Washington, D.C. – Today, Representative Mary Sattler Peltola released the following statement on the final passage of the Omnibus Package which contained millions in funding for fishery provisions she specifically fought for.
“Today, I proudly voted for an appropriations bill that delivers for working families and invests in communities across Alaska. This agreement will keep the federal government open and working for the people while delivering historic funds to build a healthier, more just, more prosperous future for Alaska.”
This year's government funding legislation includes significant investments to:
Protect Health Coverage for Alaska Children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.
Support Pregnant Alaskans bypermanently authorizing postpartum Medicaid coverage and delivering historic funding for the Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting initiative.
Enact the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, cracking down on workplace discrimination, safeguarding Americans' economic security and upholding dignity on the job.
Bolster Mental Health Services by expanding access to treatment and investing in Alaska’s mental health workforce.
Enact the PREVENT Pandemics Act, using lessons learned from COVID-19 to improve Alaska’s preparedness for future public health emergencies.
Strengthen Veterans' Health Care through $21 billion in new funding.
Provide Alaska Kids with Healthy, Nutritious Food throughout the summer with a nationwide, permanent Summer EBT Program.
Help Alaskans Exercise Their Right to Organize on the Job through new funding for the National Labor Relations Board.
Deliver Emergency Disaster Support to help hurricane and wildfire victims, address the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, and strengthen Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.
Advance Justice for Americans Impacted by Terrorism with the Fairness for 9/11 Families Act.
The fishing provisions include:
Fisheries disaster funding
An additional $300 million for fisheries disaster assistance (not exclusive to Alaska). The funds shall be used for mitigating the effects of commercial fishery failures and fishery resource disasters declared by the Secretary of Commerce.
Fishery Resource Disasters Improvement
Maintains the authority of the Secretary of Commerce to determine the existence of a fishery disaster, after which the Secretary would make funds available to be used by state or regional groups to assess the impacts of the disaster and conduct other activities that support fishing activity;
Assigns a 120-day timeline for the Secretary to evaluate a request, either upon receipt or immediately after the close of the fishery season; and
Lists the eligible uses of fishery disaster relief funds, including direct payments to affected members of the fishing community, habitat restoration and conservation, management improvements, job training, public information campaigns, and preventative measures for future disasters. It would prioritize hiring fishermen displaced by the fishery disaster for these tasks.
Alaska Salmon Research Task Force
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Governor of Alaska, shall convene an Alaska Salmon Research Task to review existing Pacific salmon research in Alaska, identify applied research needed to better understand the increased variability and declining salmon returns in some regions of Alaska, and support sustainable salmon runs in Alaska.
The Research Task Force shall be composed of not fewer than 13 and not more than 19 members. The Secretary of Commerce shall appoint members to the Research Task Force from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the Pacific Salmon Commission, and at least two members who will represent Alaska Natives and who possess personal knowledge of and direct experience with subsistence uses in rural Alaska. The Task Force also shall include fishing industry representatives throughout the salmon supply chain, including from commercial fishing, recreational fishing, charter fishing, seafood processors, salmon prohibited species catch (bycatch) users and hatcheries. The Task Force also shall include representatives who are academic experts in salmon biology, salmon ecology (marine and freshwater), salmon habitat restoration and conservation, or comprehensive marine research planning in the North Pacific. And the Governor of Alaska shall appoint one representative from the State of Alaska who is knowledgeable about the State of Alaska’s salmon research efforts.
The Research Task Force shall conduct a review of Pacific salmon science relevant to understanding salmon returns in Alaska, including an examination of traditional ecological knowledge of salmon populations and their ecosystems; marine carrying capacity and density-dependent constraints, including an examination of interactions with other salmon species and with forage base in marine ecosystems; life-cycle and stage-specific mortality; genetic sampling and categorization of population structure within salmon species in Alaska; methods for predicting run-timing and stock sizes; oceanographic models that provide insight into stock distribution, growth and survival; freshwater, estuarine, and marine processes that affect survival of smolts; climate effects on freshwater and marine habitats; predator/prey interactions between salmon and marine mammals or other predators; and salmon productivity trends in other regions, both domestic and international, that help in understanding the Pacific salmon life-cycle in Alaska.
Not later than one year after the date the Research Task Force is convened, the Research Task Force shall submit a report that includes recommendations on filling knowledge gaps that warrant further scientific inquiry.
Halibut Recreational Quota Entry program
Establishes in statute a revenue stream to allow the halibut sportfishing charter fleet to contribute toward the purchase of commercial halibut quota shares. For over a decade, the Alaska charter fleet has pushed the development of a mechanism to purchase and transfer commercial halibut quota shares to ease increasingly restrictive limits for charter anglers. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council created such a structure in 2018 but lacks a revenue stream. This provision provides that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council may recommend, and the Secretary of Commerce may approve, regulations necessary for the collection of fees from charter vessel operators, and the fees shall be available for the purchase of halibut quota shares in International Pacific Halibut Commission regulatory Areas 2C and 3A by the recreational quota entity.
Pacific coastal salmon recovery
$65 million for expenses associated with the restoration of Pacific salmon populations. The Secretary of Commerce may issue grants to the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, California and Alaska, and to the federally recognized tribes of the Columbia River and Pacific Coast (including Alaska), for conservation of salmon and steelhead populations that are listed as threatened or endangered, or that are identified by a state as at-risk to be so listed, for maintaining populations necessary for exercise of tribal treaty fishing rights or Native subsistence fishing, or for conservation of Pacific coastal salmon and steelhead habitat, based on guidelines to be developed by the Secretary of Commerce.
Additional investments that will impact Alaskans:
Save Our Seas 2.0 funding potential
$6.5 million to the EPA to support development of municipal recycling programs and local waste management systems for marine plastic waste. The EPA also may dedicate these funds to Alaska Native tribes.
Heath care for veterans
The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may enter into agreements with federally qualified health centers in the State of Alaska and Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations which are party to the Alaska Native Health Compact with the Indian Health Service, to provide healthcare, including behavioral health and dental care, to veterans in rural Alaska.
Alaska Native mental health
$80 million to the Indian Health Service for the purposes of funding prevention, recovery and treatment programs dedicated to mental health and substance abuse. Of these funds, the Secretary of Health and Human Services may dedicate any amount of funds to Alaska Native Tribal health organizations.
Water and wastewater
$39.686 million for grants to the state to address drinking water and wastewater infrastructure needs of rural and Alaska Native villages.
Requires the state provide a 25% match.
At least 25% of total funds need to be dedicated to regional hub communities.
Denali Commission
$17 million, an increase of $2 million above the Fiscal Year 2022 level. The commission provides critical utilities, infrastructure, health services and economic support throughout rural Alaska.
Violence against women
$500,000 for a national clearinghouse that provides training and technical assistance on issues relating to sexual assault of American Indian and Alaska Native women.
$1 million to the Office of Justice for research on violence against Indigenous peoples, with a focus on the connection between incidents of violence and extractive industry activities.
Managing subsistence on Forest Service lands in Alaska
$1.099 million to the U.S. Forest Service to manage subsistence uses on Forest Service lands in Alaska.
