Legislature(2019 - 2020)GRUENBERG 120
03/10/2020 11:00 AM House FISHERIES
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB247 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 247 | TELECONFERENCED | |
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
March 10, 2020
11:09 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Louise Stutes, Chair
Representative Bryce Edgmon
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Representative Geran Tarr
Representative Sarah Vance
Representative Mark Neuman
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Chuck Kopp
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 247
"An Act relating to the fish and game fund; establishing the
sport fishing enhancement surcharge; relating to the repeal of
the sport fishing facility surcharge; providing for an effective
date by amending the effective date of sec. 21, ch. 18, SLA
2016; and providing for an effective date."
- HEARD & HELD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: HB 247
SHORT TITLE: SPORT FISHING ENHANCEMENT SURCHARGE
SPONSOR(s): RULES BY REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR
02/12/20 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
02/12/20 (H) FSH, FIN
02/20/20 (H) FSH AT 11:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
02/20/20 (H) Heard & Held
02/20/20 (H) MINUTE(FSH)
02/27/20 (H) FSH AT 10:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
02/27/20 (H) -- MEETING CANCELED --
03/03/20 (H) FSH AT 10:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
03/03/20 (H) -- MEETING CANCELED --
03/05/20 (H) FSH AT 10:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
03/05/20 (H) -- MEETING CANCELED --
03/10/20 (H) FSH AT 11:00 AM GRUENBERG 120
WITNESS REGISTER
RON SOMERVILLE
Territorial Sportsmen
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony in support of HB 247.
FORREST BRADEN, Executive Director
Southeast Alaska Guides Organization (SEAGO)
Ketchikan, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony in support of HB 247.
DAVID LANDIS, General Manager
Southern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association (SSRAA)
Ketchikan, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Offered testimony in support of HB 247.
TOM TAUBE, Deputy Director
Division of Sport Fish
Alaska Department of Fish & Game
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Answered questions pertaining to HB 247.
ACTION NARRATIVE
11:09:20 AM
CHAIR LOUISE STUTES called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 11:09 a.m. Representatives
Stutes, Tarr, Vance, and Neuman were present at the call to
order. Representatives Edgmon, and Kreiss-Tomkins arrived as
the meeting was in progress.
HB 247-SPORT FISHING ENHANCEMENT SURCHARGE
11:10:02 AM
CHAIR STUTES announced that the only order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 247, "An Act relating to the fish and game fund;
establishing the sport fishing enhancement surcharge; relating
to the repeal of the sport fishing facility surcharge; providing
for an effective date by amending the effective date of sec. 21,
ch. 18, SLA 2016; and providing for an effective date."
11:10:43 AM
CHAIR STUTES opened public testimony on HB 247.
11:11:07 AM
RON SOMERVILLE, Territorial Sportsmen, offered testimony in
support of HB 247. He stated that he had a graph with data from
the Alaska Department of Fish & Game (ADF&G) pertaining to King
salmon, which would help him illustrate his testimony [hard copy
included in committee packet]. He said that the Territorial
Sportsmen has been in strong support of carefully controlled
enhancement programs and, as with the commercial fleet, it has
contributed as much as it can to the enhancement program. He
remarked that this program has been very successful in Southeast
Alaska and without it, personal use King salmon would be
significantly diminished. He expressed that the Territorial
Sportsmens 1,600 members in Juneau are supportive of the
proposed legislation.
MR. SOMERVILLE, referencing the graph with data from ADF&G,
stated that it is predicted that escapement in the Taku River is
going to be considerably lower than the minimum of 20,000. He
said that for six of the last eight years, escapement numbers
have been below the minimum of 20,000, and personal use of the
resource has been completely shut down. He pointed out that in
the last 12 to 14 years any harvest that has occurred has come
from the escapement, as there has not been anything above the
escapement goal throughout those years. He summarized that this
illustrates the dire situation for King salmon struggling in
streams all throughout Alaska, and added that enhancement
programs have been beneficial.
11:13:10 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR asked whether the Territorial Sportsmen
would be in general support for the proposed legislation if the
licensing fee surcharge was left in place entirely and used for
various purposes.
MR. SOMERVILLE answered that the members of the Territorial
Sportsmen had not been polled on that issue, but he thinks they
would support the reduction. He said that there was recently a
license fee increase for residents and non-residents, and he
thinks it would be a show of good faith if the $5 reduction was
kept in place. He said that was his recommendation.
11:14:14 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked Mr. Somerville whether he thinks the
proposed legislation would target any excess money that goes out
for fishery hatcheries and, when the bonds are paid off, whether
that money would go directly to a subaccount in [the Division of
Sport Fish] and the rest of the money would be used for
fisheries management and enhancement.
MR. SOMERVILLE replied that he assumes that hatcheries do not
run free of charge and some of that money would be used for the
purpose of maintenance. He expressed that the Territorial
Sportsmen supports the oversight of the legislature in how that
money is spent.
