00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 34 01 Urging the United States Congress and federal fisheries managers to make changes to 02 the federal Prohibited Species Donation program to reduce the waste of edible bycatch, 03 increase vessel participation, and improve food security in the state. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the federal Prohibited Species Donation program, also known as the 06 Bycatch to Food Banks program, was established in the 1990s to address the wasteful discard 07 of edible bycatch, including salmon and halibut, caught incidentally in the federal Bering Sea 08 and Gulf of Alaska groundfish trawl fisheries; and 09 WHEREAS the program, pioneered by SeaShare, an organization founded to help the 10 seafood industry donate to hunger relief efforts, in collaboration with the National Marine 11 Fisheries Service and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, has successfully 12 reclaimed millions of pounds of high-quality protein for distribution to food banks and hunger 13 relief organizations, reducing environmental waste and aiding vulnerable communities; and 14 WHEREAS, in 1993 - 1995, the National Marine Fisheries Service began issuing 15 Experimental Fishing Permits, which led to formal implementation of the Prohibited Species 01 Donation program in 1996 through Amendments 26 and 29 to the fishery management plans 02 for the fisheries of the United States' exclusive economic zone off Alaska and expanded to 03 include voluntary donations of marketable seafood products; and 04 WHEREAS the program remains in effect but has become increasingly difficult for 05 vessels to use in practice because of economic and operational constraints; and 06 WHEREAS recent regulatory changes, compliance concerns, and other factors have 07 led to declines in vessel participation and bycatch donations, resulting in the waste of valuable 08 fisheries resources amid ongoing food security challenges; and 09 WHEREAS the program was originally intended to prevent the waste of edible fish 10 by allowing certain vessels to retain fish that the vessels would otherwise be required to 11 discard at sea; and 12 WHEREAS, to avoid creating incentives that might increase bycatch, the current 13 program provides that vessels may not receive financial compensation, quota credit, or 14 regulatory offsets for their participation; and 15 WHEREAS participation in the program is not without cost for participating vessels, 16 as retaining bycatch imposes significant processing, transportation, and vessel-operation 17 costs; and 18 WHEREAS many vessels are discarding prohibited species at sea, rather than 19 retaining them for donation as permitted by law, because changing economic conditions and 20 increased compliance costs make participation in the program impractical, even when vessel 21 owners support the program's humanitarian goals; and 22 WHEREAS discarding edible bycatch at sea, when those fishery resources could be 23 used to improve food security for state residents, is inconsistent with the conservation and 24 food-security purposes of the program; and 25 WHEREAS the program can be amended to better align the program with ethical 26 fishing practices to support the state's seafood industry and enhance food security without 27 incentivizing higher bycatch rates; 28 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 29 Congress, federal fisheries managers, and the state's congressional delegation, the Honorable 30 Lisa Murkowski, the Honorable Dan Sullivan, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, to 31 consider legislative, regulatory, and administrative actions to ensure the Prohibited Species 01 Donation program more effectively reduces the wasteful discard of edible bycatch and 02 addresses state food security, while preserving the program's voluntary participation, strict 03 monitoring requirements, and prohibitions on sale or quota credits; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that, in adopting any legislative, regulatory, or 05 administrative change to the Prohibited Species Donation program to reduce the waste of 06 edible bycatch, Congress or the relevant federal agency should avoid incentivizing increased 07 bycatch or creating a secondary market for prohibited species and instead make targeted 08 adjustments that increase voluntary participation without altering bycatch limits or 09 conservation objectives. 10 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Ted Cruz, Chair of the U.S. 11 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Honorable Bruce 12 Westerman, Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources; the Honorable 13 Howard Lutnick, United States Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Dr. Neil Jacobs, 14 Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and 15 Atmospheric Administration Administrator; Angel Drobnica, Chair of the North Pacific 16 Fishery Management Council; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan 17 Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. Representative, members of 18 the Alaska delegation in Congress.