Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

STATE OF ALASKA
                    HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                          2018
                                                                                 House
Source                                                                         Resolve No.
HR 10                                                                              10
Expressing the strong support of the House of Representatives for the Kodiak Seafood and
Marine Science Center; and urging the University of Alaska to find a solution to keep the
Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center operating as a stable resource in the state.
                                      _______________
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
       WHEREAS the Alaska seafood industry employs more workers than any other
private sector industry in the state, employing 60,000 workers annually and providing those
workers with $1,600,000,000 in annual earnings; and
       WHEREAS significant economic benefits accrue to the state directly from the
activities of the state's seafood industry; in 2014, the seafood had a harvest value of
$1,900,000,000 and a first wholesale value of $4,200,000,000; and
       WHEREAS the number of seafood industry jobs in the state that require technical and
professional skill is increasing, and the state is at a crossroads in its need to diversify and
expand its economy; and
       WHEREAS, in 1974, a group of Alaskans from the coastal regions of the state
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worked together to develop plans for a Fishery Industrial Technology Center that would
provide teaching, research, and services relating to the seafood industry, through the
University of Alaska, to citizens and businesses in the state; and
       WHEREAS, in 1981, the Fishery Industrial Technology Center was established in
state statute as part of the University of Alaska; and
       WHEREAS the statutory duties of the center include creating employment
opportunities in the state's fishing industry, providing training to citizens of the state in the
harvesting, processing, and conservation of the state's fishery resources, providing research
and development activities to enhance the effectiveness and economic viability of the state's
fishing industry, and encouraging joint projects between industry and government to use
industrial experience and government programs to enhance the productivity of the industry;
and
       WHEREAS teaching, training, research, and technical assistance carried out at the
center serves all Alaskans, being primarily delivered by Alaska Sea Grant and fisheries
faculty who, in fiscal year 2016, provided workforce training to 265 industry members,
educational opportunities to 25 graduate and undergraduate students, and technical assistance
to over 70 seafood businesses, tribes, and communities; and
       WHEREAS the Department of Environmental Conservation has designated the center
and its faculty as "process authorities" for the purposes of certifying the safety of the state's
seafood; and
       WHEREAS the state built the Alfred Owen Building in 1991 to be the home for the
Fishery Industrial Technology Center using $10,800,000 from the state's settlement of the
criminal case originating from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and, in 2011, the name of the center
was changed to the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center; the facility is 20,000 square
feet in size and has five dedicated laboratories, a pilot plant 5,000 square feet in size, three
freezers, and numerous offices and conference rooms; and
       WHEREAS the state built the center on Near Island, on land that the City of Kodiak
donated to the University of Alaska; and
       WHEREAS the activities of the center are guided by a seven-member Fishery
Industrial Technology Policy Council, composed of two members who represent the state's
seafood processing industry, two members who are commercial fishermen in the state, and
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three public members who, together, assist the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska
in preparing an annual report to the Alaska State Legislature on the center's activities; and
          WHEREAS the center is a unique and well-positioned hub of knowledge, inquiry,
research, and work that serves many industry partners, including the Department of Fish and
Game, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Commerce,
Community, and Economic Development, the Department of Natural Resources, the Alaska
Fisheries Development Foundation, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Department of
Education and Early Development, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development,
and other entities; and
          WHEREAS the Alfred Owen Building is a key asset in delivering the opportunities
that the center is statutorily directed to provide, and, in 2016, legislative research services
described the building as continuing to be ready to meet the center's statutorily prescribed
duties;
          BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives strongly supports the Kodiak
Seafood and Marine Science Center, formerly the Fishery Industrial Technology Center, as a
statewide hub for research, training, and technical assistance efforts to support fisheries across
the entire state and urges the University of Alaska to find a creative solution in which the
university partners with industry, stakeholders, and the community of Kodiak to keep the
center operating and stable.
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