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The industry's going to have to set up systems to tag and separate fish by country. Alaskan fishermen and processors will have to prove that each and every salmon they catch is American and that it wasn't raised on a farm. And the certificates they use to support those claims must be able to withstand government audits. In some cases, federal inspectors may even board vessels to check fishing logbooks.

To make sure we're all complying with this nonsense, all parties, including fishermen, will be subject to fines up to $10,000 per violation. Let's hope that's not $10,000 per fish - but with the government, you never know.

But it won't work for U.S. consumers or producers if it adds millions, if not billions, to the cost of food. In fact, once most ranchers and produce growers figured out the cost, they successfully pushed for a two-year delay to give them time to find a more workable solution.

The delay for other foods leaves fish as the lone test case for this law. Over the next two years, the seafood industry will experience everything that's wrong with mandatory country of origin labeling. And salmon will be turned into the guinea pig for ranchers and growers. The high cost of the law will squeeze industry profits and raise prices for consumers. Today's economy-minded consumers will buy less seafood and more poultry, pork and beef.

Where does this leave the Alaskan seafood industry? The answer is with a law that will increase costs, lower profits and do little, if anything, to promote sales.

The solution is to replace the law with a flexible, affordable measure that allows the food industry to truly market Alaskan seafood. Alaska leads the nation in producing seafood and serves up some of the finest fish products in the world.

A coalition of U.S. producers, processors, wholesalers and retailers is now working with Congress to develop a voluntary labeling and marketing bill to replace the unworkable mandatory law. The measure will give us the flexibility not only to label products by country, but also by state or other descriptions that make sense to consumers.

This will not be just a labeling law, but a measure that enables us to develop marketing programs that fully educate consumers and increase sales. Alaska already has many dedicated commissions and promotional groups in place with this same mission. U.S. retailers and wholesalers would like to join forces with the Alaskan seafood industry to increase sales of the state's high-quality seafood. Under the mandatory labeling law, our hands are tied. Under a voluntary law, only the vast Alaskan skies are the limit.

• John Block is a former U.S. secretary of agriculture and executive vice president for the Food Marketing Institute.