00 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 6 01 Requesting that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council take action to reduce 02 the quantity of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea trawl 03 fisheries by setting new limits in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries and lowering the 04 existing limits in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea pollock fisheries to at least half of 05 the current limits. 06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 07 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon, the official state fish, is of critical importance to the 08 state, providing significant income to the state and its residents through commercial and 09 charter fisheries, and providing a critical source of food taken in recreational and subsistence 10 fisheries; and 11 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon is a cultural icon for both Native and non-Native 12 Alaskans; and 13 WHEREAS, in 2012, Chinook salmon runs were dramatically low, and disaster 14 declarations were made for Upper Cook Inlet and the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers; and 15 WHEREAS, in 2012, economic losses to the state for commercial and recreational 01 fisheries were over $34,000,000, not including significant effects on subsistence users and on 02 the cultural and spiritual values of Alaskans; and 03 WHEREAS, in 2012, setnet fisheries in Upper Cook Inlet were almost entirely shut 04 down for fear of intercepting hundreds of Chinook salmon; and 05 WHEREAS, in 2012, recreational fisheries for Chinook salmon on the Kenai River 06 were completely shut down; and 07 WHEREAS, in 2012, subsistence fisheries in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers were 08 under severe restrictions, and, despite those restrictions, many escapement goals were not 09 met; and 10 WHEREAS Chinook salmon stocks from Alaska are caught and discarded in the 11 Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries and other trawl fisheries in the Gulf of 12 Alaska; and 13 WHEREAS Chinook salmon bycatch is a direct and controllable source of mortality 14 for extremely valuable and declining salmon runs throughout the state; and 15 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon bycatch cap in the Bering Sea pollock fishery is set 16 at 60,000, which is more than the entire subsistence fishery on the Yukon River; and 17 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon bycatch cap in the Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery is 18 set at 25,000, which is more than the 10-year average bycatch in the fishery; and 19 WHEREAS the Gulf of Alaska bycatch allowance represented 20 percent of the 2011 20 Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, Kodiak, Chignik, and Alaska Peninsula sport, subsistence, 21 and commercial Chinook salmon harvest and will likely represent a greater percentage of the 22 2012 harvest; and 23 WHEREAS the other Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries, other than the pollock fishery, 24 currently operate without any bycatch limits; and 25 WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering a cap on 26 Gulf of Alaska fisheries, other than the pollock fishery, and is initiating a catch share program 27 for the Central Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries, which could lead to the adoption of regulations 28 that would further reduce bycatch; 29 BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives requests that the North Pacific 30 Fishery Management Council take action to reduce Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of 31 Alaska and Bering Sea trawl fisheries by setting new limits in the Gulf of Alaska trawl 01 fisheries and lowering existing limits in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries to 02 at least half of the current limits and to further reduce bycatch in any Gulf of Alaska catch 03 share program; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives requests that the North 05 Pacific Fishery Management Council require 100 percent observer coverage in all Gulf of 06 Alaska trawl fisheries to provide accurate estimates of bycatch. 07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Sean Parnell, Governor of 08 Alaska; and all members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.