00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 62                                                                                           
01 Requesting the federal government to purchase surplus 1995 Alaska canned pink                                           
02 salmon.                                                                                                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS a surplus of more than 1,700,000 cases of 1995 Alaska canned pink                                              
05 salmon is predicted to be present in warehouses on June 30, 1996; and                                                   
06  WHEREAS six major seafood companies in Alaska, including Tyson Seafoods, have                                          
07 advised fishermen that, because of the huge overstock of 1995 canned pink salmon, they will                             
08 not purchase pink salmon in 1996; and                                                                                   
09  WHEREAS the lack of markets for pink salmon poses a threat of economic disaster                                        
10 to the majority of Alaska fishermen and their families; and                                                             
11  WHEREAS the lack of markets for Alaska salmon will especially hurt fishermen in                                        
12 rural areas of the state, particularly Alaska Natives, who will not be able to engage in                                
13 commercial fishing that is often their only source of cash income; and                                                  
14  WHEREAS the Alaska commercial salmon industry supports more than 39,000                                                
01 employees and more than 12,000 licensed fishermen and is the largest private employer in                                
02 Alaska; and                                                                                                             
03  WHEREAS canned pink salmon is a valuable, healthy, and wholesome source of high                                        
04 quality protein, vitamins, and minerals that is widely needed throughout the country and                                
05 world; and                                                                                                              
06  WHEREAS the United States Department of Agriculture operates surplus removal                                           
07 programs to purchase surplus commodities for school lunch programs, export programs,                                    
08 assistance to low income persons, and the federal prison system; and                                                    
09  WHEREAS the United States Department of Agriculture requires salmon products                                           
10 purchased by the department to have been packed under a National Marine Fisheries Service                               
11 "Type 1" inspection program that was not in place in Alaska during 1995; and                                            
12  WHEREAS pink salmon canned in Alaska during 1995 was subject to strict safety and                                      
13 sanitation standards and to a state of the art hazard analysis/critical control point sanitation                        
14 program developed by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; and                                           
15  WHEREAS an inspection of 1995 Alaska canned pink salmon by the National Marine                                         
16 Fisheries Service, Inspection Services Division, would demonstrate that the safety and                                  
17 sanitation standards for canned pink salmon in 1995 in Alaska easily equal the safety                                   
18 standards under a "Type 1" inspection program; and                                                                      
19  WHEREAS significant areas of the 34,000 miles of the pristine coastline of Alaska                                      
20 may be polluted by large numbers of unharvested pink salmon that will return to spawn and                               
21 die in Alaska's streams and rivers and then decompose and contaminate coastal and marine                                
22 environments; and                                                                                                       
23  WHEREAS the lack of markets for Alaska pink salmon will erode the tax base of the                                      
24 State of Alaska and municipalities that rely on taxes on the sale and purchase of fish to                               
25 support government operations;                                                                                          
26  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the                                        
27 United States Department of Agriculture waive the requirement for "Type 1" inspection of                                
28 canned pink salmon purchased under the surplus removal programs managed by the                                          
29 Agricultural Marketing Service and that the United States Department of Agriculture purchase                            
30 surplus stocks of 1995 Alaska canned pink salmon.                                                                       
31  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
01 United States; the Honorable Daniel R. Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of                                 
02 Agriculture; the Honorable Lon S. Hatamiya, Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service,                              
03 United States Department of Agriculture; the Honorable William E. Ludwig, Administrator,                                
04 Food and Consumer Service, United States Department of Agriculture; and to the Honorable                                
05 Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don                                     
06 Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.