CSSR 5(RES): Requesting that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council take action to reduce the quantity of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea trawl fisheries by setting new limits in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries and lowering the existing limits in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea pollock fisheries to at least half of the current limits; and requesting that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council require that participants in those trawl fisheries take part in the SeaShare program and encourage that edible bycatch from the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea fisheries be provided to Alaska residents.
00 CS FOR SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 5(RES) 01 Requesting that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council take action to reduce 02 the quantity of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea trawl 03 fisheries by setting new limits in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries and lowering the 04 existing limits in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea pollock fisheries to at least half of 05 the current limits; and requesting that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council 06 require that participants in those trawl fisheries take part in the SeaShare program and 07 encourage that edible bycatch from the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea fisheries be 08 provided to Alaska residents. 09 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE: 10 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon, the official state fish, is of critical importance to the 11 state, providing significant income to the state and its residents through commercial and 12 charter fisheries, and providing a critical source of food taken in recreational and subsistence 13 fisheries; and 14 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon is a cultural icon for both Native and non-Native
01 Alaskans; and 02 WHEREAS, in 2012, Chinook salmon runs were dramatically low, and disaster 03 declarations were made for Upper Cook Inlet and the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers; and 04 WHEREAS, in 2012, economic losses to the state for commercial and recreational 05 fisheries were over $34,000,000, not including significant effects on subsistence users and on 06 the cultural and spiritual values of Alaskans; and 07 WHEREAS, in 2012, setnet fisheries in Upper Cook Inlet were almost entirely shut 08 down for fear of intercepting hundreds of Chinook salmon; and 09 WHEREAS, in 2012, recreational fisheries for Chinook salmon on the Kenai River 10 were completely shut down; and 11 WHEREAS, in 2012, subsistence fisheries in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers were 12 under severe restrictions, and, despite those restrictions, many escapement goals were not 13 met; and 14 WHEREAS Chinook salmon stocks from Alaska are caught and discarded in the 15 Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries and other trawl fisheries in the Gulf of 16 Alaska; and 17 WHEREAS Chinook salmon bycatch is a direct and controllable source of mortality 18 for extremely valuable and declining salmon runs throughout the state; and 19 WHEREAS nets containing salmon-excluding devices are available, and new 20 concepts and designs to reduce Chinook salmon bycatch are becoming available; and 21 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon bycatch cap in the Bering Sea pollock fishery is set 22 at 60,000, which is more than the entire subsistence fishery on the Yukon River; and 23 WHEREAS the Senate acknowledges and appreciates the work done by the trawl 24 industry and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to reduce bycatch and recognizes 25 that the trawl industry and the council are working to further reduce bycatch; and 26 WHEREAS SeaShare is a nonprofit organization that partners with the nation's food 27 bank network to use edible bycatch as a source of nutrition and means of alleviating hunger; 28 and 29 WHEREAS the Chinook salmon bycatch cap in the Gulf of Alaska pollock fishery is 30 set at 25,000, which is more than the 10-year average bycatch in the fishery; and 31 WHEREAS the Gulf of Alaska bycatch allowance represented 20 percent of the 2011
01 Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, Kodiak, Chignik, and Alaska Peninsula sport, subsistence, 02 and commercial Chinook salmon harvest and will likely represent a greater percentage of the 03 2012 harvest; and 04 WHEREAS the other Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries, other than the pollock fishery, 05 currently operate without any bycatch limits; and 06 WHEREAS the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering a cap on 07 Gulf of Alaska fisheries, other than the pollock fishery, and is initiating a catch share program 08 for the Central Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries, which could lead to the adoption of regulations 09 that would further reduce bycatch; 10 BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate requests that the North Pacific Fishery 11 Management Council take action to reduce Chinook salmon bycatch in the Gulf of Alaska and 12 Bering Sea trawl fisheries by setting new limits in the Gulf of Alaska trawl fisheries and 13 lowering existing limits in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries to at least half 14 of the current limits and to further reduce bycatch in any Gulf of Alaska catch share program; 15 and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate requests that the North Pacific Fishery 17 Management Council require 100 percent observer coverage in all Gulf of Alaska trawl 18 fisheries to provide accurate estimates of bycatch; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate requests that the North Pacific Fishery 20 Management Council require that participants in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea trawl 21 fisheries take part in the SeaShare program and encourage that edible bycatch from these 22 fisheries be provided to Alaska residents. 23 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Sean Parnell, Governor of 24 Alaska; and all members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.