00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 45                                                                                          
01 Relating to bilateral trade talks with Japan regarding Alaska seafood products.                                         
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03  WHEREAS the United States and Japan are engaged in bilateral trade talks; and                                          
04  WHEREAS seafood products are the major renewable resource product exported from                                        
05 Alaska; and                                                                                                             
06  WHEREAS the harvest, processing, and distribution of Alaska seafood products                                           
07 provide employment for a large number of Americans in Alaska and other states; and                                      
08  WHEREAS Japan is the largest foreign market for Alaska seafood products; and                                           
09  WHEREAS Japan dominates the world market for seafood products; and                                                     
10  WHEREAS many seafood processing, marketing, and exporting companies in Alaska                                          
11 are owned or controlled by Japanese companies; and                                                                      
12  WHEREAS the price paid to fishermen for Alaska salmon is severely depressed; and                                       
13  WHEREAS it is appropriate that the United States government discuss with Japan the                                     
14 need for direct access to Japanese seafood markets for Alaska seafood products and for fair                             

01 prices for Alaska seafood products;                                                                                     
02  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests President                                       
03 Bill Clinton to expand bilateral trade talks with Japan to include discussion of access to                              
04 Japanese markets for Alaskan seafood products and discussion of fair pricing and marketing                              
05 practices by Japanese companies operating in Alaska.                                                                    
06  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                
07 United States; the Honorable Michael Kantor, United States Trade Representative; and to the                             
08 Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the                                         
09 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.