ALASKA MARINE POLICY FORUM
Summary of June 6, 2012 call
Hosted by Darcy Dugan, AOOS. Summary prepared by Paula Cullenberg, Alaska Sea Grant
Alaska Marine Policy Forum: A bimonthly teleconference for Alaskans to network and share
information about marine policy, budgets and legislation at state, national and international
levels, sponsored by Alaska Ocean Observing System and Alaska Sea Grant.
Bob King, DC office of Senator Mark Begich
The week of June 6th is Capitol Hill Oceans Week in DC. The Joint Oceans Initiative released
the Oceans Report Card with passing grades on good intentions, but a D- on funding.
Sen. Begich introduced a bill this week related to the upcoming International Whaling
Commission meeting in Panama in early July. The bill would allow the Secretary of Commerce
to set a bowhead whale harvest limit if the IWC doesn’t set a limit again this year. The AIWC is
optimistic, but this bill would serve as a backup plan. The bill was co-sponsored by Sen.
Murkowski, and Rep. Don Young introduced a companion bill in the House. Having an annual
bowhead whale harvest limit is critical to sustaining the subsistence harvest in Northwest Alaska.
Senator Begich’s Oceans Subcommittee has requested an oversight hearing on the Magnuson
Stevens Act. Reauthorization doesn’t come up until next year but it is a long process. The
Subcommittee may have a hearing in the fall with Sen. Schumer’s office in order to look at broad
issues that may arise during reauthorization, such as annual catch limits and catch shares on the
east coast.
Senator Begich’s office is still working on other legislation including the Arctic Research and
Monitoring bill, which partners with the North Pacific Research Board to enhance research in the
Arctic. They are looking forward to an amended bill and the necessary funding mechanism.
The ‘incidental discharge bill’, permanently making commercial fishing vessels exempt from
incidental discharge, will be introduced soon and Begich is looking for cosponsors. Question:
Why exempt fishing vessels from incidental discharge? Answer: This doesn’t include bilge
water or wastewater exemptions; just incidental. They are trying to not discourage business in
this small sector.
Senator Begich is working on the U.S. Coast Guard bill, hoping it moves forward by unanimous
consent and enables collaboration with the House on their amended version. Senaor Begich is
highly aware of the need for icebreakers, and the concerns about the Polar Sea. Sen. Begich was
in a recent Seattle meeting with the USCG.
An amendment related to genetically engineered salmon recently failed in the Senate but was
close, which is a good sign. The amendment was introduced by Sen. Murkowski and cosponsored by Sen. Begich, and would allow more NOAA oversight. Begich still considers these
fish to be ‘Frankenfish’ and is opposed to genetically modified salmon. He has introduced three
other bills on the topic, but they are very contentious with the agriculture industry.
Other items of note:
 The NOAA Corps reauthorization bill was just introduced.
 The ratification of the Law of the Sea is moving after some high profile hearings with
Sec. Clinton and Sec. Leon Panetta. Sen. Kerry said a vote would come after the
election.
 Re: federal appropriations – the Commerce, Justice and Science budget is out and the
Senate is now looking at Defense and Agriculture coming up. No news on when final
action will take place in an election year.
Peter Murphy – NOAA Marine Debris Program – (Please see attached pdf powerpoint).
The Japanese government has estimated that 5 million tons of debris washed to sea from last
year’s tsunami, and about 1.7 mill tons (30%) is still afloat. Tsunami debris is varied and can
include construction debris, overturned buildings, fishing floats, etc. – a wide diversity of
objects.
Ocean currents and winds are being used by NOAA to model where the debris is going. Debris
that sits high in the water column is moved by wind, while debris lower in the water column is
moved by currents. NOAA is developing a hindcast model but it is hard to forecast the trajectory
of the debris into the future. Currently they are seeing reports of unusual amounts of debris in
Gulf of Alaska. Some of it is easily identifiable as Japanese debris, but most is hard to confirm.
(Of about 270 sightings of debris in the North Pacific, only 7 items have been confirmed to be
Japanese). NOAA re-runs their models every two weeks and posts updates on their website. No
radioactivity-contaminated debris has been found, and experts believe the probability is very
unlikely.
NOAA’s marine debris website: http://marinedebris.noaa.gov
Email debris observations to: disasterdebris@noaa.gov
Q&A
Q: Are any debris expected in the Bering Sea and Chukchi Seas?
A: There is no indication now that this will happen but NOAA is not modeling for that.
Q: Who is doing the monitoring?
A: Monitoring is standardized protocol on 100 m of beach. In Alaska, a lot is being done by
federal partners who are already working at remote sites. If you are interested in monthly
monitoring on a section of coast, please
Rob Earle, Alaska Legislature, staff to Rep. Bob Heron
The Alaska Arctic Policy Commission was established by the Alaska Legislature with HCR 23,
and will help develop Alaska’s Arctic policy. The resolution extends and expands on the Alaska
Northern Waters Task Force (www.anwtf.com). The Commission will have 24 members, a
$500K 2-year budget, and one dedicated staff member. The Commission will hold 19 public
meetings and will submit a final report due January 30, 2015. People interested in applying for
a seat on the Commission should apply soon. The AAPC’s first meeting will be in Sept or Oct.
Marilyn Sigman, COSEE Alaska
The National Marine Educators Association annual conference is in Anchorage June 24-28. It is
cosponsored by COSEE Alaska (Alaska Sea Grant, Alaska Ocean Observing System, UAF
School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, UAF Center for Cross Cultural Studies, Alaska Sea Life
Center) and the National Marine and Aquatic Educators Association. About 300 people are
expected from Alaska, Pacific Rim nations and across the US. There will be 120 concurrent
sessions and two poster sessions. Featured speakers include Jack Dalton and Julia Parrish. This
is the first time the conference has been held in Alaska. http://www.nmeaweb.org/
Cynthia Suchman, North Pacific Research Board (NPRB)
NPRB is developing its annual RFP that will be circulated in October, and is seeking input. If
you have suggestions, please send them to cynthia.suchman@nprb.org. Also, NPRB has two
openings:
 Science Panel – looking for someone with a background in fisheries science, fisheries
management, fisheries ecosystems.
 Advisory Panel – looking for someone with knowledge of the Gulf of Alaska
Nominations are due July 13th. More information can be found at www.nprb.org
Zach Stevenson, Northwest Arctic Borough
The Northwest Arctic Borough is 1.5 yrs. into a multi-year subsistence mapping effort to identify
important ecological and traditional use areas. After a comprehensive literature review of over
2,000 documents, they are now moving into field data collection. Seven communities are
involved with 49 peer advisors working to document Inupiaq place names. Maps produced will
be vetted by local communities and can be used as a decision support tool in protecting
subsistence resources as required by borough code. More information can be found on the
NWAB website: http://www.nwabor.org/index.html
Upcoming Meetings and Events:
 North Pacific Fisheries Management Council is meeting this week in Kodiak
 June 7 - Executive Climate Change Roundtable meeting in Anchorage
 June 24-28 - National Marine Educators Conference, Anchorage
 June 25-27 - US Russia Bilateral Polar Bear Commission meets later in June
 July 7- 8 - Workshop in Ketchikan on Invasive Species Monitoring sponsored by the
Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program and the Smithsonian Environmental
Research Institute
Next call – Wednesday July 25th at 1pm. Thanks for joining us! You can find notes from
previous calls here: http://www.aoos.org/ak-marine-policy-forum/