Enrolled HJR 27: Supporting the relocation of the home port of the Coastal Villages Region Fund fishing fleet from Seattle to Alaska.
00Enrolled HJR 27 01 Supporting the relocation of the home port of the Coastal Villages Region Fund fishing fleet 02 from Seattle to Alaska. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the State of Alaska worked tirelessly within the framework of the 06 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to transition from a federal 07 fishery dominated by foreign fishing vessels to a fishery fully utilized by Americans; and 08 WHEREAS, in the 1990s, the state worked in partnership with the state's 09 Congressional delegation to promote the community development quota (CDQ) initiative in 10 the Bering Sea, which provided residents of the villages located on and around the Bering Sea 11 fisheries a stake in the fishing industry; and 12 WHEREAS many past leaders of the state have shared a longstanding goal of 13 Alaskanizing ownership of the fishing fleets serving the CDQ groups and home-porting those 14 fleets in the state; and 15 WHEREAS the Coastal Villages Region Fund, one of six CDQ groups and the largest 16 Alaskan-owned and Alaska-based seafood company in the state's 100-year history of 17 commercial fisheries, holds either 100 percent sole ownership of its fishing fleet or ownership
01 in partnership with another CDQ group; and 02 WHEREAS the Coastal Villages Region Fund is projected to make $75,000,000 in 03 seafood sales in 2011; and 04 WHEREAS the Coastal Villages Region Fund has become so big and successful that 05 it costs $2,000,000 to fill up the fuel tanks of its fishing fleet just one time, spends 06 approximately $20,000,000 annually in Seattle for moorage, vendor support, and 07 maintenance, and spends approximately $2,000,000 each year to fly crews between Alaska 08 and Seattle; and 09 WHEREAS the money spent by the Coastal Villages Region Fund in Seattle is 10 money that could be spent in the state; and 11 WHEREAS the legislation establishing the CDQ groups requires that the earnings of 12 those groups be reinvested in the Bering Sea area; and 13 WHEREAS no locations within the Bering Sea area meet the home-porting 14 requirements of the large fishing and processing vessels owned by the Coastal Villages 15 Region Fund; and 16 WHEREAS the Coastal Villages Region Fund desires to relocate its home port from 17 Seattle to a port in Alaska that has the following characteristics: 18 (1) a year-round ice-free deep water port; 19 (2) road, rail, and air access; 20 (3) available space on the water and upland for development; 21 (4) major ship repair capabilities; and 22 (5) maritime training and licensing; and 23 WHEREAS, after a statewide review, the Coastal Villages Region Fund has 24 determined that the City of Seward is the only community in the state that meets all of its 25 requirements; and 26 WHEREAS the president and board of directors of the Coastal Villages Region Fund 27 have proposed that Seward become the home port for its growing fishing and processing fleet; 28 and 29 WHEREAS the Coastal Villages Region Fund requires a half-mile of dock space to 30 dock its fishing vessels, 20,000 square feet of warehouse space, 5,000 square feet of office 31 space, and five to 10 acres of fenced yard for equipment and staging; and
01 WHEREAS the relocation of the Coastal Villages Region Fund to Seward will 02 encourage and facilitate the relocation of the remaining five CDQ groups to the state; and 03 WHEREAS the home-porting of the largest CDQ group in Seward will begin the 04 transition of hiring vendors from inside the state to repair propellers and vessels, weld and 05 paint, service electronics, mend fishing gear, repair diesel engines, supply packaging, provide 06 fuel and groceries, and provide marine safety training; and 07 WHEREAS, with the relocation of the home port to Seward, the money earned by the 08 Coastal Villages Region Fund in the Bering Sea fisheries will ripple through the state's 09 economy; and 10 WHEREAS the Alaska District of the United States Army Corps of Engineers has 11 made a preliminary finding that the relocation of the Coastal Villages Region Fund fishing 12 fleet to Seward is economically feasible; and 13 WHEREAS the infrastructure for home-porting the Coastal Villages Region Fund 14 fishing fleet in Seward will build on the $70,000,000 in existing infrastructure at the Seward 15 Marine Industrial Center that was constructed in the 1980s; and 16 WHEREAS the City of Seward has paid for the initial engineering analysis to home- 17 port the Coastal Villages Region Fund in Seward; and 18 WHEREAS construction of the infrastructure to support home-porting the Coastal 19 Villages Region Fund in Seward may be completed by December 15, 2014; 20 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature fully supports the relocation of 21 the home port of the Coastal Villages Region Fund fishing fleet from Seattle to Alaska. 22 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the 23 Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, 24 members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.