SJR 14: Calling on the United States Congress and all federal agencies to adopt policies and engage in certain efforts to improve the competitiveness and resiliency of the state's seafood industry.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 14 01 Calling on the United States Congress and all federal agencies to adopt policies and 02 engage in certain efforts to improve the competitiveness and resiliency of the state's 03 seafood industry. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS efforts to improve global competitiveness of Alaska commercial seafood 06 have benefits to the entire seafood industry, including harvesters, processors, and support 07 businesses, as well as communities across the state and the state as a whole; and 08 WHEREAS Alaska seafood makes up more than 60 percent of seafood harvested in 09 the United States and is a critical part of food production for the United States; and 10 WHEREAS Alaska seafood is exported to about 100 countries around the globe; and 11 WHEREAS Alaska seafood is subject to global market factors that directly affect its 12 value, whether sold in the United States or exported; and 13 WHEREAS Alaska seafood currently faces extraordinary national and global 14 challenges, including trade policies and nonreciprocal tariffs that favor other nations, large 15 existing inventories, high costs and inflation rates, reduced consumer demand, and global
01 competitors that have lower operating costs and are less regulated than domestic seafood 02 producers; and 03 WHEREAS challenges that affect the economic viability of fishers and seafood 04 processors also affect local economies and fish landing tax revenues in coastal communities 05 across Alaska; and 06 WHEREAS, compared to other domestic sources of protein, seafood is not fully 07 integrated into federal policies and programs designed to ensure domestic food security, 08 supply chain integrity, and support for harvesting and processing businesses; and 09 WHEREAS the lack of recognition of domestic seafood in United States trade policy 10 objectives and priorities results in market conditions that reduce the value of Alaska seafood 11 and its accessibility to global markets, creating an unlevel playing field; and 12 WHEREAS the 2023 National Export Strategy issued by the federal Trade Promotion 13 Coordinating Committee includes a chapter on seafood industries that highlights the need to 14 improve interagency coordination and global market competitiveness for domestic seafood 15 producers; 16 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports and encourages efforts 17 by the federal government to create an office of seafood policy and program integration 18 within the United States Department of Agriculture to help ensure that domestic food security 19 and supply chain integrity is fully integrated into the department's policy strategies for 20 domestic seafood; and be it 21 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 22 Department of Agriculture to treat seafood harvesting and processing businesses similarly to 23 the way producers of land-based sources of protein are treated; and be it 24 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages all federal 25 agencies that affect the economic viability of the state's seafood industry to implement the 26 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Seafood Strategy and chapter 9 27 of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee's 2023 National Export Strategy; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests all federal 29 agencies and programs to increase purchases of Alaska seafood; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on all federal 31 agencies to help improve governmental programs applicable to the seafood industry for
01 recapitalization, vessel construction, tax structures, workforce accessibility, energy, and 02 infrastructure; and be it 03 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the United States 04 Congress to increase federal funding for new product development, testing, promotion, and 05 marketing of domestically produced seafood in a similar fashion as the National Oceanic and 06 Atmospheric Administration's Saltonstall-Kennedy Research and Development Program and 07 its associated grant competition; and be it 08 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature requests the United States 09 Secretary of Commerce to include and improve seafood expertise and leadership in the Office 10 of the United States Trade Representative in order to better coordinate seafood trade 11 objectives among offices of the United States Trade Representative, to coordinate seafood 12 trade programs with seafood-related efforts of other federal agencies, and to provide a point of 13 entry for seafood producers to more effectively engage with the Office of the United States 14 Trade Representative; and be it 15 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature calls on the federal 16 government to improve United States trade policy through the Office of the United States 17 Trade Representative and other federal agencies to create a more reciprocal tariff structure for 18 seafood export and import and reduce the burden and risk associated with non-tariff barriers. 19 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, President 20 of the United States; the Honorable Kamala D. Harris, Vice President of the United States and 21 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of 22 Representatives; the Honorable Charles Schumer, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 23 Honorable Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of Agriculture; the Honorable Gina 24 Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce; the Honorable Katherine Tai, United States 25 Trade Representative; the Honorable Richard Spinrad, Under Secretary of Commerce for 26 Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 27 Administrator, United States Department of Commerce; and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski 28 and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Mary Peltola, U.S. 29 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.