July 30, 2021 — Alaska’s longtime Republican Congressman Don Young has yet again introduced the Keep Fin Fish Free Act, legislation prohibiting the Secretary of Interior and the Secretary of Commerce from authorizing commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the Federal Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) unless specifically authorized by Congress.
Young said the state’s residents are opposed to what he described as “hatchery fisheries” in the state.
“We don’t want that. We want our fish to be wild,” he said Thursday during a hearing held by the US House Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
Young said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) should be focusing on issues with Alaska’s ocean, and why fishermen are seeing fewer kings and other salmon during summer fishing seasons.