May 9, 2022 — Senator Lisa Murkowski, co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus, released a statement after her legislation, the BLUE GLOBE Act, advanced one step closer to becoming law.
BLUE GLOBE stands for “Bolstering Long-Term Understanding and Exploration of the Great Lakes, Oceans, Bays, and Estuaries.”
“The BLUE GLOBE Act is one step closer to becoming law, which is great news for Alaska’s fisheries and coastal communities.
March 11, 2022 — U.S. President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian seafood imports on Friday, 11 March, amid a raft of new economic sanctions he’s imposing in response Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and other members of that state’s congressional delegation, who called for blocking Russian seafood imports as the country prepared to invade Ukraine, backed Biden’s move. A bill introduced into the Senate by Sullivan and fellow Alaskan GOP U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was blocked just prior to when the invasion began in February.
Read the full story at SeafoodSource
March 1, 2022 — Quid pro quo. Tit for tat. An eye for an eye.
“If they don’t buy from us, we shouldn’t buy from them,” Alaska’s seafood industry has grumbled since 2014, when Russia abruptly banned all food imports from the U.S. and several other countries. Then, as now, the faceoff stemmed from Russia’s invasion and subsequent takeover of chunks of Ukraine, which prompted backlash and severe sanctions.
Yet U.S. purchases of Russian seafood through 2021 have totaled over $4.6 billion and counting, according to federal trade data.
Alaska’s congressional delegation has finally taken first steps to end the trade imbalance. On Feb. 9, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan introduced the United States-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act of 2022 that would prohibit imports of any Russian seafood products into the U.S. until that country ends its ban on buying U.S. seafoods.
February 24, 2022 — A proposal by Alaska’s two U.S. senators to ban seafood imports from Russia has met resistance in the form of Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
On Feb. 9 , Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, both R-Alaska, filed S.3614, the U.S.-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act, which seeks to respond to Russia’s embargo of American fish and other seafood products that was put in place after the U.S. with a reciprocal ban.
Sullivan sought to have the bill approved in the Senate by unanimous consent. However, Markey objected to the bill, saying it could create unintended consequences for U.S. seafood importers.
“I have heard from seafood processors in my home state with concerns about potential sudden effects of a new immediate ban on imports on their workforce, including hundreds of union workers in the seafood processing industry,” said Markey. “And that would be right now.”
Sullivan noted that Massachusetts processors handle a large amount of Russian pollock, and suggested that product could be sourced from Alaska instead.
February 16, 2022 — Alaska’s U.S. senators have filed a bill that would prohibit the country from accepting seafood imports from Russia.
Republican U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski filed S.3614, the U.S.-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act, on Wednesday, 9 February. The bill seeks to respond to Russia’s embargo of American fish and other seafood products that was put in place after the U.S. and its allies placed a series of sanctions against Russia over its takeover of Crimea in 2014.
February 1, 2022 — Earlier this month, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce declared disasters for over a dozen fisheries in Alaska — more than the federal government usually approves at once.
The designation is supposed to unlock funds to help the communities impacted by those fisheries failures, including communities around Cook Inlet. But it can take years for the money to reach fishermen’s pockets.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the timing is one of the problems with the process.
“If you’ve had a disaster that happened in 2018, we’re sitting here in 2022 and you’re saying, ‘Really? You think that that’s going to help me?’ In the meantime. I’ve got a boat mortgage that I’ve got to be paying. I’ve got a crew that I’ve got to be paying. This doesn’t help me at all,” she said.
The state knows the process can be lengthy and tries to expedite it where possible, said Rachel Baker, Alaska’s deputy Fish and Game commissioner.
Read the full story from KDLL at KTOO
August 5, 2021 — The Senate is preparing to vote on a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The bill clocks in at roughly 2,700 pages with nearly $550 billion in new spending.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The Senate is preparing to vote as early as this week on a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Now, the bill is massive not just in price tag, but also in page count. It runs 2,700 pages. Which got us wondering, what is actually in this bill? What would it actually do if it becomes law? For some answers, we are turning to NPR congressional correspondent Kelsey Snell. She has been reading through this enormous piece of legislation.
Hey, Kelsey.
KELSEY SNELL, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: All right. What does this bill do?
SNELL: Well, it expands investments in what are mostly considered traditional types of infrastructure. It builds on, you know, the regular highway bill that Congress has been writing and passing for ages. At the core, this bill is a recognition by a group of lawmakers from both parties that Congress could and should be funding more projects; you know, programs and systems that make it easier for people to get around, for people to do work and for the country to trade with the rest of the world. I’d say the biggest investment is about $110 billion for roads and bridges. There’s also money for airports, public transit, the power grid, broadband and some limited environmental protection.
