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.