Alaska Congressional Delegation, Fishermen Convene Fisheries Roundtable with Senior Administration Officials

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, and Congressman Nick Begich (all R-Alaska), today convened a roundtable meeting with Alaska community and fisheries leaders, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and other senior federal officials to discuss policy priorities for the Alaska seafood sector and ways the Trump administration can address threats to wild Alaska seafood production and marketing, and the U.S. seafood supply chain as a whole. The discussion also centered on where secretarial leadership and multi-agency support are needed to implement President Trump's "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness" executive order, issued on April 17.

"The men and women of Alaska's seafood sector are tough, patriotic and resilient entrepreneurs who do not often seek help from their government. But these great Americans, and the communities they support, are facing a perfect storm of challenges: the accelerating costs of aging fleets and infrastructure, unfair competition from America's adversaries-particularly Russia and China, and burdensome federal regulations." said Senator Sullivan. "On each of these fronts, our federal government has an opportunity to help tackle these challenges and protect the tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity generated by our domestic seafood producers. I commend President Trump and Secretary Lutnick and their teams for issuing the critically important Executive Order 14276, "Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness," which provided a framework for our discussions today and outlines the path forward for ensuring the long-term health of our American seafood sector. I am hopeful that this roundtable meeting will be the start of a strong, closely coordinated inter-agency effort to bolster the competitiveness of Alaska seafood and ensure our incredible fishermen and Alaska's coastal communities can continue to do what they do best: harvest the freshest and most sustainable seafood in the world."

"Today, at the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Commerce, our Congressional Delegation and Alaska leaders had the unique opportunity to collaborate with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Director of the White House National Economic Council Dr. Kevin Hassett, and other senior Trump administration officials on strategies to bolster the industry at the Alaska Seafood Roundtable," said Senator Murkowski. "The administration is clearly seeking to elevate the seafood industry as a vital part of our nation's economy following the directive of the President's Executive Order, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness. The Alaska panel outlined the challenges the seafood sector has both at home and abroad and discussed priorities such as recapitalizing our aging fleet of fishing vessels, accurate labeling of seafood products, keeping more of our seafood in America and enforcing fair trade practices for Alaska's wild seafood. I appreciate that the administration recognizes that a whole government approach is required to ensure that our seafood industry remains the gold standard worldwide."

"Long standing challenges require new solutions, and in order to address the structural competitive disadvantages American companies experience in the international fishing industry, we must ensure American producers have an advantaged playing field at home," said Congressman Begich. "Regulatory barriers add costs to capital equipment while competitors are heavily subsidized, engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated activities, operate with low or in some cases no environmental standards, and utilize labor forces in ways that Americans would find abhorrent. Capital formation, international trade agreements, treaties, and American production provide the tools necessary for American industries to compete, and thankfully we have an America First Administration committed to engaging each of these levels for the benefit of American producers. I want to thank Secretary Lutnick and Secretary Rollins for coming to the table today with a clear-eyed, problem-solving mindset to address these challenges."

Click here for photos from the roundtable.

The Alaska seafood industry employs roughly 48,000 workers and provides a tax base for more than 142 communities. Alaska fisheries leaders attending the meeting were:

• Alvin Osterback, mayor of the Aleutians East Borough;
• Vincent Tutiakoff, mayor of Unalaska;
• Matt Alward, president of the United Fishermen of Alaska (UFA);
• Joe Bundrant, CEO of Trident Seafoods;
• Cora Campbell, president and CEO of Silver Bay Seafoods;
• Eric Deakin, CEO of the Coastal Villages Region Fund; and
• Luke Fanning, CEO of Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association;

In addition to Secretaries Lutnick and Rollins, administration officials attending the meeting include:

• Dr. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council at the White House;
• William Kimmitt, Commerce Department undersecretary for international trade;
• Yevette Depinto, Commerce Department chief of staff;
• Laura Grimm, Commerce Department chief of staff, performing the duties of the under secretary for oceans and atmosphere and of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator;
• Elizabeth Kim, U.S. State Department acting principal deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of Oceans, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs;
• Todd Lindsey, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) deputy under secretary for rural development;
• Chris Netram, Commerce Department director of policy and strategic planning;
• Harry Kumar, Commerce Department assistant secretary for legislative and intergovernmental affairs;
• Alex Krutz, Commerce Department deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing;
• Cale Clingenpeel, National Economic Council at the White House;
• Grace Graham, deputy commissioner, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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