CSSCR 10(FIN): Establishing the Joint Legislative Seafood Industry Task Force.
00 CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 10(FIN) 01 Establishing the Joint Legislative Seafood Industry Task Force. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS the seafood industry is one of the cornerstones of the state's economy, 04 supporting tens of thousands of jobs, and seafood has a multi-billion dollar economic impact 05 in the state; and 06 WHEREAS increased operational costs in the state, high interest rates, and 07 considerable changes in the global seafood market in recent years have placed the state's 08 seafood industry in economic peril, threatening not only the main engine of the rural 09 economies of the state but also a significant contributor to urban economies and is causing 10 harmful revenue losses to the state's general fund and to municipal budgets; and 11 WHEREAS decreased consumer demand has resulted in the volume of United States 12 seafood retail sales falling below benchmarks established before the COVID-19 pandemic, 13 reversing substantial gains earned in 2020, 2021, and 2022; and 14 WHEREAS, in 2023, global harvest, including the state's harvest and competing 15 Russian harvest, increased supply for many key state seafood products; and 16 WHEREAS preliminary data show that prices paid to both fishermen and processors
01 in calendar year 2023 were historically low for many key state seafood species; and 02 WHEREAS state seafood harvesters are in danger of being without markets and being 03 forced into economic distress; and 04 WHEREAS numerous seafood processing facilities are for sale, closing, or planning 05 to shut down for a portion, or all of, the 2024 fishing season; and 06 WHEREAS seafood is a renewable resource that is becoming increasingly unique in 07 the global market and can provide immeasurable economic benefit to this state in perpetuity; 08 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature establishes the Joint Legislative 09 Seafood Industry Task Force to address those elements of the economic crisis in the state's 10 seafood industry that can be solved through governmental policy and action on the part of the 11 industry; and be it 12 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall develop a long-term vision for the 13 state seafood industry as a critical element of the state's economic future; and be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the duties of the task force include evaluating public 15 policy options for the state that address 16 (1) means by which government can assist the state's seafood industry in 17 response to changing economics; 18 (2) effects on communities that are severely affected by the economic crisis in 19 the state's seafood industry; 20 (3) ways to improve the coordination of the harvesting, processing, and 21 marketing of seafood; 22 (4) ways to incentivize new seafood product development; 23 (5) ways to improve the marketing efforts of the state seafood industry; 24 (6) ways to improve the quality of the state's seafood products; 25 (7) a long-term strategic plan for the state's seafood industry; 26 (8) the process and procedure to execute limited entry permit buy-back 27 programs; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall conduct the 29 business of the task force with a statewide vision of the economic crisis in the state's seafood 30 industry and the need to find solutions to the economic crisis; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be composed of 16 members, as
01 follows: 02 (1) four members of the legislature, appointed as follows: 03 (A) two members from the senate appointed by the president of the 04 senate; 05 (B) two members from the house of representatives appointed by the 06 speaker of the house of representatives; 07 (2) nine public members who are state residents, appointed jointly by the 08 president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives as follows: 09 (A) three members representing the seafood processing sector on 10 behalf of 11 (i) two large seafood processors that own or operate two or 12 more shoreside plants in two or more locations in the state; and 13 (ii) one small seafood processor that owns or operates one 14 shoreside plant in the state; 15 (B) three commercial seafood harvesters who actively participate in 16 state-managed fisheries consisting of 17 (i) one salmon harvester; 18 (ii) one whitefish harvester; 19 (iii) one shellfish harvester; 20 (C) three representatives of fishing-dependent coastal communities 21 representing 22 (i) rural Western Alaska; 23 (ii) the Gulf of Alaska; 24 (iii) Southeast Alaska; and 25 (3) three ex officio nonvoting members designated as follows: 26 (A) the commissioner of fish and game or the commissioner's 27 designee; 28 (B) the commissioner of commerce, community, and economic 29 development or the commissioner's designee; 30 (C) the commissioner of revenue or the commissioner's designee; and 31 be it
01 FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall be appointed to 02 objectively evaluate and support the statewide seafood industry as a whole and not just a 03 particular region or harvesting sector of the industry; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that a vacancy on the task force shall be filled in the same 05 manner as the original appointment; and be it 06 FURTHER RESOLVED that the president of the senate and the speaker of the house 07 of representatives shall jointly appoint a legislative member of the task force as chair of the 08 task force; staff of the legislator who chairs the task force may provide administrative and 09 other support to the task force; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall meet at the call of the chair; and be 11 it 12 FURTHER RESOLVED that a majority of the task force constitutes a quorum; and 13 be it 14 FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the legislature serving on the task 15 force are entitled to per diem and travel expenses and other members serving on the task force 16 may seek reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses from the member's respective 17 organization; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that members of the task force shall meet virtually or use 19 other electronic means to reduce task force expenses to the fullest extent practicable; and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall submit a report of its findings and 21 recommendations to the legislature by January 21, 2025, and may make any interim reports it 22 considers advisable; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is terminated at 11:59 p.m. on 24 February 1, 2025.