Page created for an undergraduate class at Davidson College.
Commercial Fishing
The Issue
The commercial fishing industry is important in the economies of both Alaska and the United States. The industry exported $2.5 billion worth of seafood in 2002. The Alaskan seafood harvest, in weight, accounts for over 50% of the countries total production. Fishing accounts for $2 billion of Alaska's total GDP, about $28 billion.
Lisa Murkowski's Stance
Lisa Murkowski's (R) official stance on fishing is that she "will continue to look for ways to help improve prices for Alaska seafood, encourage the development of new products to add value to our catches, promote efforts to find new markets and work to improve our seafood transportation system (Murkowski 2004)." She has put out a radio ad called "Report," where she attacks Tony Knowles' on his endorsement of the Pew Report, a report that suggests Alaska's fishing industry will be affected by five new federal bureaucracies.
Murkowski's constituents on this issue are commercial fisherman. She has been endorsed by fishing coalitions such as the United Fisherman of Alaska. The type of representation she is providing on this issue is substantive. There is a clear plan for the future that appeals to her constituents.
Murkowski represents her constituents well, passing beneficial legislation. She convinced the government to purchase canned salmon to stabilize prices, she helped obtain funding for the Pacific Salmon Commission, she helped raise funds for harbor improvements and helped find funding for a NOAA Fish Laboratory (Murkowski 2004). Murkowski is effectively representing her constituents.
Tony Knowles' Stance
On fishing issues, Tony Knowles (D), does not explicitly lay out an agenda. Instead, he states that his style of leadership will help him fight for Alaska's fisheries. He has published a radio ad called "Fish Story," where he does not talk about a plan for the future of Alaska's fisheries, but instead criticizes Murkowski for attacking him.
Because Murkowski is strong on this issue, Knowles must appeal to a broader audience than just commercial fishermen. He is speaking to a demographic, for which this is not a dividing issue, by using descriptive representation. He talks of how he is a "strong, independent leader...[with] a long record of fighting for Alaska - and Alaska's commercial fishermen (Knowles 2004)."
Knowles is doing an acceptable job representing his constituents. Because he is appealing to a larger group, his rhetoric about leadership may resonate because of its implications on other issues. Where as with fishermen, it would likely fail. He recently proposed a revision to Exxon Mobil's payment plans for Alaskan citizens. Again, this appeals to a larger group in the state because many people are receiving these payments. Overall, it's difficult to analyze how this issue is effecting Knowles' campaign. Because the style is not as direct, its effects are somewhat ambiguous.
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Page Created: 10/8/2004
Last Updated: 10/15/2004
