Legislature(2011 - 2012)BARNES 124
04/09/2012 01:00 PM House RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB295 | |
| SB91 | |
| HB328 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 295 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 328 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 192 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SB 91-SPORT FISHING GUIDING SERVICES
1:35:31 PM
CO-CHAIR FEIGE announced that the next order of business would
be CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 91(FIN), "An Act amending the
termination date of the licensing of sport fishing operators and
sport fishing guides; and providing for an effective date."
1:35:44 PM
SHYAN ELY, Intern, Senator Lesil McGuire, Alaska State
Legislature, explained the proposed bill:
SB [9]1 guarantees the continuation of the sport fish
guide licensing and reporting program as well as
provides an effective date. SB 91 extends the sunset
date of the program which is already in place.
Legislation for this program was first passed in 2004.
This program has proven to be beneficial to the sport
fishing industry as well as resource managers. It
requires licensing and regulation of sport fishing
operators and sport fishing guides and sport fishing
vessels. The program has provided an average of 1,541
sport fishing business licenses and 1,828 sport
fishing guide licenses annually. Ninety percent of
the license holders are Alaska residents. The sport
fishing guide industry has taken more than 2.6 million
clients fishing from 2005 - 2010, totaling more than
625,000 guided fishing trips in Alaska. Guided sport
fishing has become an integral part of Alaska's
tourism economy. In 2007, $1.39 billion was spent on
licensing and stamps, trip related expenditures,
fishing packages, equipment, and real estate use for
the fishing. This spending supported more than 15,879
jobs in Alaska and provided $545.3 million in income.
This bill has provided an accurate accounting for
Alaska's resources which are being harvested. Federal
law for guided halibut sport fishing is tied to the
Alaska sport fishing log books and failure to keep
this program in place would likely result in the
development of federal log book for halibut which
would create duplication of efforts at a later date.
1:37:39 PM
MS. ELY pointed out that Alaska was exempt from participation in
the NOAA National Saltwater Angler Registry as a result of the
information collected from the guide license program. She urged
support for proposed SB 91.
1:38:02 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked about the function of the National
Saltwater Angler Registry, and why Alaska should be exempt.
1:38:30 PM
MS. ELY deferred to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game
(ADF&G).
1:38:45 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ asked if the logbooks were manual or data
entry.
MS. ELY offered her belief that the logs were now entered
electronically.
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ opined that previously there had been
additional cost for ADF&G to electronically enter the log book
data. She asked whether there had been a savings to the state
by going to an electronic system instead of the previous manual
entry.
MS. ELY deferred to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game
(ADF&G).
1:39:33 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI observed that there were licenses
required for many occupations; however, this industry did not
have a licensing board.
MS. ELY replied that she would research this.
1:40:19 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DICK, directing attention to the sponsor
statement, asked what was included in the estimated $650 million
spent on sport fishing in 2007.
MS. ELY offered her belief that it was general spending. She
offered to research the specific spending.
REPRESENTATIVE DICK questioned whether this entire income would
disappear without sport fishing.
MS. ELY, in response, said that she would get back to the
committee if ADF&G was unable to answer the question.
1:41:44 PM
LISA EVANS, Assistant Director, Division of Sport Fishing,
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), stated that the sport
fish guide licensing program was an important tool for the
management of state fisheries. She reported that ADF&G
collected the data and used it extensively for regulatory
options and decisions by the International Pacific Halibut
Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to
maintain the "least conservative regulatory structure possible."
She added that the fisheries managers documented the harvest
patterns within specific time frames, and used that data to
evaluate and update the ADF&G regulatory structure for specific
species to ensure maximum opportunity for fishing. She said
that the information from the angler harvest logbooks was
collected and used in decision making. She gave examples for
decisions made to the Kodiak and Southeast Alaska fisheries
based on logbook information.
