Politics take Center Stage at Wild Alaska Pollock Annual Meeting: Senators Murkowski, Sullivan Talk Appropriations, Government Wild Alaska Pollock Purchases and Russia

 

SEATTLE, Wash.— Working to get the word out about the aptly named “freedom fish” was Senator Dan Sullivan’s challenge to the Wild Alaska Pollock industry at its sixth annual gathering this morning, hosted by the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP). Speaking live via zoom to the nearly 300 attendees—both in person at the W Hotel, Seattle and joining virtually—Senator Sullivan talked about how the U.S. industry needs to keep up the fight against “Russian fishermen trying to disguise their fish as our perfect Wild Alaska Pollock, our freedom fish.”

Politics took center stage throughout the meeting’s morning sessions, as speakers capitalized on the election-year themes for both amusement and motivation.

Chants of “We heart Wild Alaska Pollock” rang out during GAPP Chief Executive Officer Craig Morris’ remarks where he talked about GAPP’s efforts to ensure that consumers—or voters—vote for Wild Alaska Pollock every day, all day around the world. In a rousing speech, Morris spoke with attendees about major milestones for GAPP over the past year and emphasized “make no mistake, we’re not letting up in our quest to be the world’s best fish and continue to solidify our consumer base of support.”

That commitment to continue advancing Wild Alaska Pollock was shared earlier by Senator Sullivan who spoke of the important issue of fair-trading practices and his efforts to close the loophole in the U.S. for Russian seafood.

“Russian imports in the United States were almost duty free, before now. The good news, now, is that there is no Russian seafood, regardless of where it’s caught or processed, coming into the United States,” said Sullivan. “What we’re starting to see is that the places in the U.S. that were importing Russian fish, they’re now reaching out to our Alaska fisheries instead. That’s exactly what we want to happen.”

Both Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkowski, who provided video remarks for the Annual Meeting, emphasized the work yet to be done to close loopholes to Russian fish around the world, noting recent trips to discuss this critical issue with countries including Canada, Japan and the E.U. Said Senator Sullivan, “Rest assured, we’re going to continue to work on this one.”

Turning to critical domestic policy, Senator Murkowski emphasized her work to ensure that Wild Alaska Pollock is not only to be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food programs but is a be bigger part of such programs going forward.

“This year USDA is purchasing more than 28.8 million pounds of Wild Alaska Pollock for National School lunches and related programs,” said Senator Murkowski in opening video remarks to the nearly 300 meeting attendees. “This is the second largest USGA purchase of Pollock in history, and we're shooting for more next year. This is a big deal, and it helps to showcase the health benefits, the value and potential of Alaskan Pollock to the American people and the lucky kids that are eating it.”

Speaking of the upcoming Farm Bill, Senator Sullivan noted the discrepancies about how U.S. agricultural commodities are treated and the benefits and programs available to them compared with those accessible by seafood commodities like Wild Alaska Pollock.

“Our fishermen have so many of the same challenges that farmers have but they don’t have analogous programs to help them de-risk their operations,” said the Senator. “We need to establish an Office of Seafood Policy at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish those same programs that exist for farmers, for fishermen. We think that’s an idea that’s time has come, we think it’s a fair idea, and we’re making progress on it.”

Both Senators emphasized the need for the industry to continue its work to get the word out about the positive attributes of the fish and fishery, emphasizing that Wild Alaska Pollock has an incredible story to tell about management, sustainability, labor and the healthful and versatile attributes of the fish itself.“We simply have to get the word out,” said Senator Sullivan.The meeting once again brings together representatives across all segments of the Wild Alaska Pollock industry for a day-long agenda at the W Hotel, Seattle.

GAPP would like to thank its generous sponsors for this year’s event: USI Insurance Services (Title); Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Glacier Fish Company, and Global Seas (Gold); Alaska Airlines, American Seafoods, Aquamar, Arctic Storm Management Group, Beck Pack Systems, Delta Western, Gorton’s Seafood, NORPEL, Port of Seattle, Rabobank, Trans-Ocean Products, Trident Seafoods, UniSea, and Westward Seafoods (Silver); Ag West Farm Credit, APICDA, Alaska Marine Lines, Arionbanki, Baader, Clark Nuber, Coastal Transportation, Golden Alaska Seafoods, High Liner Foods, Íslandsbanki, Ketchum, King & Prince Seafoods, Lafferty’s EMS, Lucky Louie Fish Shack, Marine Stewardship Council, McDonald’s, NSEDC, Parker, Smith & Feek, PPLP, Rogge Co. (Charlie’s Produce), and Wells Fargo (Bronze); Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation, Angulas-Aguinaga, Bank of America, Frontier Packaging, Global Seafood Alliance, Industrial Resources, Inc., InnaSea Media, Neptune Snacks, Perkins Coie, Restaurant Depot, Seattle Tacoma Box, Umpqua Bank, and U.S. Electric (Supporting).