00HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 12                                                                                      
01 Relating to management of the salmon fisheries of the upper Cook Inlet area.                                            
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03  WHEREAS Alaska is renowned throughout the world for the abundance and diversity                                        
04 of its fishery resources; and                                                                                           
05  WHEREAS a large proportion of the residents of the state, constituting a broad                                         
06 spectrum of the life styles found in the state, depend on the fishery resources of the state for                        
07 food, a mainstay of livelihood, and recreation; and                                                                     
08  WHEREAS the fair and impartial allocation of the fisheries resources of the state is                                   
09 consistent with the mandate of the Alaska State Constitution for use of the state's resources                           
10 consistent with the public interest and for the maximum benefit of the people of the state; and                         
11  WHEREAS the allocation of the fishery resources of the state based solely on the                                       
12 direct economic return associated with the sale of those resources is not wholly consistent with                        
13 the maximum use, common use, and preferences among beneficial uses provisions of the                                    
14 Alaska State Constitution; and                                                                                          

01  WHEREAS certain salmon stocks of the upper Cook Inlet area, which are significantly                                    
02 affected by the management of the commercial salmon fisheries of upper Cook Inlet, are                                  
03 experiencing sharp declines in abundance; and                                                                           
04  WHEREAS the noncommercial harvest of certain salmon stocks in the upper Cook                                           
05 Inlet area has been more restrictively regulated than has the commercial harvest of those                               
06 stocks; and                                                                                                             
07  WHEREAS the public response to restrictions placed almost entirely upon the                                            
08 noncommercial users of the salmon of the upper Cook Inlet area has been overwhelmingly and                              
09 consistently negative; and                                                                                              
10  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature has received a great number of requests to                                        
11 intervene in the management of the salmon of the upper Cook Inlet area on the behalf of the                             
12 noncommercial users; and                                                                                                
13  WHEREAS the Alaska State Legislature seeks to avoid involvement  in the allocation                                     
14 decisions of the Alaska Board of Fisheries;                                                                             
15  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the                                             
16 Governor to direct the Board of Fisheries to address the management crisis facing the salmon                            
17 fisheries of the upper Cook Inlet area before or during its March 1995 meeting and to                                   
18 establish a task force to gather information on salmon stocks of the upper Cook Inlet area, in                          
19 particular those salmon stocks that are declining in abundance; and be it                                               
20  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Fisheries be directed to examine data from                                          
21 all segments of the salmon fisheries of the upper Cook Inlet area, including information on                             
22 incidental harvests, interception by other fisheries, expansion of commercial and                                       
23 noncommercial harvests of the salmon stocks of the upper Cook Inlet area, and historical                                
24 trends in the harvest of the salmon stocks of the upper Cook Inlet area; and be it                                      
25  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature stresses to the Board of                                            
26 Fisheries the importance of fully considering all values associated with the salmon stocks of                           
27 the upper Cook Inlet area, including the full economic and social impacts of the commercial                             
28 and noncommercial uses of the resource, and relevant economic factors, implications for                                 
29 resident hire, resident ownership of salmon harvesting and processing operations in the upper                           
30 Cook Inlet area, and overall importance and contribution of the various uses of the salmon                              
31 stocks of the upper Cook Inlet area to the overall best interest of the State of Alaska.