KELLY: And what would this bill not do? What isn’t in this bill?
SNELL: This is just the stuff that could get the support of enough Democrats and enough Republicans to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. And it was negotiated in the Senate. So this is a very Senate-driven bill. It doesn’t have the broader climate change provisions that Democrats and, particularly, a lot of progressives in the House want. It also doesn’t have the paid leave or free college or child care elements that President Biden proposed. It’s mostly just an expansion of traditional infrastructure.
KELLY: Bills this big – again, 2,700 pages – are often littered with incentives to convince enough lawmakers to vote for them. Pork, I believe…
SNELL: Yes.
KELLY: …Might be the technical term. Have you – as you’ve been reading and reading and reading all these pages, have you found anything unexpected lurking in there?
SNELL: There are really some niche things that kind of fall well outside of what we’d think of as infrastructure. Like, there’s a study of whether first responders should use bicycles when responding to disasters. There’s also money for research on wildlife and vehicle collisions. But there are also regional programs that are clearly intended to satisfy some specific lawmakers. There’s extra money for a salmon recovery fund for states on the West Coast to build up salmon populations. Now, that’s places like Washington and Alaska, two states represented by senators who negotiated this bill. Plus, there are specific investments in Alaska and Appalachian highways. So Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and the two senators from West Virginia, they were critical to putting this bill together, so there’s no surprise there.
July 29, 2021 — Alaska Wildlife Troopers are investigating whether U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka illegally obtained a resident sportfishing license for a Kenai River sportfishing event in 2019.
Records indicate Tshibaka, a leading challenger to incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, received a resident sportfishing license despite failing to meet the requirements.
Knowingly violating the law on fishing licenses is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $300. A senior adviser to Tshibaka’s campaign said he believes she did not intend to break the law.
Troopers regularly cite fishermen for illegally buying a resident-only permit, and other political figures have run afoul of the residency requirement.
“The Alaska Wildlife Troopers are aware of the recent media reports regarding Mrs. Tshibaka and are looking into them. No criminal charges or citations have been issued at this time,” said Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Tshibaka announced her run for U.S. Senate in March and on July 15 released a fishing-themed video adfilmed at a setnet site owned by former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman. The video raised questions about Tshibaka’s fishing history, including whether she has a commercial license.
June 8, 2021 — The following was released by The Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK):
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reintroduced the Genetically Engineered Salmon Labeling Act, which will allow consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing salmon. The bill works to ensure that any genetically engineered (GE) salmon products sold in the U.S. are clearly labeled “genetically engineered” in the market name. This requirement would apply to the entire lineage of salmon modified via recombinant DNA technology. The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
“It is absolutely essential that consumers be fully informed about what they are buying and feeding their families—especially when it comes to purchasing a genetically engineered salmon product. As an Alaskan who knows the tremendous benefits of eating healthy, wild Alaskan salmon, it’s imperative that Americans have the information to make that choice. When you splice DNA from another animal and combine it with farmed salmon, you are essentially creating a new species, and I have serious concerns with that. If we are going to allow this fake fish to be sold in stores, there must be clear labeling. We owe it to American consumers to ensure that any labeling of GE salmon is clear, effective, and understandable.”
Background: Through her role on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Murkowski has included language in previous appropriation bills to prevent the introduction of GE salmon to the U.S. market until the completion of a consumer study to determine the effectiveness of USDA’s labeling guidelines for bioengineered foods. USDA’s labeling guidelines did not require mandatory labeling of GE salmon, but instead allowed producers to use QR codes or 1-800 numbers for more information, which Senator Murkowski stressed were inadequate. Senator Murkowski’s years-long fight to ensure that any salmon that is genetically engineered be clearly labeled goes back to November 2015, when the FDA made the decision to approve GE salmon for human consumption.
June 8, 2021 — U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski visited Dillingham last week.
She said the primary reason for her visit was to gather ideas for permanent protections against developments like the proposed Pebble Mine.
Murkowski used to chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and has historically supported resource development. For years, she declined to support or oppose Pebble, saying it was important to wait for the federal permitting process to play out.
As the Army Corps of Engineers neared its final perit decision last year, and undercover tapes emerged of Pebble leaders doubting she’d take a stand against the project, Murkowski did just that.
In Dillingham, Murkowski met with people from the commercial, subsistence and recreational fisheries. She also held a closed meeting with select community leaders at the Dillingham Middle/High School.