00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 36                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to pass the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act.                                    
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS the state is home to five species of wild, sustainable Pacific salmon,                                  
04 King, Coho, Sockeye, Pink, and Keta; and                                                                                
05       WHEREAS subsistence fishing for salmon has sustained Alaska Native people for                                   
06 thousands of years; and                                                                                                 
07       WHEREAS recreational fishing for salmon is a lifelong pursuit for urban and rural                               
08 residents of the state, and commercial salmon fishing has been a mainstay industry in the state                         
09 for over a century; and                                                                                                 
10       WHEREAS Alaska is the only state with a constitutional requirement that fishing be                              
11 managed on the sustained yield principle; and                                                                           
12       WHEREAS Alaska accounts for over 90 percent of the commercial catch in the                                      
13 United States, is the world's premier source of wild salmon, and accounts for 11 percent of the                         
14 world's commercial harvest of salmon; and                                                                               
15       WHEREAS, from 2018 to 2021, salmon fisheries in the state accounted for 75                                    
16 percent of the fishery disaster declarations for the state; and                                                         

01       WHEREAS, in 2021, there were record low runs for many salmon species in western                                 
02 regions of the state, while there were record high runs for sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay; and                          
03 WHEREAS those low runs of salmon led to a ban on subsistence fishing for certain                                      
04 salmon species in rural communities and lower catch limits in other fisheries, which had                                
05 significant negative effects on communities that rely on salmon for subsistence and for which                           
06 fishing is a way of life; and                                                                                           
07       WHEREAS the state responsibly manages seafood using a world-class, science-based                                
08 approach to help fish stocks, communities, and entire ecosystems thrive; and                                            
09       WHEREAS sustainable seafood is the most environmentally efficient source of                                     
10 protein on the planet, and seafood harvested in the state is managed using environmentally                              
11 responsible practices; and                                                                                              
12 WHEREAS approximately 95 percent of the state's food is imported, and sustainable                                     
13 seafood is crucial not only to the food security of residents of the state, but is also a deeply                        
14 ingrained tradition; and                                                                                                
15 WHEREAS the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force that would be established by the                                        
16 Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act would create working groups to focus on specific                                  
17 regions or fish stocks, including a working group focused specifically on salmon returns in the                         
18 Arctic, Yukon, and Kuskokwim regions of the state; and                                                                  
19 WHEREAS the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force Act seeks to ensure that, for                                           
20 Pacific salmon trends in the state, productivity and abundance are characterized, research                              
21 needs are identified, and a coordinated salmon research strategy is established;                                        
22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Thirty-Second Alaska State Legislature respectfully                                           
23 urges the United States Congress to pass S. 3429, the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force                                 
24 Act, as introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan and Senator Lisa Murkowski.                                                  
25 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President                                   
26 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and                           
27 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
28 Representatives; the Honorable Charles Schumer, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and the                             
29 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the U.S.                                    
30 Representative for Alaska, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.