00                          SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 5                                                                        
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 SENATE:                                                                                           
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 Senate requests that the North Pacific Fishery                                          
30 Management Council take action to reduce Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and                               
31 Bering Sea trawl fisheries by setting new limits in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries and                              
01 lowering existing limits in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries to at least half                        
02 of the current limits and to further reduce bycatch in any Gulf of Alaska catch share program;                          
03 and be it                                                                                                               
04       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate requests that the North Pacific Fishery                                        
05 Management Council require 100 percent observer coverage in all Gulf of Alaska trawl                                    
06 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.