HJR 62: Requesting the federal government to purchase surplus 1995 Alaska canned pink salmon.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 62 01 Requesting the federal government to purchase surplus 1995 Alaska canned pink 02 salmon. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS a surplus of more than 1,700,000 cases of 1995 Alaska canned pink 05 salmon is predicted to be present in warehouses on June 30, 1996; and 06 WHEREAS six major seafood companies in Alaska, including Tyson Seafoods, have 07 advised fishermen that, because of the huge overstock of 1995 canned pink salmon, they will 08 not purchase pink salmon in 1996; and 09 WHEREAS the lack of markets for pink salmon poses a threat of economic disaster 10 to the majority of Alaska fishermen and their families; and 11 WHEREAS the lack of markets for Alaska salmon will especially hurt fishermen in 12 rural areas of the state, particularly Alaska Natives, who will not be able to engage in 13 commercial fishing that is often their only source of cash income; and 14 WHEREAS the Alaska commercial salmon industry supports more than 39,000
01 employees and more than 12,000 licensed fishermen and is the largest private employer in 02 Alaska; and 03 WHEREAS canned pink salmon is a valuable, healthy, and wholesome source of high 04 quality protein, vitamins, and minerals that is widely needed throughout the country and 05 world; and 06 WHEREAS the United States Department of Agriculture operates surplus removal 07 programs to purchase surplus commodities for school lunch programs, export programs, 08 assistance to low income persons, and the federal prison system; and 09 WHEREAS the United States Department of Agriculture requires salmon products 10 purchased by the department to have been packed under a National Marine Fisheries Service 11 "Type 1" inspection program that was not in place in Alaska during 1995; and 12 WHEREAS pink salmon canned in Alaska during 1995 was subject to strict safety and 13 sanitation standards and to a state of the art hazard analysis/critical control point sanitation 14 program developed by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; and 15 WHEREAS an inspection of 1995 Alaska canned pink salmon by the National Marine 16 Fisheries Service, Inspection Services Division, would demonstrate that the safety and 17 sanitation standards for canned pink salmon in 1995 in Alaska easily equal the safety 18 standards under a "Type 1" inspection program; and 19 WHEREAS significant areas of the 34,000 miles of the pristine coastline of Alaska 20 may be polluted by large numbers of unharvested pink salmon that will return to spawn and 21 die in Alaska's streams and rivers and then decompose and contaminate coastal and marine 22 environments; and 23 WHEREAS the lack of markets for Alaska pink salmon will erode the tax base of the 24 State of Alaska and municipalities that rely on taxes on the sale and purchase of fish to 25 support government operations; 26 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests that the 27 United States Department of Agriculture waive the requirement for "Type 1" inspection of 28 canned pink salmon purchased under the surplus removal programs managed by the 29 Agricultural Marketing Service and that the United States Department of Agriculture purchase 30 surplus stocks of 1995 Alaska canned pink salmon. 31 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the
01 United States; the Honorable Daniel R. Glickman, Secretary, United States Department of 02 Agriculture; the Honorable Lon S. Hatamiya, Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service, 03 United States Department of Agriculture; the Honorable William E. Ludwig, Administrator, 04 Food and Consumer Service, United States Department of Agriculture; and to the Honorable 05 Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don 06 Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.