Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-AK and a senior member of the Committee on Appropriations, Wednesday secured a commitment from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to convene a meeting with Alaska seafood stakeholders on trade issues with Russia and ways the administration can help bolster the industry.

Speaking at hearing held by the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Murkowski emphasized the importance of fair-trade practices for Alaska’s fishermen. Secretary Lutnick agreed with the Senator’s assessment, reinforcing that the administration’s trade policy “is to protect our fisherman, which are a key resource of the United States of America.” The Secretary committed to join the Senator in sitting down with leaders of the Alaska seafood industry to chart a path forward.

The full transcript of Senator Murkowski’s conversation with Secretary Lutnick can be read below.

TRANSCRIPT

Murkowski: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary, welcome. I’m glad to follow the Ranking Member as well as the Chairman of the committee in talking about fisheries. You know I’ll never disappoint you, when you come before the committee, we’re going to talk about fish, and I appreciate what you have shared with Senator Collins about the administration’s desire to protect our fisherman. We’re pleased with the executive order relating to American seafood competitiveness.

I had an opportunity, just yesterday, to visit with one of our seafood industry leaders in the state of Alaska. I thought we were going to be talking about some of the tax provisions that are included in the reconciliation package, but he basically said if we can’t deal with trade issues when it comes to Alaska’s seafood, we are not even going to have to worry about the tax pieces because the trade implications are going to kill us. In Alaska, Russia has declared war on Alaska seafood and they have been very direct, and very open about it. They are using their dominance in the seafood market to help fund their war against Ukraine. And the effort is one that we are looking at, and needing to make sure, I mean really desperate to make sure, that the administration fully understands the implications of what is happening right now.

We’ve got the largest federal fisheries in the nation, about sixty percent of America’s harvest by volume. Seafood processing is 70 percent of Alaska’s manufacturing employment. The Alaska seafood industry generates $6 billion in economic output for that state, it employs 48,000 people in Alaska. Right now, we have Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Energy, and the Administrator of EPA up in the state, all focused on aspects of our resources. But the other great resource for our state is our fisheries, and they are in peril.

I would ask for your commitment to sit down with leaders of the Alaska seafood industry, those important stakeholders, so that we can talk about a path forward on some of these issues that are really harming our industry right now. Can you give me that commitment, that we can work with your team to identify a time to do just that?

Lutnick: Why don’t you organize it, and it would be my pleasure to come and do it together with you, so we can make sure every topic is on the table, and we address it. Because our trade policy is to protect our fisherman, which are a key resource of the United States of America. We are on it and we know about it, I know all about the Russian issues. They’ve been attacking us for years, this is nothing new, sadly. But let’s do it together and this administration is on your side and is on it.

Murkowski: Excellent, I look forward to that, and we’ll be working with you on that.

A couple more issues, there has been a lot of discussion about NOAA, and the budget cuts, as well as with the impact on the National Weather Service.

We’ve been working with the Secretary of Transportation, Secretary Duffy, on aviation safety. We’re going to make some headway, there’s good support within the budget now to do that. But we have a connection here with the Department of Commerce, in that the Automated Surface Observing Systems, the ASOS systems as they are known, which provide for aviation safety, are managed by the National Weather Service. So, right now we’re looking at about a 40 percent staffing shortage. I’ve heard what you’ve said to other colleagues, about you know, you’re not cutting in key areas. I need to make sure that we are looking critically at the National Weather Service staffing in Alaska, to make sure that we are not compromising in any ways, the systems that are vital to transportation, commerce, and safety. We need them to stay operational, so if you can just commit to me that you’ll look at?

Lutnick: That sounds sensible to me.

Murkowski: Another one that works on the safety side, and again it ties into our extraordinary oil resources. We have to move that oil by ship out of Valdez, it has to go through Prince William Sound, and they rely on the National Data Buoy Center to manage, not only the buoys there in Prince William Sound, but over a thousand buoys that are operated by both domestic and international partners. Right now, we have a buoy, the Seal Rocks Weather Buoy, that’s right outside of Valdez. But the tankers can’t leave Valdez unless they get the wave height information from the buoy, the weather buoy that’s sitting out there, right? This buoy has been out of commission for months, and we’re told it’s due to funding for operation and maintenance in NOAA’s budget.

Lutnick: It’s really old.

Murkowski: It is old!

Lutnick: It needs to be replaced! Oh my god, if I showed you what that looked like, you and I would hold our heads in our hands.

Murkowski: We all look at them, and the problem it’s not just the buoy out there at Seal Rock, it is this system, this constellation, that is designed to be the information source, the protectorate for the safety. So, let’s work on this, but I highlight how….

Lutnick: How to modernize it, we’ve got to.

Murkowski: I highlight because we’ve got some work to do, but it all knits together. So, I’ve highlighted a couple of specific instances….

Lutnick: I promise you, we are in it together. I promise I agree with you.

Murkowski: I won’t make you go out there, if you’ll commit to me that we’re going to upgrade these systems. But in the meantime, we’re going to get them operational, so that we’re not compromising safety.

Lutnick: Absolutely.

Murkowski: I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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  Alaska, fisheries, hearing, murkowski