00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 5                                                                    
01 Opposing the unintentional bycatch of orcas; and endorsing the mitigation and                                           
02 prevention of orca bycatch in state fisheries.                                                                          
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS intricate ecological relationships exist within marine ecosystems and                                   
05 orcas play a critical role in maintaining the balance of those ecosystems; and                                          
06       WHEREAS scientific research indicates that orcas, as apex predators, influence prey                             
07 behavior, population dynamics, and the overall health of marine ecosystems; and                                         
08       WHEREAS there are three distinct ecotypes of orcas in the water off the western                                 
09 coast of the state, each identified by a distinct ecological role and cultural behavior, and each                       
10 contributing to the biodiversity and resilience of the state's marine environments; and                                 
11       WHEREAS the western Alaska orca stocks are identified as the Eastern North Pacific                              
12 Alaska Resident stock, the Gulf of Alaska, Aleutian Islands, and Bering Sea Transient stock,                            
13 and the Eastern North Pacific Offshore stock; and                                                                       
14 WHEREAS each of the orca stocks interacts differently with state fisheries,                                           
15 depending on the area in which the stock is located and how the stock interacts with the                                
16 environment, and, accordingly, there is a different allowable bycatch number for each of the                            

01 orca stocks during the fishing season; and                                                                              
02       WHEREAS 11 orcas were reported as entangled in fishing gear during the 2023                                     
03 fishing season, a bycatch rate almost three times higher than any one year between 1991 and                             
04 2022; and                                                                                                               
05 WHEREAS the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the                                               
06 preeminent scientific authority on life in the ocean, considers those reported entanglements as                         
07 a minimum estimate because not all entanglements are observed and not all witnessed                                     
08 entanglements are reported; and                                                                                         
09       WHEREAS eight of the 11 orcas entangled in 2023 were females from the Eastern                                   
10 North Pacific Alaska Resident stock; and                                                                                
11 WHEREAS NOAA reported the orca bycatch rate by sex from 1991 through 2022 to                                          
12 be 50 percent female and 50 percent male; and                                                                           
13 WHEREAS female orcas are the leaders and culture bearers of orca pods, passing on                                     
14 fishing techniques and traditions to offspring and relatives; and                                                       
15 WHEREAS orcas have been known to depredate fish from vessels for decades by                                           
16 picking fish off trawlers' lines, but orcas are now engaging in a new depredation behavior of                           
17 lingering by boats and feeding in front of nets; and                                                                    
18 WHEREAS a fisher is unlikely to know if an orca is entangled in the fisher's nets                                     
19 because of the long soak time of longline and trawl nets, a period that is often longer than an                         
20 orca is able to survive without air; and                                                                                
21 WHEREAS orcas experience asphyxiation and injury while entangled in gear or in                                        
22 the process of being released from entanglement; and                                                                    
23 WHEREAS some scientists consider the current bycatch limit of 19 orcas from the                                       
24 Eastern North Pacific Resident stock to be based on a possibly outdated assessment and to be                            
25 too high because the limit may not protect a genetically distinct orca population; and                                  
26 WHEREAS, of the 11 orcas reported as entangled in 2023, nine were brought up in                                       
27 the gear of catcher-processor bottom-trawl vessels targeting flatfish in the Bering Sea and                             
28 Aleutian Island areas, six were killed, and one was seriously injured and has likely since died                         
29 from its injuries; and                                                                                                  
30 WHEREAS, in a December 14, 2023, technical memorandum, NOAA called for                                                
31 more research to develop deterrents and bycatch mitigation to reduce orca interactions with                             

01 fishers; and                                                                                                            
02       WHEREAS the technical memorandum reviews several possible mitigation strategies                                 
03 that may prevent or reduce orca interactions with vessels and gear used in state fisheries and                          
04 calls for more research; and                                                                                            
05 WHEREAS those mitigation strategies include fishing in open areas to reduce                                           
06 interactions, checking fishing gear regularly, reducing gear soaking time, not fishing when                             
07 orcas are present, employing certain practices in the use of fishing gear, and adopting                                 
08 techniques that include setting decoy sets or working with other vessels; and                                           
09       WHEREAS commercial fishing vessels should be held to the same standard as the                                   
10 cruise ships that ply the coast in southern and southeastern areas of the state and receive                             
11 severe criticism for striking a single whale;                                                                           
12       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature, acknowledging the scientific                                  
13 consensus on the ecological importance of orcas and the vulnerability of orca populations to                            
14 bycatch, opposes the unintentional bycatch of orcas; and be it                                                          
15       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature endorses the adoption of                                     
16 the strategies for mitigating or preventing orca interaction with vessels and fishing gear that                         
17 are reviewed in the NOAA technical memorandum dated December 14, 2023; and be it                                        
18       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges all state fisheries to                                 
19 adopt those mitigation strategies.