Alaska State Legislature
News from the House Majority

Jerry Ritter, House Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801
phone: (907) 465-3804
web site: http://www.akrepublicans.org
Actuality line: 1-800-478-6540

House Passes Fisheries Conservation Measure

Bill Outlaws Waste Of Groundfish

For Immediate Release: March 9, 1998 Contact: Rep. Alan Austerman (907) 465-2487.

Juneau -- The House Monday passed a measure which extends to other groundfish the current ban in state law against the waste of pollock.

"This legislation is necessary because current state law only prohibits the waste of one species of groundfish," said the bill's sponsor, Representative Alan Austerman (R-Kodiak). "Other groundfish species, such as Pacific cod, rock sole, and yellowfin sole are part of our precious fisheries resources and merit this protection as well," Austerman said.

The North Pacific Fisheries Management Council has been studying ways to reduce the waste of groundfish in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. The Council has determined that a large proportion of the fish are discarded for economic reasons. HB 310 encourages the use of these species for food, bait, or scientific, display, or education purposes. However, the measure excludes the normal or inadvertant loss of fish through processing.

House Bill 310 passed the House unanimously (35-0).

# # #