00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23                                                                                          
01 Proposing postage stamps honoring wild Alaska salmon and centuries of continued                                         
02 use of wild Alaska salmon for subsistence, commercial, and sport fish harvesters.                                       
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04  WHEREAS the cold, clean waters off Alaska's 34,000 mile coast are the world's                                          
05 greatest resource for natural, wild salmon; and                                                                         
06  WHEREAS Alaska's rivers, streams, and lakes are the nurseries for the world's most                                     
07 important and productive runs of wild and natural salmon; and                                                           
08  WHEREAS, in the pristine waters of Alaska, five species of Pacific salmon mature                                       
09 in an unmatched natural environment that provides them with superior flavor, color, and                                 
10 texture; and                                                                                                            
11  WHEREAS Alaska's salmon are a mainstay of Alaska's subsistence and commercial                                          
12 economies and lifestyles; and                                                                                           
13  WHEREAS Alaska salmon account for more than 90 percent of all salmon harvested                                         
14 commercially in the United States each year; and                                                                        

01  WHEREAS exports of Alaska salmon help balance the United States trade deficit                                          
02 because more than 50 percent of the Alaska commercial harvest of salmon is sent overseas;                               
03 and                                                                                                                     
04  WHEREAS exports of Alaska salmon were worth nearly $750,000,000 in 1993, the                                           
05 last year for which accurate customs numbers are available; and                                                         
06  WHEREAS more than 35,000 jobs in Alaska rely on the seafood industry, the largest                                      
07 private sector employer in Alaska; and                                                                                  
08  WHEREAS the salmon segment of the seafood industry is the oldest component of                                          
09 the industry and one of its most important elements; and                                                                
10  WHEREAS Alaska's salmon play an increasing role in the state's visitor industry,                                       
11 attracting sport anglers from around the world who are served by a growing lodge, charter                               
12 boat, and tourism industry; and                                                                                         
13  WHEREAS participation in recreational fishing in Alaska has grown from 46,000                                          
14 anglers at statehood to 426,514 anglers in 1993; and                                                                    
15  WHEREAS sport angler expenditures translate into gross business revenue of about                                       
16 $500,000,000 and several thousand jobs in Alaska; and                                                                   
17  WHEREAS the premier sport fish in Alaska is wild, natural salmon;                                                      
18  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports recognition of wild                                          
19 Alaska salmon through the issuance of United States postal stamps recognizing the five                                  
20 species of Pacific salmon and centuries of continued use of salmon, Alaska's most important                             
21 renewable resource that is managed on a sustained yield basis for the benefit of subsistence,                           
22 commercial, and sport harvesters.                                                                                       
23  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Marvin Runyon, Postmaster                                     
24 General, United States Postal Service; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable                               
25 Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative,                                       
26 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.