11:15:23 AM
FORREST BRADEN, Executive Director, Southeast Alaska Guides
Organization (SEAGO), offered testimony in support of HB 247
[written testimony included in the committee packet]. He stated
that the sport fleet in Southeast Alaska relies heavily on King
salmon. He explained that there is an outside and inside fleet
and hatchery enhancement production benefits both sectors, as
the fish must come through the outside to get to the inside. He
said that he has found it interesting in his research that one
out of two King salmon harvested from 2005 to 2016 by the inside
sport fisheries, which includes Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg,
and Wrangell, were of hatchery descent. He expressed that he
thinks everyone knows the importance of these fish for resident
and non-resident sport fishermen, and SEAGO supports keeping the
money from fees coming in. He said that his understanding is
that 80 percent of the funds that come in are from non-
residents, and that that is a good way to bring in money to
support the fisheries. He said that this would not only benefit
sport fisheries, as fish are shared by all fisheries, and he
said that sport fishermen feel as though they should pay our
way. He commented that SEAGO would be in support of keeping
the non-resident portion of the fee surcharge in place without a
reduction; although, he said that he understands that there is a
ratio that must be kept in place between resident and non-
resident fees. He summarized that SEAGO would be happy to see
additional funds coming toward Southeast Alaska for further
enhancement and maintenance.
11:17:42 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR observed that the written testimony
submitted by SEAGO said the same thing as Mr. Braden; it would
support an amended bill that keeps the original surcharge amount
for non-residents, with the additional revenue aimed at
increasing production and/or marking of hatchery chinook. She
asked whether SEAGO would not have a problem if the non-resident
fees were to stay the same, given that some of them were
recently increased. She expressed that she thinks guides might
be one of the most outspoken groups on the topic.
MR. BRADEN replied that he thinks there would be support for
keeping those funds in place, and it is a cost to which
customers, consumers, and visitors are accustomed. He said that
he thinks it really benefits the fishery. He added that SEAGO
is not opposed to a reduction in resident fees.
11:19:17 AM
DAVID LANDIS, General Manager, Southern Southeast Regional
Aquaculture Association (SSRAA), offered testimony in support of
HB 247. He stated that the lions share of the projected
revenue from the proposed legislation would go to the William
Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery in Anchorage, and the Ruth
Burnett Sport Fish Hatchery in Fairbanks; however, he noted that
the state owns a third sport fish hatchery, the Crystal Lake
Hatchery in Petersburg, which is operated by SSRAA. He said
that a portion of the operational funding for the Crystal Lake
Hatchery flows through the sport fish license surcharge funding,
and the remainder of the funding comes from the Dingell-Johnson
Act funding. He explained that these funds are comingled and
form the contract SSRAA has with the State of Alaska to operate
the Crystal Lake Hatchery and release King and Coho salmon in
specified locations. He noted that this funding is critical to
the operation of the Crystal Lake Hatchery.
MR LANDIS stated that this is a user pay system, which he said
he thinks is a benefit to the people who work in fisheries, as
it has the people who use the fish pay for them in some part.
He added that it might be worth considering keeping the license
surcharge fees in place as they are, to whatever degree that
would lessen the risk of a challenge on the ratio of non-
residents to residents. He summarized that SSRAA supports the
passage of HB 247, and noted that at the recent United Fishermen
of Alaska (UFA) meeting, UFA announced support of HB 247 as
well. He added that another commercial user group, the Alaska
Trollers Association, submitted a letter of support for HB 247.
11:22:15 AM
CHAIR STUTES noted, because it had been mentioned a couple of
times, that non-residents cannot be charged a fee that is not
charged to residents, although the non-resident license fee
could be increased.
11:22:40 AM
CHAIR STUTES, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 247.
CHAIR STUTES commented that on page 1, of HB 247, it is stated
that funding shall be allocated to sport fishing facilities,
and the term sport fishing facilities is rather broad. She said
that according to ADF&G, sport fishing facilities can include
things like trail renovations and access ramps. She said that
while she does support keeping the trails well maintained, it
does not directly support the health of the resource, but simply
access to it. She expressed that she would like to see the
proposed legislation tightened up to be specific to stock
enhancement and maintenance at Alaskas sport fish hatcheries,
so that funding will always benefit the resource and not simply
human access to it. She remarked that she would be interested
in hearing the committee and ADF&Gs comments on that topic.
CHAIR STUTES remarked that HB 247 proposes to reduce the $9
surcharge to $4. She remarked that she is in support of
continuing the $4 surcharge in support of the states sport fish
hatcheries, but she wondered whether the $5 that the bill
proposed to kick back could be better used for fisheries
management and research within ADF&G, particularly in light of
recent budget reductions and various challenges to the resource,
including ocean acidification, ocean and river warming, and
invasive species. She asked Tom Taube, Deputy Director at
ADF&G, what ADF&Gs thought is on leaving the $5 surcharge in
place and making it available for fisheries management and
research. She remarked that this would seem prudent to her.
