03/18/2014 10:00 AM House FISHERIES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB18 | |
| Adjourn |
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 18 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
March 18, 2014
10:04 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Eric Feige
Representative Lynn Gattis
Representative Bob Herron
Representative Kurt Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
OTHER MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Shelley Hughes
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 18
"An Act providing priority to personal use fisheries when
fishing restrictions are implemented to achieve a management
goal."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 18
SHORT TITLE: PERSONAL USE FISHING PRIORITY
SPONSOR(s): REPRESENTATIVE(s) STOLTZE, HUGHES, KELLER
01/16/13 (H) PREFILE RELEASED 1/7/13
01/16/13 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/16/13 (H) FSH, RES
03/26/13 (H) FSH AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 120
03/26/13 (H) Heard & Held
03/26/13 (H) MINUTE(FSH)
03/18/14 (H) FSH AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 120
WITNESS REGISTER
REPRESENTATIVE BILL STOLTZE
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Introduced HB 18 as sponsor.
CHARLES SWANTON, Director
Division of Sport Fish
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified during discussion of HB 18.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:04:32 AM
CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. Representatives
Seaton, Feige, Olson, and Gattis were present at the call to
order. Representative Herron arrived as the meeting was in
progress. Representative Hughes was also present.
HB 18-PERSONAL USE FISHING PRIORITY
10:05:00 AM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 18, "An Act providing priority to personal use
fisheries when fishing restrictions are implemented to achieve a
management goal."
10:05:30 AM
REPRESENTATIVE BILL STOLTZE, Alaska State Legislature,
introduced HB 18, as a joint prime sponsor, explaining that the
proposed bill benefited Alaskans and had many of the same
attributes as subsistence programs, as it prioritizes personal
use fisheries for Alaska residents. He said that this program
had been "wildly embraced throughout Southcentral and Interior
Alaska." He relayed that this was his seventh or eighth attempt
to get this bill through the "impenetrable" House Special
Committee on Fisheries and its different chairmen. He offered
his belief that it was consistent with the Alaska State
Constitution and directed attention to the tens of thousands of
Alaska households that participated in personal use fisheries
and the importance of this "to the fabric of our state." He
reported that personal use fisheries was often mentioned to the
Food Policy Council, of which he was a member, as it was an
important part of Alaska food security. He said that Alaskans
often questioned closure or restriction on local fisheries when
commercial interests were allowed to continue to operate. He
directed attention to the recent spate of e-mails in support of
the proposed bill from "folks all over the state," including
communities which he did not represent. He reiterated the
continued difficulty for getting similar bills through "the
impenetrable walls" of the House Special Committee on Fisheries.
He declared his support for commercial fishing legislation,
noting that he had been a member of the Alaska Seafood Marketing
Institute board for eight years. He said that many Alaskans
questioned why there was not a higher priority for Alaska
resident fisheries. He declared that he would continue to push
this proposed legislation, as "I think I'm on the right side
representing Alaskans who participate in our commonly owned
resources." He offered his belief that the momentum and support
was on his side of the issue.
10:11:17 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS indicated her interest to become a co-
sponsor of the proposed bill. She said that "all Alaskans
depend on this type of fishery to fill our freezers." She
opined that this proposed bill had little to do with the
commercial fisheries, with the exception that commercial
fishermen were "fillin' their freezers." She declared that this
was an Alaskan issue and she voiced her support for HB 18. She
allowed that she did not question the proposed bill.
CHAIR SEATON asked whether personal use fisheries currently
exist in the Matanuska-Susitna area, and whether there was
support for the establishment of personal use dip net fisheries
in the Susitna drainage.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE said that a number of personal use
fisheries did exist in the Matanuska-Susitna, with the most
popular being Fish Creek, although it had only been opened "a
couple of times over the last dozen to 15 years because of
escapement issues." He said that an allocation decision had
been made elsewhere and fish were not there. He allowed that
ADF&G had appropriately been very cautious to ensure meeting
conservation goals. He suggested that the sport fish division
was de-facto managed by the commercial fisheries manager in
Soldotna "which has a shared wall with the Cook Inlet drifters."
CHAIR SEATON, restating his question, asked about the intention
for a dip net fishery to include the Susitna drainage area, as
this had a very large silver [coho] salmon run.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE replied that the personal use fishery had
been for sockeye, as coho were considered a sport fish. He
reported on the recent Susitna fishery sport fish activities,
noting that there had not been a king [Chinook] salmon run. He
did not fish for sockeye in the Susitna drainages. He said that
all the salmon runs had been limited with date and bait
restrictions. He said the Susitna drainage was not suited for a
personal use fishery. He stated that his bill is a broad
approach for setting the priority for Alaska residents, right
behind subsistence use.
