Legislature(1995 - 1996)
04/22/1996 08:11 AM House RES
| Audio | Topic |
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
April 22, 1996
8:11 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Joe Green, Co-Chairman
Representative William K. "Bill" Williams, Co-Chairman
Representative Scott Ogan, Vice Chairman
Representative Alan Austerman
Representative John Davies
Representative Don Long
Representative Irene Nicholia
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Ramona Barnes
Representative Pete Kott
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
HOUSE BILL NO. 381
"An Act relating to oil and gas conservation and recovery."
- MOVED CSHB 381 (O&G) OUT OF COMMITTEE
CONFIRMATION OF GOVERNOR'S APPOINTMENTS TO THE BOARD OF FISHERIES
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 198(FIN)
"An Act establishing the Homer Airport Critical Habitat Area."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 199(FIN)
"An Act relating to environmental audits and health and safety
audits to determine compliance with certain laws, permits, and
regulations."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
HOUSE BILL NO. 516
"An Act relating to air quality control."
- SCHEDULED BUT NOT HEARD
PREVIOUS ACTION
BILL: HB 381
SHORT TITLE: OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION & RECOVERY
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) GREEN,B.Davis
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
12/29/95 2366 (H) PREFILE RELEASED
01/08/96 2366 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/08/96 2366 (H) OIL & GAS, RESOURCES
03/26/96 (H) O&G AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 124
03/26/96 (H) MINUTE(O&G)
04/16/96 (H) O&G AT 10:00 AM CAPITOL 124
04/17/96 3815 (H) O&G RPT CS(O&G) 3DP 1DNP 3NR
04/17/96 3815 (H) DP: OGAN, B.DAVIS, WILLIAMS
04/17/96 3815 (H) NR: BRICE, G.DAVIS, ROKEBERG
04/17/96 3815 (H) 2 ZERO FISCAL NOTES (ADM, DNR)
04/22/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
BILL: SB 198
SHORT TITLE: HOMER AIRPORT CRITICAL HAB. AREA
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) TORGERSON; REPRESENTATIVE(S) Navarre
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/05/96 2058 (S) PREFILE RELEASED - 1/5/95
01/08/96 2058 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/08/96 2058 (S) RES, FIN
02/21/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
02/21/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/01/96 (S) RES AT 11:30 AM BUTROVICH RM 205
03/01/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/13/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
03/14/96 2735 (S) RES RPT CS 3DP 2NR SAME TITLE
03/22/96 2831 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE TO CS (DNR)
03/28/96 (S) FIN AT 8:30 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
03/28/96 2939 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTE TO CS (F&G)
03/28/96 2939 (S) FIN RPT CS 3DP 1NR SAME TITLE
03/29/96 (S) RLS AT 12:05 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203
03/29/96 (S) MINUTE(RLS)
03/29/96 2964 (S) FORTHCOMING CS RECEIVED
03/28/96 2939 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FNS
04/01/96 2993 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR 4/1/96
04/01/96 2995 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
04/01/96 2995 (S) FIN CS ADOPTED UNAN CONSENT
04/01/96 2995 (S) ADVANCED TO THIRD READING UNAN CONSENT
04/01/96 2995 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 198(FIN)
04/01/96 2995 (S) PASSED Y19 N1
04/01/96 2995 (S) Adams NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION
04/02/96 3028 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING
04/02/96 3028 (S) PASSED ON RECONSIDERATION Y20 N-
04/02/96 3030 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
04/03/96 3615 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
04/03/96 3615 (H) RESOURCES, FINANCE
04/03/96 3629 (H) CROSS SPONSOR(S): NAVARRE
04/22/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
BILL: SB 199
SHORT TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL & HEALTH/SAFETY AUDITS
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) LEMAN,Pearce
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/05/96 2058 (S) PREFILE RELEASED - 1/5/96
01/08/96 2058 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/08/96 2058 (S) RESOURCES
01/31/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
01/31/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/02/96 2287 (S) FIN REFERRAL ADDED
