00                CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10(FSH)                                                               
01 Supporting expanded research concerning the detrimental effects of ocean acidification.                                 
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS ocean waters and resources are vital to the economy, cultural identity,                                 
04 and daily lives of many Alaskans; and                                                                                   
05       WHEREAS it is estimated that the seafood industry contributed a total of                                        
06 $5,800,000,000 to the state's economic output in 2007, including an estimated $3,600,000,000                            
07 in wholesale value and $2,200,000,000 in indirect and induced economic output; and                                      
08       WHEREAS Alaska is home to eight of the 20 largest seafood ports in the United                                   
09 States; and                                                                                                             
10       WHEREAS, in 2007, Alaska seafood accounted for more than 62 percent, by volume,                                 
11 of the commercial seafood harvested in the United States; and                                                           
12       WHEREAS the seafood industry employs more workers than any other industry in                                    
13 the state; and                                                                                                          
14       WHEREAS tourism is a major economic engine in the state, with a direct economic                                 
15 contribution that exceeds $1,600,000,000 annually and an induced effect that exceeds                                    
16 $2,000,000,000 annually; and                                                                                            

01       WHEREAS tourism is the state's third largest private sector employer, supplying                                 
02 more than 26,000 full time equivalent jobs; and                                                                         
03       WHEREAS recreational fishing, whale watching, and other ocean-related activities                                
04 constitute critical sectors of the state's tourism industry; and                                                        
05       WHEREAS coastal residents of the state depend on ocean resources for subsistence,                               
06 recreation, and other uses; and                                                                                         
07       WHEREAS tourism, fishing, subsistence, and recreation are supported by healthy                                  
08 ocean ecosystems; and                                                                                                   
09       WHEREAS the world's oceans have absorbed more than a quarter of the carbon                                      
10 dioxide released into the atmosphere since the start of the Industrial Revolution; and                                  
11       WHEREAS carbon dioxide absorbed by the oceans has altered ocean chemistry,                                      
12 increasing the acidity of the ocean by 30 percent on average since the start of the Industrial                          
13 Revolution; and                                                                                                         
14       WHEREAS the acidity of surface water could double by the end of this century if                                 
15 current trends continue; and                                                                                            
16       WHEREAS the process of ocean acidification is accelerated in Arctic waters because                              
17 carbon dioxide is more soluble in cold water, and lower salinity diminishes the capacity of                             
18 oceans to buffer against acidification; there is evidence that ocean acidification is both more                         
19 severe and occurring more rapidly in the state's ocean waters than in tropical waters; and                              
20       WHEREAS the effects of ocean acidification could create conditions detrimental to                               
21 marine ecosystems in the state within decades; and                                                                      
22       WHEREAS ocean acidification will affect the growth, reproduction, behavior,                                     
23 disease resistance, and other biological and physiological processes of many marine                                     
24 organisms; and                                                                                                          
25       WHEREAS ocean acidification threatens carbonate-forming species, such as coral,                                 
26 shellfish, and many species of marine plankton, and changes to those species may cause                                  
27 significant detrimental effects throughout marine ecosystems and food webs, affecting the                               
28 largest marine organisms and many commercial fisheries; and                                                             
29       WHEREAS plankton, which form the base of the marine food web, King, Tanner,                                     
30 and Dungeness crab, deep-sea coral gardens, and pteropods, which serve as important prey for                            
31 whales, salmon, and other marine life, are all at risk because of the effects of ocean                                  

01 acidification; and                                                                                                      
02       WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, in its 2007 Aleutian                                      
03 Islands Fishery Ecosystem Plan, highlighted ocean acidification as both very likely to occur                            
04 and likely to cause significant ecological and economic effects; and                                                    
05       WHEREAS, because there is a scarcity of relevant data necessary for assessing the                               
06 potential effects of ocean acidification in the state, the North Pacific Fishery Management                             
07 Council has recommended ocean acidification be a research priority;                                                     
08       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes that ocean                                          
09 acidification is a threat to the state's marine ecosystems, tourism industry, and fisheries; and                        
10 be it                                                                                                                   
11       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the monitoring                                      
12 and research that are necessary to study the effects of ocean acidification on the state's marine                       
13 ecosystem to determine potential effects on the state's economy and to assess opportunities to                          
14 address the effects of ocean acidification.                                                                             
15       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
16 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
17 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Secretary                             
18 of State; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the                                 
19 Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Lisa P. Jackson,                                
20 Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under                                    
21 Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric                                    
22 Administration Administrator; Samuel D. Rauch III, Acting Assistant Administrator for                                   
23 Fisheries, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Julia L. Gourley, U.S. Senior                               
24 Arctic Official, Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs, U.S. Department of State; the Honorable                             
25 Patrick K. Gamble, President, University of Alaska; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and                                
26 the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
27 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.