00                 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 32(FSH)                                                               
01 Relating to the labeling of fish and fishery food products.                                                             
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS Americans deserve wholesome foods and information about the contents                                    
04 and production of their food supply; and                                                                                
05       WHEREAS concerns have recently been raised about the safety of farmed fish; and                                 
06       WHEREAS farmed fish are often fed antibiotics, hormones, and coloring agents and                                
07 their environments are treated with various chemicals; and                                                              
08       WHEREAS Alaska's fish production is distinct from farmed fish production because                                
09 our stocks are wild, free-ranging, and, therefore, naturally wholesome and healthy; and                                 
10       WHEREAS there are numerous outstanding issues and questions regarding public                                    
11 policy, fair trade, and the social and economic consequences of farmed fish production; and                             
12       WHEREAS more and more consumers are expressing a preference and requesting                                      
13 wild fish over farmed fish; and                                                                                         
14       WHEREAS both the Alaska State Legislature and the United States Congress have                                   
15 passed labeling laws specifically to inform consumers about fishery and other food products;                            
16       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the timely labeling of                                
01 fish and fishery food products in the market place to identity the country of origin and the                            
02 presence of coloring and other additives, to indicate whether there has been genetic                                    
03 modification, and to distinguish between wild and farmed fish.                                                          
04       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Don Evans, United States                               
05 Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Ann Veneman, United States Secretary of                                            
06 Agriculture; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S.                                    
07 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                       
08 delegation in Congress.