Legislature(1995 - 1996)
02/23/1996 08:20 AM House RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 175 - SPORT FISH GUIDE LICENSING CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN announced that the next item on the agenda was HB 175, an act relating to sport fish guides; and providing for an effective date. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN sponsor of HB 175, said the bill was introduced last year and said information was located in the committee packet. He said several hearings were held and five or six redrafts of HB 175 have occurred during the last year. He said the original intent of HB 175 was that it would gather information on the sport fish commercial operations in order to determine the use of natural resources. He said to get this information, HB 175 includes a license provision for the guides to provide tracking back-up. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN read his sponsor statement into the record, "The guided `sportfishery' is an important and rapidly growing industry in the Alaskan economy. The ability of the state to provide for the sustainable development and sound, sensible management our fishery resource is dependent upon the availability of complete information upon which to base decisions. My goal of HB 175 is to provide for the collection of this data. There is a lack of hard data available regarding the commercial guided `sportfisheries' in Alaska. In some parts of the state, A, D, E, F and G, regulation requires vessels engaged in `sportfish' guiding to be registered. Registration of the guides themselves is required on a few of the rivers, but not everywhere. No uniform licensing procedure exists in Alaska. Thus, we do not have the complete information about who is actively engaged in `sportfish' guiding, how many clients are served, and what the catch rates are, and what rivers, streams, and marine waters are being utilized. Without a means of gathering dependable information, it is impossible to monitor the activity or growth of the commercial sport fisheries on a statewide basis. It is imperative for the state to have solid information to ensure the sustainable development of this commercial industry and to ensure the sound management of the fishery resources upon which this commercial industry depends. It is time to acknowledge this important growing industry and make sure that management decisions can be based on complete information. The bill establishes three options of guide licensure: First, a sport fishing service operator license which costs $75 is for sport fish guide business owners and is obtainable from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). An Alaskan business license and proof of insurance are the only requirements for this license. Second, a fishing guide license cost $25 for sport fish guides and will be readily available through the ADFG's vender licensing program. This is modeled after how commercial crew licenses are obtained. Requirements for the guide license include U.S. citizenship, a First Aid/CPR card, U.S. Coast Guard license and a current sport fish license. third, we have also provided a third alternative, in response to earlier versions of HB 175, in which an individual could obtain both a guide and operator license as one combined license for $75 from the department to accommodate the smaller one person operations." "Each person who plans to engage in sportfish guiding, both on fresh and salt water, from a vessel or otherwise, will be required to purchase the license. The sportfish division of ADFG will develop reports which license holders will be required to submit. This will enable the state to build a data bank regarding the guided sportfishery. The cost of guide licensing, data gathering and analysis will be funded by the revenues generated from the license fees. Therefore, this program should be self-sustaining. This is a data gathering bill only. It does not impose any limitations on the number of guides or vessels in the state, or who can purchase the license to guide, nor does it affect their activities other than having to report and carry the documentation on their vessels." REPRESENTATIVE PETE KOTT asked the sponsor of HB 175 to comment on some of the changes included in CSHB 175(FSH). REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said, in response to concerns from interior Alaska, the word "subsistence" was removed from HB 175. He said there was also confusion in HB 175 regarding the differences between fisheries in interior Alaska compared to fisheries in the coastal areas and it was determined that the differences in interior Alaska did not require the same reporting systems. In the work draft of HB 175, the reporting provision specifically relates to salmon and halibut, with the exception of pink salmon. He said, because pink salmon was such a voluminous fish, it was exempted. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said a transporter license was taken out of HB 175 due to the complexity that arose from this provision. Another change was that in the original bill, the license would be lost for a year if accurate reporting was not completed and in the current version of HB 175, merely fines the operator. REPRESENTATIVE KOTT made a motion to adopt CSHB 175(FSH), version 9-LS0664\R. Hearing no objection CSHB 175(FSH) was before the committee. DENNIS RANDA, Member, Alaska Council of Trout Unlimited, and owner Randa's Guide Service, testified on CSHB 175(FSH). He said he was involved in the sport guide fishing industry since 1984. He said the state needs to adopt CSHB 175(FSH) before it enacts a bill limiting the number of guides. MR. RANDA said the prices of guide license varies in other states and said there should be a constant fee of $75. He said, on page two, line 31, any time there is a gasoline on board a Coast Guard license is required, so there are times when you can guide without a Coast Guard's license. MR. RANDA, on page six, line 4, suggested turning the word, "shall" to "may" because of the paperwork burden. He wanted to ensure that the paperwork he completed would be necessary and useful to DFG. He said he welcomed CSHB 175(FSH). REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said the U.S. Coast Guard was consulted on numerous occasions and the information received regarding the Coast Guard license was that it referred to power, whether you utilize wind, gasoline or something else. He said if you utilize power you need a 6 pack, or Coast Guard, license. He said a raft going down river would not require this license. MR. RANDA said he thought the Coast Guard license was by craft. