Legislature(2003 - 2004)
02/19/2003 08:35 AM House FSH
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
February 19, 2003
8:35 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Peggy Wilson, Vice Chair
Representative Pete Kott
Representative Ralph Samuels
Representative Ethan Berkowitz
Representative David Guttenberg
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Cheryll Heinze
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6
Extending the termination date of the Joint Legislative Salmon
Industry Task Force until 2005.
- MOVED CSHCR 6(FSH) OUT OF COMMITTEE
OVERVIEW: ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH & GAME, SUBSISTENCE
DIVISION, BY MARY C. PETE, DIRECTOR
- HEARD
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HCR 6
SHORT TITLE: EXTEND JT LEG SALMON INDUSTRY TASK FORCE
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) STEVENS
Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action
02/07/03 0147 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME -
REFERRALS
02/07/03 0147 (H) FSH, FIN
02/10/03 0171 (H) COSPONSOR(S): MORGAN
02/19/03 (H) FN1: ZERO (LEG)
02/19/03 (H) FSH AT 8:30 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
CHERYL SUTTON, Staff
to the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HCR 6, providing an
explanation of the proposed CS.
MARY C. PETE, Director
Division of Subsistence
Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Provided an overview of the ADF&G, Division
of Subsistence.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 03-8, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. Members present at the
call to order were Representatives Seaton, Wilson, Samuels,
Guttenberg, and Berkowitz. Representative Kott arrived while
the meeting was in progress.
HCR 6-EXTEND JT LEG SALMON INDUSTRY TASK FORCE
Number 0036
CHAIR SEATON announced the first order of business would be
consideration of HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6, "Extending
the termination date of the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry
Task Force until 2005."
Number 0074
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HCR 6, Version 23-LS0516\H, Utermohle,
2/12/03, as a work draft. There being no objection, Version H
was before the committee.
Number 0163
CHERYL SUTTON, Staff to the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry
Task Force, Alaska State Legislature, explained that the
proposed CS for HCR 6 contains essentially three changes. She
said the first change is to provide for an extension of one year
instead of two years, a change that would extend through the
adjournment of the [second] regular session of the Twenty-Third
Alaska State Legislature. Ms. Sutton said that in addition, the
proposed committee substitute adds funding language for
appropriations through the Legislative Council, which clarifies
the funding stream. She said this addition is for
clarification, as the task force has worked this way in the
past. She said there is a zero fiscal note, so additional money
will not be needed to continue the work.
Number 0269
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ noted that some legislators who had
been on the task force would no longer be available to fill
those positions, and he asked if there had been any indication
of who might be interested in taking their places.
MS. SUTTON said that discussion had not taken place as of yet,
but stated that if the task force were extended, the legislative
members of the task force would have that discussion.
Number 0337
REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ moved to report CSHCR 6, Version 23-
LS0516\H, Utermohle, 2/12/03, out of committee with individual
recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal note. There
being no objection, CSHCR 6(FSH) was reported from the House
Special Committee on Fisheries.
OVERVIEW: ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH & GAME, SUBSISTENCE
DIVISION, BY MARY C. PETE, DIRECTOR
TAPE 03-8, SIDE(S) A & B
[The overview begins at number 0375 on Side A.]
CHAIR SEATON announced that the next order of business would be
the Overview: Alaska Department of Fish & Game Subsistence
Division, by Mary C. Pete, Director. [Committee members present
were Representatives Seaton, Wilson, Kott, Samuels, Guttenberg,
and Berkowitz.]
Summary of Information
MARY C. PETE, Director, Division of Subsistence, Alaska
Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G), referred to information
provided in the committee packet and explained that the
subsistence section was made into a division in 1980, is the
social science research arm of ADF&G, and is used primarily to
aid the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game to implement
the Alaska subsistence law. The division compiles existing
information on hunting and fishing from harvest records, but its
main contribution to fish and game management and subsistence is
derived from community-based studies in which socioeconomic
research is conducted. The division has been instrumental in
assisting the boards by defining subsistence needs so that
opportunities for other uses such as commercial or personal use
can be provided for, as well. Information gathered is also used
for land-use planning and development.
