HCS SJR 16(FSH): Calling on President Biden to immediately seek and secure an end to the embargo imposed by Russia on seafood imports from abroad, or place a reciprocal embargo on Russian seafood entering the United States, until a reasonable trade agreement restoring Alaska seafood producers' full access to Russia's domestic seafood market is secured.
00 HOUSE CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 16(FSH) 01 Calling on President Biden to immediately seek and secure an end to the embargo 02 imposed by Russia on seafood imports from abroad, or place a reciprocal embargo on 03 Russian seafood entering the United States, until a reasonable trade agreement restoring 04 Alaska seafood producers' full access to Russia's domestic seafood market is secured. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS Russia instituted an embargo on certain seafood imports in 2014, 07 affecting almost all United States seafood products, including almost all categories of fish, 08 crustaceans, mollusks, and other aquatic invertebrates; and 09 WHEREAS, before the embargo, Russia was an important export market for Alaska 10 seafood, with $61,300,000 in purchases from Alaska seafood producers in 2013, the year 11 preceding the embargo; and 12 WHEREAS the embargo has deprived Alaska seafood producers of a market for 13 certain products, including Alaska salmon roe, that have few alternative markets; and 14 WHEREAS the lack of access to the Russian domestic seafood market reduces the 15 value of Alaska seafood products and imposes significant and ongoing costs on the state's
01 seafood economy; and 02 WHEREAS Russian seafood products compete directly with Alaska seafood products 03 in the United States domestic market and the global market and yet are not subject to an 04 analogous import limitation by the United States or another county; and 05 WHEREAS Russian seafood imports continue to enter the United States almost 06 entirely duty-free and have increased by 173 percent since 2013, the year preceding the 07 embargo; 08 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on President Joseph R. 09 Biden to immediately seek and secure an end to the embargo imposed by Russia on United 10 States seafood, or place a reciprocal embargo on Russian seafood entering the United States, 11 until a reasonable trade agreement restoring Alaska seafood producers' full access to Russia's 12 domestic seafood market is secured. 13 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 14 of the United States; the Honorable Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State; the 15 Honorable Gina Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Katherine 16 Tai, United States Trade Representative; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 17 Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 18 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.