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS commented on the dip net fishing activity
that she had observed in the area, and stated that it was "a
family operation where people are goin' out to fill their
freezers." It is necessary to help people have this
opportunity, and she opined that this was the objective of the
proposed bill.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE characterized the dip netting as a scene
from "The Grapes of Wrath." He declared that he would rather
Alaska residents have wild Alaska salmon available as protein
instead of using food stamps.
CHAIR SEATON pointed to the Kenai River personal use dip net
fishery and asked for clarification that under proposed HB 18,
sport fishing for king salmon would be subservient to personal
use dip netters.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE replied that this would be a management
decision handled by ADF&G. He offered his belief that the Board
of Fish managed king salmon as a sport fish.
CHAIR SEATON, paraphrasing from the proposed bill, stated that
restrictions would be placed on all other fisheries before
restrictions were placed on the personal use fisheries.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE said that he could not recall a season in
recent years in which restrictions had not been placed on both
the fisheries.
10:21:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE cited AS 16.05.251(a), which read as
follows:
(a) The Board of Fisheries may adopt
regulations it considers advisable in accordance with
AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for
REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE continued at paragraph (12), which read as
follows:
(12) regulating commercial, sport, guided
sport, subsistence, and personal use fishing as needed
for the conservation, development, and utilization of
fisheries;
REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE surmised that HB 18 dictated a priority to
the Board of Fish for putting personal use fisheries higher than
others, and he asked for a compelling reason to remove an
allocation decision that was made by the Board of Fish.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE replied that the system was broken and
that the larger reason was his constituent concerns.
CHAIR SEATON asked for an example of restrictions on the
personal use fishery that the constituents were concerned about.
He said that the Kenai and Kasilof areas had personal use
opportunities.
REPRESENTATIVE STOLTZE responded that it was the allocation and
prioritization decisions made by the Board of Fish, as the
percentages were slanted away from personal use prioritization.
He declared that there was not even a discussion about the
personal use fishery when the allocation decisions were made
without any review of personal use as a priority. He said that
a reallocation was necessary to stem the concern of residents
who have had negative interactions during the height of the
season and were angered over sharing the resource. He noted
that Alaska residents were getting the short shrift,
acknowledging that large percentages of the commercial fisheries
were also Alaska residents. He stated that tens of thousands of
Alaska households participated in the Alaska resident only
personal use fisheries. He added that, during the previous
hearing for the proposed bill, regulatory information had been
promised, which his office had not received, and he added "I
hope it wasn't blown off."
CHAIR SEATON asked about the regulatory framework of personal
use fisheries, where and how they were established, and methods
and means. He requested that the information also be provided
in writing.
10:27:55 AM
CHARLES SWANTON, Director, Division of Sport Fish, Alaska
Department of Fish & Game, expressed his agreement with the
sponsor's description of the household participation for the
Cook Inlet personal use fisheries, which included the Kenai,
Kasilof, and Fish Creek. He said that a substantial number of
Alaskan households participate in these fisheries, primarily for
sockeye salmon. He noted the questions regarding king salmon,
and said that there had been restrictions for personal use in
the Kenai for the past two years, as retention had not been
allowed. He referenced the department's guidance specific to
species, and directed attention to the preamble language of the
fisheries management plans, which dictated that king and coho
salmon were to be primarily managed for sport fishing, whereas
sockeye salmon were supposed to be managed for commercial use.
He said that dip nets were the primary means, although there was
a personal use gill net fishery for the Kasilof. He expressed
agreement with Representative Stoltze that ADF&G was first and
foremost concerned with meeting the escapement objectives. He
said that the Fish Creek fishery was going through a period of
enhancement, which had somewhat confounded the management.
CHAIR SEATON asked about the requirement in HB 18 for the Board
of Fisheries to place restrictions on all other fisheries before
restricting the personal use fishery. He asked if that would
require a change in the direction for retention in the personal
use fishery for king salmon in the Kenai and whether this would
allow an opening in the sport fishery if retention in the
personal use fishery was restricted.
MR. SWANTON replied that it would be a decision by the Board of
Fish based on its management plan.
[HB 18 was held over.]
10:32:08 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 10:32
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 18 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFSH 3/26/2013 10:00:00 AM HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| HB0018A.pdf |
HFSH 3/26/2013 10:00:00 AM HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| Regulations of the Board of Fisheries.pdf |
HFSH 3/26/2013 10:00:00 AM HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| HB 18 support.pdf |
HFSH 3/26/2013 10:00:00 AM HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| HB 18 opposition.pdf |
HFSH 3/26/2013 10:00:00 AM HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| HB018-DFG-CO-03-22-13.pdf |
HFSH 3/26/2013 10:00:00 AM HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| ADF&G Brief on Personal Use Fishing for HB 18.pdf |
HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| HB 18 correspondence 2014.pdf |
HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |
| HB 18 comment 2013 and 2014.pdf |
HFSH 3/18/2014 10:00:00 AM |
HB 18 |