Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 120
03/27/2014 10:00 AM House FISHERIES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Confirmation Hearing(s): Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
March 27, 2014
10:12 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Eric Feige
Representative Lynn Gattis
Representative Craig Johnson
Representative Kurt Olson
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bob Herron
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Bruce Twomley - Juneau
- CONFIRMATION(S) ADVANCED
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
BRUCE TWOMLEY, Appointee
Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Spoke as an appointee to the Alaska
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.
ACTION NARRATIVE
10:12:49 AM
CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 10:12 a.m. Representatives
Seaton, Feige, Olson, Johnson, and Gattis were present at the
call to order.
10:13:00 AM
^CONFIRMATION HEARING(S): Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission
CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):
Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission
10:13:15 AM
CHAIR SEATON announced that the only order of business would be
a confirmation hearing for the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission.
10:13:58 AM
BRUCE TWOMLEY, Appointee, Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission, said that he was first appointed to the commission
in 1982. He relayed that he had had the opportunity for
participation in the limitation to 35 fisheries, while writing
more than 3,000 decisions. He discussed the risks for
adjudicating cases before the limited entry commission, as the
Supreme Court could reverse a decision and apply it
retroactively. This would require the commission to re-open
cases previously closed and accept new applications. He said
that this had not happened during his tenure, as they had not
lost any Supreme Court decisions. He reported that there were
68 limited fisheries and from the applications to those
fisheries, there were currently 30 cases pending, which he
surmised would be adjudicated before the end of 2016. He stated
that he would welcome the opportunity to continue in this
process.
10:16:22 AM
CHAIR SEATON asked to compare the commission's current yearly
load to that in the past.
MR. TWOMLEY, in response, said that in 1990 there were about 900
cases before the commission, and there was a statutory duty to
limit fisheries. As these newly limited fisheries generated
appeals, the commission had an unmanageable case load, and a
triage approach was adopted to accept the most critical cases.
Those were the cases under the most pressure, as the right to
fish was at stake. He declared that the current case load was
30, and could be addressed in an orderly way. He offered his
belief that these adjudications could be completed by the end of
2016. He pointed out that the most difficult cases seemed to
come at the end, and he offered an example of an existing case.
He directed attention to the Kuzmin case [Included in members'
packets] which had required that individual fish tickets be
examined and it was a very difficult case. He reported that the
hearing officer made some statements on the record that the
commission had to distance themselves from. He declared that
this case affected two applicants, was the last case to be
decided in this fishery, and represented the equal of 15
individual cases. While this case was pending, there were 13
other applicants that also needed resolution. He stated that
this application was denied and was not appealed, so that the
other 13 permits could be granted, and the fishery could be
closed. He declared that this was "a big deal to us." He
shared that the remaining cases were similar, as they were on
track to close a number of other fisheries.
CHAIR SEATON, reflecting on the 2012 report, asked if this was
one of those three adjudication cases.
MR. TWOMLEY clarified that the Kuzmin case was a 2013 case. In
response to Chair Seaton, he said there were 30 cases remaining,
with 7 before hearing officers and 23 still before the
commission.
10:20:57 AM
CHAIR SEATON asked about maintenance of a manageable workload
given the budget restrictions being projected over the upcoming
10 years. He asked whether Mr. Twomley would offer constructive
criticism regarding the wisdom for integrating the Alaska
Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission into a division of the
Alaska Department of Fish & Game, so there were not two
different computer systems for licensing.
MR. TWOMLEY replied that he "would be happy to participate in
that process."
CHAIR SEATON reported that future discussion to this end would
be done in a critical manner to find efficiencies without
unnecessary burdens.
10:22:47 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE referenced the resume submitted by Mr.
Twomley, noting his experience as a VISTA volunteer in 1972-73,
and asked what he had done as a volunteer.
MR. TWOMLEY explained that he had worked for Alaska Legal
Services in Bush Alaska as a VISTA (Volunteers in Service to
America) volunteer, and that he had subsequently been hired by
Alaska Legal Services. He reported that he had represented a
number of native allotment applicants, as well as fishermen
before the entry commission. In further response to
Representative Feige, he said that his travel within Alaska had
been extensive, and included time in more than 50 villages.
10:24:13 AM
REPRESENTATIVE FEIGE moved to forward the confirmation of Bruce
Twomley as appointee to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry
Commission for consideration in a joint session of the House and
Senate. He noted that each member's signature on the
committee's report in no way reflects the member's vote during
the joint floor session. There being no objection, the
confirmation was advanced.
10:24:36 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 10:24
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial Fisheries - Twomley #3.pdf |
HFSH 3/27/2014 10:00:00 AM |
|
| CFEC Final Commission Decisions RE Individual Entry Permits PWS sablefish fixed gear fishery.pdf |
HFSH 3/27/2014 10:00:00 AM |