MS. EVANS relayed that ADF&G had responded to the concerns from
the sport fish guides industry for data turnaround time, however
there was still not an electronic logbook for the guides. She
said that the logbook information was now scanned, rather than
entered manually, which had significantly improved the time for
which the data was now available, and that this system would be
implemented for freshwater data entry, as well, during the
upcoming season. She shared that the research for an electronic
system was ongoing. She estimated that sport fishing was a $1.4
billion industry in Alaska in 2007, which included trip related
expenditures such as airfare, lodging, equipment, and guide
services. She declared that the proposed bill was a necessary
fisheries management tool.
1:45:23 PM
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER inquired whether the funds that were
raised through the program generated a sufficient amount of
income. She asked for an explanation of the National Saltwater
Angler Registry program, and the reason for the proposed
exemption.
MS. EVANS replied that there was a $400,000 fiscal note attached
to proposed SB 91. She reported that the program generated
about $250,000 in receipts, with the balance paid by the ADF&G
sport fish license sales. She explained that the National
Saltwater Angler Registry program was a new NOAA (National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) program which now
required a saltwater fishing license for harvest data collection
for saltwater sport fisheries. She relayed that Alaska had
received an exemption from this NOAA program because of its
existing statewide harvest survey and the guide logbook program.
REPRESENTATIVE GARDNER asked to clarify that, as the NOAA
registry was mainly for data collection and Alaska already
collected this data, Alaska could be exempt from the NOAA
registry.
MS. EVANS concurred.
1:47:05 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI asked why there was not yet a fully
electronic log book system, and he questioned how the proposed
funding would be used to attain this system.
MS. EVANS replied that the number of staff on this program had
not been reduced. She expressed the possibility for more
efficiency with implementation of the freshwater log book
system. She stated that an electronic program, which was cost
effective, had not yet been found. She relayed that the current
estimate for an electronic system was up to $1.25 million. She
noted an additional obstacle, the sport fish license system was
not yet completely electronic at point of sale.
CO-CHAIR FEIGE asked for a description of the format that was
scanned.
MS. EVANS offered her belief that it was a scanned copy of the
actual logbook page, and then software read the sport fish
license number, the individual, and the number of fish released.
She said that she would get back to the committee to confirm.
CO-CHAIR FEIGE inquired whether the department had looked into
application software.
MS. EVANS replied that the department had a small team
researching options that had been implemented elsewhere.
CO-CHAIR FEIGE expressed his agreement that the data was useful
and allowed precise quantification of what was being taken.
MS. EVANS, in response to Co-Chair Feige, said that 80 - 85
percent of the public and the sport fish industry were in
supported of the guide logbook program. She allowed that some
had expressed that the program was cumbersome and not essential.
CO-CHAIR FEIGE asked if most complaints were for not wanting to
participate, or just opposition on a general basis.
MS. EVANS allowed that it was cumbersome to fill out the logbook
while on the water with clients and that there had been some
objection to the $100 annual license fee.
1:52:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE KAWASAKI expressed that his objection, from the
very beginning, had been regarding the necessity of this
program. Even though he understood the value of the data, he
did not like imposing any additional licensing requirements on
sport fish guides. He questioned whether there was a better way
to enforce compliance to collect the necessary information.
1:54:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MUNOZ moved to report CSSB 91(FIN) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 91(FIN) was
reported from the House Resources Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Support Alyeska.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 295 |
| HB295 Background - MO 1121.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 295 |
| Work Draft 2012.04.04.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 295 |
| HB295 Bill Text.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 295 |
| HB295 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 295 |
| HB295 Support Letters.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 295 |
| 91 CSSB Verson M.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
SB 91 |
| HB 328 Workdraft Version E.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
HB 328 |
| SB 91_Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
SB 91 |
| SB 91 2010 Participation Effort and Harvest in the Sport Fish Business-Guide Licensing and Logbook Programs.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
SB 91 |
| SB 91 SWLogsheet_2012.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
SB 91 |
| SB091CS(FIN)-03-30-12.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
SB 91 |
| SB 91 2012 Freshwater Charter Logbook.pdf |
HRES 4/9/2012 1:00:00 PM |
SB 91 |