlet salmon and the maximum benefit of those salmon to the people of Alaska; and be 18 it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall examine the legal and 20 constitutional issues of a buy-back program, reducing the number of commercial fishing 21 permits in Cook Inlet; and be it 22 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Cook Inlet Salmon Task Force shall submit a 23 report of its findings to the legislature on the first day of the First Regular Session of the 24 Twenty-Sixth Alaska State Legislature, which must include 25 (1) the short-term and long-term uses of Cook Inlet salmon consistent with the 26 maximum benefit principle contained within art. VIII, sec. 2, Constitution of the State of 27 Alaska; 28 (2) specific proposals to address the conservation issues in the Northern 29 District; and 30 (3) options to reduce allocative conflict in Cook Inlet, which may include a 31 buy-back program; and be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is terminated on February 1, 2009.