2005 STEWARDSHIP PROJECT

November 02, 2005

Pork spending soars to new heights

Painting a giant salmon on the side of a 737: $500,000.00
Learning that pigs can fly: PRICELESS!

Is the sale of Alaskan salmon a priority of the federal government? Apparently, it is. A $500,000 federal grant was recently used to paint an Alaskan Airlines jet to look like a salmon, in an attempt to boost salmon sales. It seems painting commercial jets is just as important as the war in Iraq, the War on Terror, and disaster relief.

Alaskan Airlines now has a very large, very expensive flying fish, thanks to misspent tax dollars. This flying billboard is only a small part of the tax dollars being spent on convincing people to eat Alaskan salmon. Over the past two years, the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board has spent $29 million in tax dollars on the marketing campaign, and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute receives $5 million each year for the same purpose.

If Alaskan salmon really needs large flying billboards, that should be an investment of those trying to sell the fish, especially considering all the money our federal government is shelling out already. And who is going to be up at 30,000 feet to see the flying billboard, anyway?

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