00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 28                                                                     
01 Opposing the United States Food and Drug Administration's approval of AquaBounty                                        
02 AquAdvantage genetically engineered salmon; urging the United States Congress to                                        
03 enact legislation that requires prominently labeling genetically engineered products with                               
04 the words "Genetically Modified" on the product's packaging; and encouraging the                                        
05 restoration of wild, native populations of salmon in areas where development has                                        
06 negatively affected salmon.                                                                                             
07 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
08       WHEREAS, on November 19, 2015, the United States Food and Drug Administration                                   
09 approved AquaBounty AquAdvantage genetically engineered salmon as safe for human                                        
10 consumption; and                                                                                                        
11       WHEREAS the approval is the first time in history that the United States Food and                               
12 Drug Administration has approved a genetically engineered animal for human consumption;                                 
13 and                                                                                                                     
14       WHEREAS a large majority of state residents oppose the approval of genetically                                  

01 engineered salmon by the United States Food and Drug Administration; and                                                
02       WHEREAS more than 2,000,000 Americans opposed the United States Food and                                        
03 Drug Administration's approval of genetically engineered salmon in the largest number of                                
04 comments the United States Food and Drug Administration has ever received on an action;                                 
05 and                                                                                                                     
06       WHEREAS more than 65 retailers, including Costco, Safeway, and Target, have                                     
07 announced that they have no plans to sell genetically modified salmon; and                                              
08       WHEREAS more than 40 members of the United States Congress have expressed                                       
09 opposition to the approval of AquaBounty AquAdvantage genetically engineered salmon; and                                
10       WHEREAS the state has bountiful fisheries that provide wild, natural, and sustainable                           
11 seafood; and                                                                                                            
12       WHEREAS the inevitable accidental release of transgenic fish into the wild could                                
13 devastate native fish populations and ecosystems; and                                                                   
14       WHEREAS a May 2013 McGill University research report detailed findings                                          
15 demonstrating that genetically modified salmon could breed with other fish, including wild                              
16 salmon; and                                                                                                             
17       WHEREAS the research proved that interbreeding is possible and showed that hybrid                               
18 fish could outcompete with both wild salmon and genetically modified salmon; and                                        
19       WHEREAS, each year, an estimated 2,000,000 salmon escape from open water net                                    
20 pens into the North Atlantic Ocean, demonstrating the risk that escapement is a serious threat,                         
21 especially from the AquaBounty facility on Prince Edward Island, an island that sits adjacent                           
22 to a water body that is directly connected to the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Atlantic                                
23 Ocean; and                                                                                                              
24       WHEREAS the long-term human health effects of consuming genetically engineered                                  
25 salmon are unknown;                                                                                                     
26       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes the United States Food                                 
27 and Drug Administration's approval of AquaBounty AquAdvantage genetically engineered                                    
28 salmon; and be it                                                                                                       
29       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                    
30 Congress to enact legislation that requires prominently labeling genetically engineered                                 
31 products, including AquaBounty AquAdvantage genetically engineered salmon, with the                                     

01 words "Genetically Modified" on the product's packaging, as required by state law; and be it                            
02       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the restoration                                   
03 of wild, native populations of salmon in areas where development has negatively affected                                
04 salmon, instead of the approval of a dangerous genetically modified salmon, so that the native                          
05 populations of salmon can thrive once again.                                                                            
06       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
07 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
08 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of                                     
09 Agriculture; Stephen Ostroff, M.D., Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs; and the                                      
10 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the                                         
11 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.