Sponsor Statement for CSSB 40(RES)

An Act relating to the assessment of discrete salmon stocks

Although fishery management in Alaska has been very successful in providing abundance of harvestable salmon on a statewide basis, record catches alone do not ensure that we are fulfilling our constitutional mandate for sustained yield. It is incumbent upon us all to pass along a healthy and diverse resource to future generations of Alaskans. I introduced SB 40 to help do just that.

CSSB 40(RES) is a great deal different than the original bill. Gone are the mandates to the Board of Fisheries to adopt and implement discrete stock management in prescribed areas along specified timelines. Instead, the bill mandates discrete salmon stock assessment, leaving to the Board of Fisheries the determination of stocks for which it is appropriate, applying criteria such as the biological health of the stock and the magnitude of user conflicts.

Far too much of our fishery management is being driven by allocation battles in our most contentious fisheries, instead of by sound science and pertinent information. In reviewing proposals for particular fisheries, the Board is often asked to address allocation disputes among various user groups or to react to a sudden and unexpected conservation concern. With a great deal of impassioned testimony on all sides of the issue and no better than anecdotal information on which to base their decisions, it is nearly impossible to resolve these issues. Lack of specific scientific information brings the same issues back before the board year after year. CSSB 40(RES) will address those circumstances by providing a mechanism to gain the stock composition data and escapement information needed to equitably decide critical issues.

This bill mandates discrete salmon stock assessment that will allow the board to target research on stocks and fisheries for which they most need the information. Passage of CSSB 40(RES) will improve the management of our diverse fishery resource by assisting the board in reaching decisions in the most contentious fisheries. Decisions supported by sound science are much more likely to be accepted by the user groups. I urge your support for this measure.

Sponsor Statement for SB 40

An Act relating to the management of discrete salmon stocks

A great deal of controversy and total lack of consensus has surrounded the allocation of Alaska's salmon stocks. These allocative battles have left all user groups unsatisfied and have been to the detriment of the sustained yield of some population segments, and to the genetic diversity of the overall population.

Current salmon management centers around heavy exploitation of mixed stock fisheries and disregards the negative effects this policy has on discrete stocks of all salmon species. Not until we recognize the importance of implementing a management plan for discrete salmon stocks, based on the necessary information, can we fulfill our constitutional obligation to preserve the sustained yield of all stocks of the resource.

The need for this change in management philosophy and implementation of a discrete salmon stock policy is heavily supported by information from the scientific community. The National Research Council of the National Academy of Science assembled the leading experts in the field of salmon management and published Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest, in December 1995.

An extensive review by leading experts to analyze data on salmon stocks, their decline and options for intervention supports the need for discrete stock management. The following is excerpted from their findings:

• Because of their anadromous life cycles and homing behaviors and the variety of environments they occupy, each species tends to differentiate into local breeding populations that are in general reproductivity isolated from other populations and adapted to each stream. To sustain productive natural populations of salmon, it is crucially important to maintain this genetic variation and local adaptation.

• When fishing occurs on a mixture of populations with different stock-recruitment functions and fishing cannot be regulated at a rate appropriate for each component population, the stage is set for overfishing of the less abundant components.

The conclusion of this report points out the flaws in Alaska's current management philosophy and supports the need for the discrete salmon stock management policy. The experts conclude:

The long-term survival of salmon depends crucially on a diverse and rich store of genetic variations. Because of their homing behavior and the distribution of their populations and their riverine habitats, salmon populations are unusually susceptible to local extinction's and are dependent on diversity in their genetic make-up and population structure. Therefore, management must recognize and protect the genetic diversity within each salmon species, and it must recognize and work with local breeding populations and their habitats. It is not enough to focus only on the abundance of salmon.

In order to uphold our Constitutional mandate to provide for sustained yield we cannot afford to ignore the biological realities and maintain the status quo. The passage of SB 40 is intended to redirect our attention from the past mistakes of allocation driven management system toward a system which will fully meet our constitutional responsibility to sustained yield.