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said that provision would be looked at again. REPRESENTATIVE OGAN referred to the state's involvement regarding an issue that the federal government should be overseeing, the Coast Guard rules and regulations regarding water craft. GARY E. HULL, Guide, testified that there should be a limited number of guides for each watershed and a code of ethics written for fish guides. He said the air charter service should have to comply with CSHB 175(FSH). He said if there was a limited entry permit for guides it should be transferable. JIM RUSK, Guide, Jim Rusk Fishing, said there should be more regulation relating the fishing guide industry. He felt that CSHB 175(FSH) should make it more difficult on out of state guides and fishermen. REPRESENTATIVE KOTT asked for a specific suggestion regarding his concern. MR. RUSK said that an in-person registration for guides should be imposed by February 1, of the year that they guide. JOE HARDY, Guide, said fish guiding should be put on a professional level to insure a level of expertise to control the growth of the business. He said CSHB 175(FSH) is a step in the right direction, but that DFG does not have the resources or the interest in policing a new guide industry. He said CSHB 175(FSH) is weak in many areas and that it has too many levels of service provider. He suggested that CSHB 175(FSH) should only list a guide or a booking agent to simplify the regulations. He said air charters should not be exempt from reporting as they are significant users of the resource. MR. HARDY said the fish guide requirements are not stringent enough and they do nothing to create a professional level within the industry. He said CSHB 175(FSH) should include that a guide demonstrate three years of Alaskan fishing experience, knowledge of regulations, knowledge of the legal methods and means, the ability to pass a minimum fish identification test and that it should ban people with a long history of fish violations. He said there should be special qualifications for non-motorized vessel operations as there are safety issues in rafting trips. MR. HARDY referred to page five, and said the misdemeanor charge for not having your guide license upon your second offense is a heavy charge considering the logistics of the sport fishing industry such as using several boats and the damp conditions. Representative Davies joined the committee meeting via teleconference. STEVE TUENSTRUP, Commercial Fisherman, said he supported CSHB 175(FSH), but that the license fees should be the same for in state and out of state residents. He said $500 is a small amount for a large offense and that there should be a cut off date for being able to guide in order to reduce the number of fishing guides, such as 1992 or 1993. TERRY BRASEL made a comment that three years Alaska fishing experience was a good requirement regarding the level of experience and said CSHB 175(FSH) should favor residents of Alaska. TAPE 96-24, SIDE A Number 000 REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said "supportive of us passing an i.q. provision that was retroactive to the state in 1990, if you weren't a guide before 1990, you're out." MR. BRASEL asked about the fairness issue. CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN said Mr. Brasel's testimony limited sport guide fishing to resident guide fishing. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN asked Mr. Brasel to clarify his comments. MR. BRASEL said other than certain requirements, all you need to do currently is pay and get a license and felt that a fishing skill level should be included. PAUL DALE, Salmon Producers Alliance, said the alliance is an umbrella organization of commercial fish interests in Cook Inlet and includes most of the major processors and harvesters. He said the alliance includes the United Cook Inlet Drift Association and the Kenai Peninsula Fisherman's Association. MR. DALE referred to past discussions regarding these subjects and said it was felt that strict or onerous regulations of the sport fishery would limit the growth of the guide industry. He said there should be limitations of out of state residents as guides and anglers. MR. DALE said the alliance recently undertook an expensive and sophisticated research survey of Alaskan's attitudes in Southcentral regarding fishing issues. He said the strongest response in the survey was that if a river is too crowded, paid guides should be limited. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN asked for the precise wording of the survey question. MR. DALE said he could supply this survey questionnaire for the committee. TYLAND VANLIER, guide, said a guide can go through a non- corporation and achieve a Coast Guard license for the Kenai. He said the Coast Guard license needs to be harder to get. DUE TO A TAPE MALFUNCTION, PART OF THE RECORDING WAS LOST, THE TAPE RESUMES AT THIS POINT. CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN said, at the time he became involved with this issue, there was a maximum number between resident and non-resident guides. He said the resident guide license number was quite high and to increase that causes legal issues regarding the balance of trade. UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER said the number of non-resident guides was between 15 and 20 last year. REPRESENTATIVE BARNES said this is an issue of a finite resource and asked how we could limit one resource, that of sport fishing guides, without addressing the processors and fishermen. UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER said it is an issue of regulating an issue occurring on state land. He said the workers fishing out in the ocean is unapplicable to this situation. He said regulating can be done through the fees that are charged not through restricting them from providing their service. He referred to testimony linking residency with those eligible for the permanent fund dividend. REPRESENTATIVE BARNES said the state has very stringent requirements regarding the permanent fund dividend due to a court suit. She said the Supreme Court's ruling was that any residency program must have a clear and defendable length of residency. CO-CHAIRMAN GREEN said the issue of linking residency with the permanent fund dividend is because of the strict rules it contains. JEFF KING said he was on the task force that helped develop HB 175. He said one of the areas of importance to the task force was the issue of compliance, because of the diversity in the state. Due to this factor, it was felt that fees and professional standards should be kept to a minimal level in order to achieve this compliance. He said CSHB 175(FSH) is palatable and still affect everyone in the state. He suggested the reporting to DFG provisions should be left to the guide's discretion. REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN thanked Mr. King and the task force that worked on this issue. He said CSHB 175(FSH) has had a lot of changes made and represents a compromise position. He said the concept behind CSHB 175(FSH) is good and will allow the DFG to gather information, changing the non-compulsory regulation system currently in place. He said CSHB 175(FSH) will put sport fish guiding into the statute and 10 to 15 years down the road the state will know what is happening in the industry to avoid the problems occurring down south.
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