11:24:55 AM
TOM TAUBE, Deputy Director, Division of Sport Fish, Alaska
Department of Fish & Game, answered questions pertaining to HB
247. He said that ADF&G would be receptive to what Chair Stutes
was proposing, but it would want to ensure that the benefits
would be to sport anglers and sport fisheries related to the
additional projects that would be funded by the full surcharge.
He remarked, referencing invasive species, that the Division of
Sport Fisheries has taken lead on much of the pike reduction in
the Mat-Su area and the Kenai Peninsula, and funds would go
toward that. He said that there are needs regarding King and
Coho salmon assessment and research on the Kenai Peninsula and
Mat-Su area, as well as for other resident species research that
could occur in Southeast Alaska and the Interior. He summarized
that ADF&G would be receptive to seeing a full fee amount but
would defer to the legislature to make that happen at this time.
11:26:18 AM
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN commented that he uses lakes where ADF&G
drops sport fish in by airplane, and there are a lot of lakes
like that that are not accessible by road that have trail
access. He said that a lot of those lakes start at different
state parks, like the Red Shirt Lake out of Nancy Lake State
Park. He said he thinks any fisheries that receive Dingell-
Jonson funds must have public access, and stock fish cannot be
put in a lake that does not have public access. He said that
there needs to be adequate access that is identified, so people
are not crossing private property to catch the fish that are
being stocked.
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN said that he noticed the proposed
legislation would also change the hunting license fees. He
noted that the title of the proposed legislation pertains to
sport fishing enhancement. He expressed that he wondered where
the legal authority is to change hunting and trapping license
fees, because the proposed legislation is about the sport
fisheries and the $9 surcharge that sport fishermen, under the
North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, are taxed to
support sport fish hatcheries. He said he is not sure how
changing hunting licenses fits in to the title of the proposed
legislation, and there might be a legal issue as to how far it
can go under the authority of the ADF&G fund.
REPRESENTATIVE NEUMAN asked why sport fish enhancement funds
would go to a hatchery, like a Pink salmon hatchery, when 98
percent of those fish are caught by commercial fishermen, in
what could be called a terminal fishery. He opined that this
is a wonderful program that is "working like it should."
11:28:49 AM
CHAIR STUTES commented that it appears the hunting and trapping
license was included in the increase in the original legislation
on that topic.
11:29:01 AM
REPRESENTATIVE VANCE thanked Representative Neuman for pointing
out the increase in licensing fees for hunting and trapping, and
said that on page 3 of the proposed legislation, the non-
resident and military fee applies to small game and sport
fishing licenses as well. She commented that if the fees were
kept in place, the original amount requested could go toward
sport fish hatcheries maintenance and operations, but the
additional amount could go to ADF&G for management and research.
She expressed that she would like an answer on the legality of
the crossover of this combined license. She noted the
feedback on the committee's intent for the money to go
specifically towards fish management and research, which she
said, "We all support," but she said that the needs of ADF&G are
great. She asked whether there is crossover management that
doesnt just affect sport fishing, that these funds could
support. She expressed that there is good in focusing funds to
specific things, but ADF&G should have the ability to utilize
the funds where there are needs that might have been overlooked.
CHAIR STUTES remarked that the proposed legislation says, an
act relating to the fish and game fund, and she said that she
would imagine that is where the hunting license portion comes
into play.
11:31:02 AM
REPRESENTATIVE TARR remarked that she likes the ideas, and she
thinks that the fee structure is currently very reasonable. She
said that as the conversation on how to maintain essential state
services progresses some of the newer ideas would take some time
to evolve into, and the proposed legislation is something that
is already operational, which she likes. She opined that HB 247
would fill an important need. She said that she thinks this is
one of the topics that all Alaskans care about, and she likes
the conversation of having more specificity in which piece of
the surcharge, if left in its entirety, would go towards stock
enhancement and maintenance of the sport fishery hatcheries.
She commented that perhaps it could be made clearer as to how
the remaining funds could be used to be as strategic as possible
in thinking about where there are gaps currently, particularly
in information and areas that need better management. She
summarized that she is supportive of keeping the fees in place,
and appreciates the input that others might add to the
conversation on how those funds might need to be specifically
used.
11:32:37 AM
CHAIR STUTES commented that according to Rachel Hanke,
Legislative Liaison for ADF&G, the change in the fees on two,
three, and four is referring to the sport fishing license
portion.
[HB 247 was held over.]
11:33:49 AM
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 11:34
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| HB 247 Support Doc - Stocking FAQ 2.19.2.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM HFSH 3/17/2020 10:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Support Doc - Surcharge Revenue Breakdown 2.12.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Transmittal Letter ver. A 2.12.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 v. 2.12.20.PDF |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Fiscal Note ADF&G 2.12.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Hearing Request Memo 2.12.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Sectional Analysis - v. A 2.12.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Support Letter ATA 3.6.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM HFSH 3/17/2020 10:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| HB 247 Support Letter SEAGO 3.8.20.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM HFSH 3/17/2020 10:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |
| Territorial Sportsmen Testimony Graph.pdf |
HFSH 3/10/2020 11:00:00 AM |
HB 247 |