Murkowski Calls for Statutory Changes to Protect Fishing Quotas, Ecomonic Development in Western Alaska Communities

MURKOWSKI CALLS FOR STATUTORY CHANGES TO PROTECT FISHING QUOTAS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN ALASKA COMMUNITIES

Sen. Lisa Murkowski today re-introduced legislation to clarify the status of villages participating in the federally established Community Development Quota (CDQ) program created to assist economically disadvantaged communities around the edge of the Bering Sea.

The act, S.797, which is co-sponsored by fellow Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, is required because of technical provisions in the 1996 reauthorization of the CDQ law that will require a reassessment of the eligibility of the 65 communities currently covered by the CDQ program - an assessment that might eliminate some of the communities from qualifying for the regional fishing quota system. In order to clarify that fact, a legislative remedy is needed.

"Clearly it was not the intent of the original law for any of these fishing communities to be excluded from the benefits of the CDQ program," said Murkowski. "But because of regulatory provisions a reassessment of eligibility will occur in the future that could exclude some villages from the program. We can't afford to let that happen."

The Community Development Quota Program began in 1992, at the recommendation of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Congress gave the program permanent status in the 1996 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. The program now includes 65 communities within a 50 nautical-mile radius of the Bering Sea, which have formed six regional non-profit associations to participate in the program.

Since 1992, approximately 9,000 jobs have been created for western Alaska residents with wages totaling more than $60 million. The CDQ program has also contributed to fisheries infrastructure development in Western Alaska, as well as providing vessel loan programs, education, training and other CDQ-related benefits.

"The CDQ program helps bring some of the benefits of our great industry to local residents, in one of the most impoverished areas in the country. It is a vital element in the effort to create and maintain a lasting economic base for the region's many poor communities," said Murkowski.

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=236474