00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 43(FSH) 01 Relating to commercial fishing and subsistence use in Glacier Bay National Park. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS the National Park Service is currently addressing the issue of subsistence 04 use and commercial fishing in Glacier Bay National Park (Park) and is considering the status 05 of subsistence use and commercial fishing in the park; and 06 WHEREAS subsistence use and commercial fishing have occurred in the Park since 07 before it was established as a national monument in 1925 up to the present day; and 08 WHEREAS the National Park Service currently does not recognize the right of 09 residents of Hoonah and other local communities to use the area now included in the Park for 10 subsistence use, as their ancestors had done for generations; and 11 WHEREAS the prohibition of subsistence use and commercial fishing in the Park 12 would have disastrous and widespread economic, environmental, and social consequences for 13 the fishermen of Southeast Alaska and the communities in which they reside; and 14 WHEREAS the continued subsistence and commercial use of fisheries resources 01 within the navigable waters of the Park are desirable and are environmentally compatible with 02 the purposes of the Park; and 03 WHEREAS the harvest of fisheries resources in the Park is conservatively managed 04 by the Alaska Board of Fisheries and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to promote 05 the sustained health of the fish stocks; and 06 WHEREAS migratory species of fish that do not originate in the Park constitute the 07 majority of the fish harvested within the Park; a portion of the salmon harvested in the Park 08 is the result of salmon enhancement and rehabilitation efforts by the State of Alaska and 09 private nonprofit aquaculture associations; and 10 WHEREAS the National Park Service must administer the Park subject to existing 11 rights, statutes, and regulations; and 12 WHEREAS National Park Service regulations specifically provide for commercial 13 sport fishing activities and for the use of large tour ships within the Park; and 14 WHEREAS the State of Alaska has a claim to ownership of the submerged lands and 15 navigable waters of the Park; and 16 WHEREAS the State of Alaska exercises management authority over fishery resources 17 of the Park; and 18 WHEREAS issues relating to state and federal jurisdiction in the Park have not been 19 resolved; and 20 WHEREAS subsistence use and commercial fishing in the Park do not threaten Park 21 resources, visitor enjoyment of Park resources, or whale habitat in the Park; 22 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 23 National Park Service to work with the state, other federal agencies, and affected parties to 24 study the resources in Glacier Bay National Park and the effect of sport and commercial 25 fishing, subsistence use, and tourism on these resources; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Park Service, if it promulgates regulations, 27 (1) authorize continued commercial fishing under the laws of the State of 28 Alaska within the marine waters of Glacier Bay National Park; and 29 (2) expressly provide for subsistence uses in the Park. 30 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 31 United States; the Honorable Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior; 01 Roger G. Kennedy, Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior; Robert 02 Barbee, Alaska Regional Director, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior; and 03 to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the 04 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.