Congress is working on a bill that could boost trade of Alaska seafood.
Dillingham: Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan says he's been working on a Trade Customs Bill that could boost foreign sales of Alaska seafood. KDLG’s Molly Dischner has more:
Rough Audio Transcript:
During a Monday call with reporters, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan says a Trade Customs Bill could help get more Alaska seafood into foreign markets.
“We’re working on, in that bill, that would dramatically increase market opportunities for our seafood. You know, Alaska is the super power of seafood, we harvest more seafood than the rest of the country combined, and that would go after the highly subsidized fishing fleets of foreign nations. And we’re encouraging the administration, in these trade agreements, to go after unfair subsidies for other fishing fleets.”
Different versions of the Trade Customs Bill have passed the House and Senate, a final version is being worked by members of both bodies.
Sullivan says he’s been working with fellow lawmakers on other fisheries issues as well, including exempting commercial fishing vessels from an EPA discharge requirement and reducing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
The Magnuson-Stevens Act, which outlines federal fisheries management, is also up for renewal. The federal government manages most fisheries from 3 to 200 miles offshore from the United States, including from Alaska. The House already passed its version of that. Sullivan is a member of the Senate Oceans committee working on the Senate version of the bill.
“We haven’t scheduled any hearings yet, we’re digging in to the house bill and looking at the key provisions there. But yeah, that’s an area that we continue to be focused on.”
In Dillingham, I’m Molly Dischner.