MS. PETE told the committee that the division is composed of 28
full-time staff, 10 seasonal staff, and approximately 60-70
subsistence monitors who work on special projects in any given
year, primarily in coastal communities. There are four field
offices and three regional offices, and the staff is composed of
either field researchers who work in the communities throughout
the state or computer and research analysts who maintain the
division's sizable databases. Subsistence research includes but
is not limited to: harvest monitoring and species-specific
studies, community profiles, collaborative research, and marine
mammal studies. Included on the distribution list for such
information are universities, resource-management agencies,
communities, and government agencies.
MS. PETE explained that since October 1999, when the federal
subsistence program began managing its fisheries, the division
has become the lead agency in coordinating the state and federal
subsistence programs. Ms. Pete referred to information in the
committee packet, "Subsistence in Alaska: A Year 2000 Update,"
and explained that in state law, there are subsistence and non-
subsistence use areas - defined in federal law as urban and
rural areas; according to the graph in Figure 1, in 1999,
Alaska's population by area was 80 percent urban and 20 percent
rural. She noted that there is a difference between state and
federal definitions of subsistence.
MS. PETE continued her presentation by responding to questions
from the committee pertaining to the same handout while
reviewing Figure 2, "Percent of Households Participating in
Subsistence Activities in Rural Areas"; Figure 3, "Composition
of Subsistence Harvest by Rural Residents"; Figure 4, "Who
Harvests Fish and Game? Resource Harvests by Use in Alaska";
Figure 5, "Wild Food Harvests in Alaska by Area, 1990s"; Figure
6, "Wild Food Harvests in Alaska: Nutritional and Replacement
Values"; and Figure 7, "Angoon Deer Harvest Areas."
MS. PETE responded to the question, "How does customary and
traditional use modify the ability of people to hunt and fish,
in a subsistence context?" by referring to eight criteria in
state regulation that help the board to determine if customary
and traditional usage is being met. Ms. Pete said that to
determine whether an area is a subsistence use area, the joint
boards ask a basic question such as, "If there were no
subsistence use, would this community still exist?" She
confirmed that it is a myth that subsistence means that anyone
living in rural Alaska "can go anywhere and do anything." Ms.
Pete mentioned that although the state does not use population
as the defining factor, the federal program has been grappling
with how to determine rural versus non-rural areas and has
determined that communities of populations of 2,500 or less are
rural, communities of 7,000 or more are non-rural, and
communities in between have no presumption, in which case,
characteristics need to be looked at to make a determination.
MS. PETE responded to a question from the committee regarding
the division's input and interaction in the permitting
processes, currently being conducted by the Division of Habitat
and Restoration. She said that if subsistence areas are
involved, the Division of Subsistence provides pertinent
information via its database. In response to a question asking
for clarification about the AIDEA [Alaska Industrial Development
and Export Authority] dividend receipts, she answered that last
year, the division received over $1 million dollars in general
funds to implement the state subsistence law, but last year the
legislature replaced the general fund monies with AIDEA monies;
she noted that "it would be great to receive the general fund
dollars again."
ANNOUNCEMENTS
There were no announcements during the overview portion.
COMMITTEE ACTION
The committee took no action during the overview portion.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 9:30
a.m.
NOTE: The meeting was recorded and handwritten log notes were
taken. A copy of the tape(s) and log notes may be obtained by
contacting the House Records Office at State Capitol, Room 3,
Juneau, Alaska 99801 (mailing address), (907) 465-2214, and
after adjournment of the second session of the Twenty-Third
Alaska State Legislature this information may be obtained by
contacting the Legislative Reference Library at (907) 465-3808.
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