Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog State Capitol
Senate Majority Press Secretary Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582, Fax: 907/465-6545
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540
For Immediate Release: January 10, 1997
Contact: Senator Rick Halford, 907/465-4958
Senator Lyda Green, 907/465-6600

Mat-Su Senators Pre-file Salmon Management Bill

Juneau - Senators Rick Halford (R, Chugiak) and Lyda Green (R, Mat-Su) have prefiled Senate Bill 40 regarding the management of discrete salmon stocks to ensure a diverse and healthy resource benefiting all user groups.

Senator Rick Halford noted that Senate Bill SB 40 is a revised version of his bill that passed the Senate late last session, but ran short of time in the House.

"This bill is intended to redirect our attention from the past mistakes of an allocation driven management system toward establishing policy which will ensure genetic diversity and fully meet our constitutional responsibility for sustained yield," said Senator Halford.

SB 40 requires the Board of Fisheries to adopt a policy for the management of discrete salmon stocks consistent with the Constitution's sustained yield mandate. The bill also requires, and provides a funding mechanism for data gathering and implementation of the policy in the state's most contentious fisheries.

Under the state's current system of mixed stock management, commercial harvest occurs before individual stocks have separated. While maximizing harvest of the stronger stocks, entire weaker stocks can be depleted, jeopardizing their escapement and sustained yield.

"This bill does not take allocation decisions away from the Board of Fisheries," said Senator Green. "Our bill provides the Board with the information they need to make sound decisions in the best interest of the resource."

Continued controversy surrounding fishery issues and substantial loss of salmon stocks in the Pacific Northwest prompted a council of leading fishery experts to review this issue and make recommendations. Their conclusions support the need for a management policy addressing discrete salmon stocks.

"We cannot continue to focus on allocation and measure our success by total harvest," explained Halford. "It's time we look at the big picture and provide for clear policy that will ensure the sustained yield of a diverse and healthy resource benefiting all user groups."

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