 April 16, 2003
While the Magnuson-Stevens Act gives the Governor complete discretion to grant an Inland Waters Permit (IWP), it also says he may not grant such a permit if he determines that fish processors within the state have adequate capacity, and will utilize such capacity, to process all of the United States harvested fish from the fishery concerned. "Based on the projected harvest, our survey of domestic processors, and the assurances we have received from them that they can and will process the harvest, we have said no to the four applications for Inland Waters Permits," Murkowski said. "We are very aware of the difficult situation the state's fishermen find themselves in, so we looked seriously at these applications. Our concerns were more acute with the closure of Wards Cove's salmon-processing facilities; however, most of those plants have been purchased and will be open and operating. Murkowski said the answer is to find a better solution than IWPs. These include higher ex-vessel prices, more new product development, and stronger marketing efforts. He also said domestic processors have assured him they will use their best efforts to provide markets for Alaskan fishermen, work to increase the number of Alaskans employed in processing, and work with the state to modernize and rebuild Alaska's salmon fisheries for the future. "We concluded that allowing
the foreign processors to operate in Alaska would not be in the
state's best interest for a number of reasons. First, they would
directly compete against innovative new pink salmon products,
such as frozen fillets, in new export markets. Second, low cost
of production competes unfairly with domestic processors. Third,
cheap labor that would be used by the foreign processors undercuts
Alaska's goals of improving employment in the processing industry.
Fourth, it sets a bad precedent that would likely drive domestic
processors out of shore-based plants and into IWPs of their own.
Finally, it would likely create a downward price spiral as processors
try to stay competitive.
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