HJR 23: Supporting the goals of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud; urging the United States Congress to finalize a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing harvests in North Pacific waters, to pass the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015, and to require that all imported seafood sold in the United States be fully traceable to its country of origin; and calling on the federal administration and the United States Congress to act to increase public awareness of the harm done by the international trade in illegal, unreported, and unregulated seafood.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 23 01 Supporting the goals of the Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported, 02 and Unregulated Fishing and Seafood Fraud; urging the United States Congress to 03 finalize a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation to address illegal, unreported, 04 and unregulated fishing harvests in North Pacific waters, to pass the Illegal, Unreported, 05 and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act of 2015, and to require that all imported 06 seafood sold in the United States be fully traceable to its country of origin; and calling 07 on the federal administration and the United States Congress to act to increase public 08 awareness of the harm done by the international trade in illegal, unreported, and 09 unregulated seafood. 10 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 11 WHEREAS, in 2012, 40 percent of the global king crab catch was illegally taken by 12 unregulated Russian fishing vessels and other unregulated vessels flying "flags of 13 convenience," effectively threatening fisheries statewide; and
01 WHEREAS between four and 16 percent of the annual global salmon catch is 02 illegally caught; and 03 WHEREAS the high levels of bycatch from illegal and unregulated vessels 04 participating in high seas driftnet fishing threaten vulnerable marine populations that are vital 05 to domestic fisheries; and 06 WHEREAS illegal crab and salmon floods global food markets, causing low prices 07 that negatively affect legal harvesters of crab and salmon in the state; and 08 WHEREAS, in 2012, the price for Alaska king crab suffered a 25 percent decrease 09 because of a surplus of illegal crab in the market from Russian waters; and 10 WHEREAS the international seafood market has experienced an influx of illegally 11 caught crab from Russian waters and the international waters adjacent to the Russian 12 exclusive economic zone, resulting in an approximate 40 percent decline in ex-vessel prices 13 for crab in the last three years alone; and 14 WHEREAS, since 2000, the Alaska crab market has lost an estimated $600,000,000 15 because of illegal Russian vessel crab harvests; and 16 WHEREAS the unauthorized and illegal Russian crabbing market has an estimated 17 value of $700,000,000 a year; and 18 WHEREAS, between 2003 and 2005, the quantity of Russian-caught, illegal, and 19 unregulated sockeye salmon alone had an estimated value of between $40,000,000 and 20 $74,000,000; and 21 WHEREAS illegal crab and salmon fishing encourages overexploitation of 22 international marine populations; and 23 WHEREAS the amount of illegal crab caught in Russian waters and international 24 waters adjacent to the Russian exclusive economic zone is frequently twice the official, legal 25 total allowable catch; and 26 WHEREAS salmon caught illegally in the Russian Far East routinely exceeds 50 27 percent of Russia's official total allowable catch; and 28 WHEREAS the populations of certain species of salmon in areas of the Russian Far 29 East have been reduced by 90 percent, primarily as a result of illegal fishing; and 30 WHEREAS unregulated and illegal crab and salmon harvesting vessels have an 31 operating advantage over vessels legally permitted in Alaska fisheries, which are subject to
01 significant conservation and safety regulations; and 02 WHEREAS regulated legal domestic fisheries must share commercial marine 03 populations with foreign governments by cause of natural migration patterns, meaning that the 04 overfishing of crab and salmon populations in the Russian exclusive economic zone may 05 result in fewer crab and salmon to be harvested in the state; 06 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 07 Congress to finalize a bilateral agreement with the Russian Federation designed to better 08 coordinate efforts between our nations to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing 09 harvests in North Pacific waters; and be it 10 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 11 Congress immediately to pass H.R. 774, the Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing 12 Enforcement Act of 2015, which, among other provisions, includes the necessary changes to 13 domestic law to implement fully the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's 14 Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported, and 15 Unregulated Fishing; and be it 16 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 17 Congress to pass legislation that requires all imported seafood sold in the United States to be 18 fully traceable to verify illegal sources of seafood and to pass legislation that includes king 19 and tanner whole cooked crab and cooked crab sections in the list of bioresource imports 20 subject to Country-of-Origin Labeling requirements; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the goals of the 22 Presidential Task Force on Combating Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and 23 Seafood Fraud, particularly through coordinated efforts to strengthen enforcement by entities 24 including the United States Coast Guard, the United States Department of Commerce, and the 25 U.S. Customs and Border Protection and to expand partnerships with state governments and 26 industry; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 28 Congress and the federal Administration to increase public education and awareness of the 29 harms of illegal, unreported, and unregulated international crab and salmon harvesting and its 30 negative effects on local, state, and national economies. 31 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of
01 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 02 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of 03 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and 04 the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the 05 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.