02/06/2004 01:05 PM House RES

HCR 25-ALASKA WILD SALMON WEEK                                                                                                
                                                                                                                              
CHAIR DAHLSTROM announced that the  first order of business would                                                               
be HOUSE  CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.  25, Relating to  Alaska Wild                                                               
Salmon Week, June 28 - July 4, 2004.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
Number 0096                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
LEONA OBERTS,  Staff to Representative  Kelly Wolf,  Alaska State                                                               
Legislature,  presented   HCR  25  on  behalf   of  the  sponsor,                                                               
Representative Wolf.   Ms. Oberts highlighted  that the committee                                                               
packet includes letters of support.   Ms. Oberts paraphrased from                                                               
the   sponsor  statement,   which   read  [original   punctuation                                                               
provided]:                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Alaska is  the largest  commercial wild  salmon fishery                                                                    
     in  the world  and employees  more than  29,000 people.                                                                    
     Nearly  95% of  all commercially  caught salmon  in the                                                                    
     Unites States  are harvested  in Alaska.   In  the last                                                                    
     decade,  state salmon  harvest totaled  more than  $4.5                                                                    
     billion,  making  salmon  extremely vital  to  Alaska's                                                                    
     economy.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     For both  visitors and Alaskans,  the sport  of fishing                                                                    
     is one  of the  most popular  activities in  the state.                                                                    
     Last  year,  approximately  470,000 resident  and  non-                                                                    
     resident licenses were issued for sport fishing.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     Beyond the importance of  commercial and sport fishing,                                                                    
     salmon has  been a  nutritional source  for generations                                                                    
     of  Alaskans  and  is  a  large  part  of  the  state's                                                                    
     heritage.   Rich in Omega  3 oils, salmon is  a healthy                                                                    
     food  that can  help lower  cholesterol and  reduce the                                                                    
     risk of heart disease.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     House Concurrent  Resolution 25 would proclaim  June 28                                                                    
     -  July  4,  2004  as   "Alaska  Salmon  Week".    This                                                                    
     proclamation will  recognize the  salmon industry  as a                                                                    
     huge  part  of all  Alaskan's  lives  and raise  public                                                                    
     awareness of one of  Alaska's most important industries                                                                    
     by promoting  and celebrating  the catching  and eating                                                                    
     of salmon.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS.  OBERTS noted  that  in the  previous  committee of  referral                                                               
there was a question with  regard to the number resident licenses                                                               
issued  for  sport fishing.    The  number [of  470,000  resident                                                               
licenses] was verified  by the legislation liaison  at the Alaska                                                               
Department of Fish & Game.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Number 0385                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GUTTENBERG turned  attention to  page 1,  line 8,                                                               
and pointed  out that  the language  in the  constitution doesn't                                                               
refer  to "maximum",  rather it  refers to  the "sustained  yield                                                               
principle".  He asked if that was a concern of the sponsor.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS.  OBERTS answered  that  she didn't  believe  the language  in                                                               
question  [whether included  or not]  would be  a concern  of the                                                               
sponsor.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GUTTENBERG questioned  whether there  has been  a                                                               
delineation between sustained yield  and maximum sustained yield.                                                               
He asked if that has been a management issue.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS. OBERTS recalled that HB  396 [has been introduced] to address                                                               
that issue.   She specified  that she didn't believe  the sponsor                                                               
would have a problem with  deleting "maximum" for the purposes of                                                               
this resolution.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GUTTENBERG  commented,   "It's  amazing  that  we                                                               
haven't done this before."                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Number 0544                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   GUTTENBERG  moved   that  the   committee  adopt                                                               
[Amendment 1], as follows:                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     Page 1, line 8,                                                                                                            
          Delete "maximum"                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO  noted his  agreement that it's  possible to                                                               
have  a maximum  sustained yield  by sacrificing  a lot  of other                                                               
things, which isn't the intent.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MS.  OBERTS, in  response to  Co-Chair Dahlstrom,  confirmed that                                                               
she  didn't believe  Representative Wolf  would have  any problem                                                               
with Amendment 1.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR DAHLSTROM  pointed out  that the  resolution has  a zero                                                               
fiscal  note.    Co-Chair  Dahlstrom   asked  if  there  was  any                                                               
objection to Amendment 1.   There being no objection, Amendment 1                                                               
was adopted.                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Number 0676                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CO-CHAIR  MASEK  moved to  report  HCR  25,  as amended,  out  of                                                               
committee  with individual  recommendations and  the accompanying                                                               
fiscal note.  Co-Chair Masek  requested unanimous consent.  There                                                               
being no  objection, CSHCR  25(RES) was  reported from  the House                                                               
Resources Standing Committee.