tsukada affidavit in sea lion suit

8/7/2019 Tsukada affidavit in sea lion suit

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David Karl Gross, ABA #9611065

Birch Horton Bittner & Cherot

1127 West Seventh Avenue

Anchorage, AK 99501

Telephone: 907.276.1550

Facsimile: 907.276.3680

Attorneys for Intervenor-Plaintiffs

The Aleut Corporation and Aleut Enterprise, LLC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ALASKA

STATE OF ALASKA,

Plaintiff,

Case No.: 3:1O-cv-00271-TMB

v.

JANE LUBCHENCO, et at.,

Defendants.

AFFIDAVIT OF RUDY TSUKADA IN SUPPORT

OF ALEUT ENTITIES' MOTION TO INTERVENE

STATE OF ALASKA )

) ss.

THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT )

I, Rudy Tsukada, being first duly sworn, deposes and says:

1. I am over the age of 18 and competent to make this declaration. I have personal

knowledge of the matters set forth herein.

1

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Case 3:10-cv-00271-TMB Document 53 Filed 03/24/11 of 6



2. I am a resident of Alaska and the president of Aleut Enterprise, LLC ("Aleut

Enterprise").

3. Aleut Enterprise is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Aleut Corporation, the

regional Alaska Native Corporation ("ANC") for the Aleutian region. The Aleut Corporation

was created pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act ("ANCSA") to represent the

Native people of the Aleutian region of Alaska and promote their economic and social welfare

and preserve their traditional ways of life. Its shareholders are Native Aleuts, their families, and

descendants.

4. Aleut Enterprise operates fuel terminals in Adak and Cold Bay, Alaska, which

both lie in the Aleutian Island chain and are surrounded by Management Areas 541, 542, and

543.

5. In addition to operating fuel terminals, Adak Enterprise provides numerous other

services in the Aleut communities impacted by NMFS's December 13,2010 Interim Final Rule

published at 75 Fed. Reg. 77,535 et seq. (the "Interim Final Rule").

6. Commercial fishing closures and restrictions arising from the Interim Final Rule

will have immediate and substantial adverse impacts on Aleut Enterprise and the community of

Adak. Based on my experience, I believe that marine fuel sales in Adak are likely to drop by

over 50 percent as a result of the Interim Final Rule's closures and restrictions. Specifically, the

commercial fishing fleet that targets Atka mackerel during the B season accounts for nearly 75

percent of Aleut Enterprise's total fuel sales. The severe restrictions on mackerel fishing

imposed by the Interim Final Rule will cause the loss of most of these revenue and job

generating sales.

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7. As a result of the Interim Final Rule, I project that Aleut Enterprise and the Aleut

Corporation will have to immediately terminate three of its nine employees in Adak. These

prospectively terminated employees support seven residents of Adak, or 4 percent of the

community's population.

8. The Aleut Corporation also expects to have to terminate two other employees in

its Anchorage office as a result ofthe Interim Final Rule's fishery closures and restrictions.

9. The loss of local fuel sales caused by the Interim Final Rule will drive up fuel

costs for Adak and the local utility. Diminished sales volume will likely cause prices to spike

nearly 90 percent, mirroring the steep fuel prices presently paid at nearby Atka. Electricity costs

for Adak will spike along with the fuel cost increase, imposing severe hardship on Adak, its

businesses, and residents.

10. The Interim Final Rule will also cause a sharp decline in tax revenues to support

Adak. Local taxes paid by the Aleut Corporation of companies comprise nearly one-third of the

City of Adak's revenue base. An additional 30 percent of tax revenue is derived from the Aleut

seafood facility in Adak, which has historically processed large amounts of fish caught from the

Pacific cod and Atka mackerel fisheries in Areas 541, 542, and 543. The Interim Final Rule's

fishery closures and restrictions will curtail much local economic activity, including much ofthe

business of the Adak Aleut seafood facility, will substantially reduce Adak's tax base, and will

cripple the City's ability to provide needed municipal services.

11. The Aleut Corporation will have greater difficulty meeting its statutory mission to

promote the economic and social welfare of Aleut Natives with less revenue coming into the

local communities.

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12. In addition, the Adak seafood processmg facility, which is owned by Aleut

Fisheries, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aleut Enterprise, will have significantly decreased

revenue, thus hurting the bottom lines of Aleut Fisheries, Aleut Enterprise, and the Aleut

Corporation.

13. The Interim Final Rule will also curtail access to Adak and drive up the costs of

what limited access remains. The commercial fishing fleet has historically used Adak for crew

changes. These crew changes provide demand for airline services and Alaska Airlines now

offers twice weekly flights between Adak and Anchorage. Fishing restrictions will terminate

mostof

these crew changes, wiping out the demand that sustains this regular link between Adak

and Anchorage. Reduced service will inevitably follow. Reduced air service, as well as the

attendant higher cost of getting to and from Adak, will adversely impact Aleut Enterprise, the

Aleut Corporation, and Adak.

14. The Interim Final Rule will further impact the Aleut Corporation's use of its

special pollock allocation in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management areas. The Aleut

Corporation receives an annual pollock allocation based on the total allowable catch minus

biomass removed by commercial and other fishing interests. I believe that many commercial

vessels, after being restricted from the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries by the Interim

Final Rule, will direct their fishing efforts at pollock, thus reducing the amount of pollock

available for the Aleut Corporation's allocation.

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15. In addition, the Interim Final Rule's restrictions on fishing near Steller sea lion

reproductive sites restricts the Aleut Corporation in its efforts to fish for pollock and make use of

its allocation.

16. The Interim Final Rule will also have adverse impacts on the Native Aleut culture

and its relationship to the natural environment. The Aleuts have traditionally been closely tied to

their environment, including the oceans, fisheries, and marine mammals, and have traditionally

fished for Atka mackerel and Pacific cod in the nearby waters now classified as part of Areas

541, 542, and 543. Closing and restricting fishing in those areas will have impacts on the Aleut

culture and its senseof

connection to that natural environment, in addition to having other social

and economic impacts.

17. In combination, these adverse impacts on Adak, local business enterprises, and

residents, all caused by the Interim Final Rule, will adversely impact the Aleut Corporation,

Aleut Enterprise, and the Native shareholders of the region as well as devastate the community

and region. ~ - ~ Rudy T S u k & 1 a ~ SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this ~ day ofMarch, 2011.

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The undersigned hereby certifies that on the 24th dayof March, 2011, a true and correct copy of theforegoing was served via ECF on the following:

Bradley E. Meyen

[email protected]

Murray D. Feldman

[email protected]

John H. Martin

[email protected]

Daniel J. Pollak

[email protected]

Dean Dunsmore

[email protected]

Katharine S. Glover

[email protected]

Jessica K. Ferrell

[email protected]

Linda R. Larson

[email protected]

Svend A. Brandt-Erichsen

[email protected]

Jeffrey W. Leppo

[email protected]

Ryan P. Steen

[email protected]

BIRCH HORTON BITTNER & CHEROT

By: /s/ David Karl Gross

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tsukada affidavit in sea lion suit

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