03/06/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
03/06/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/11/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
03/11/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/12/96 2708 (S) RES RPT CS 4DP 1NR NEW TITLE
03/12/96 2708 (S) FISCAL NOTES TO SB & CS (DEC, F&G)
03/12/96 2708 (S) INDETERMINATE FISCAL NOTE (DNR)
03/12/96 2708 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTES TO SB & CS (DOT, MVA)
03/20/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
03/26/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/02/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/03/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/03/96 (S) RLS AT 1:15 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203
04/03/96 3041 (S) FIN RPT CS 1DP 4NR 1AM NEW TITLE
04/03/96 3041 (S) FNS TO CS (DEC, DNR)
04/03/96 3041 (S) ZERO FN TO CS (DOT)
04/03/96 3041 (S) PREVIOUS FN (F&G)
04/03/96 3041 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN (DMVA)
04/09/96 3092 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR & 1NR 4/9/96
04/09/96 3094 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
04/09/96 3094 (S) FIN CS ADOPTED Y11 N5 E4
04/09/96 3095 (S) ADVANCE TO THIRD READING FLD Y11 N5 E4
04/09/96 3095 (S) THIRD READING 4/10 CALENDAR
04/10/96 3128 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 199(FIN)
04/10/96 3128 (S) PASSED Y11 N9
04/10/96 3128 (S) SALO NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION
04/11/96 3161 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING
04/11/96 3161 (S) PLACED AT BOTTOM OF CALENDAR
04/11/96 3171 (S) PASSED Y11 N9
04/11/96 3176 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
04/12/96 3689 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
04/12/96 3690 (H) RESOURCES, LABOR & COMMERCE
04/17/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
04/17/96 (H) L&C AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 17
04/19/96 (H) L&C AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 17
04/22/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
BILL: SB 199
SHORT TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL & HEALTH/SAFETY AUDITS
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) LEMAN,Pearce
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
01/05/96 2058 (S) PREFILE RELEASED - 1/5/96
01/08/96 2058 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
01/08/96 2058 (S) RESOURCES
01/31/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
01/31/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
02/02/96 2287 (S) FIN REFERRAL ADDED
03/06/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
03/06/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/11/96 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH ROOM 205
03/11/96 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/12/96 2708 (S) RES RPT CS 4DP 1NR NEW TITLE
03/12/96 2708 (S) FISCAL NOTES TO SB & CS (DEC, F&G)
03/12/96 2708 (S) INDETERMINATE FISCAL NOTE (DNR)
03/12/96 2708 (S) ZERO FISCAL NOTES TO SB & CS (DOT, MVA)
03/20/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
03/26/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/02/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/03/96 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/03/96 (S) RLS AT 1:15 PM FAHRENKAMP RM 203
04/03/96 3041 (S) FIN RPT CS 1DP 4NR 1AM NEW TITLE
04/03/96 3041 (S) FNS TO CS (DEC, DNR)
04/03/96 3041 (S) ZERO FN TO CS (DOT)
04/03/96 3041 (S) PREVIOUS FN (F&G)
04/03/96 3041 (S) PREVIOUS ZERO FN (DMVA)
04/09/96 3092 (S) RULES TO CALENDAR & 1NR 4/9/96
04/09/96 3094 (S) READ THE SECOND TIME
04/09/96 3094 (S) FIN CS ADOPTED Y11 N5 E4
04/09/96 3095 (S) ADVANCE TO THIRD READING FLD Y11 N5 E4
04/09/96 3095 (S) THIRD READING 4/10 CALENDAR
04/10/96 3128 (S) READ THE THIRD TIME CSSB 199(FIN)
04/10/96 3128 (S) PASSED Y11 N9
04/10/96 3128 (S) SALO NOTICE OF RECONSIDERATION
04/11/96 3161 (S) RECON TAKEN UP - IN THIRD READING
04/11/96 3161 (S) PLACED AT BOTTOM OF CALENDAR
04/11/96 3171 (S) PASSED Y11 N9
04/11/96 3176 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
04/12/96 3689 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
04/12/96 3690 (H) RESOURCES, LABOR & COMMERCE
04/17/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
04/17/96 (H) L&C AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 17
04/19/96 (H) L&C AT 3:00 PM CAPITOL 17
04/22/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
BILL: HB 516
SHORT TITLE: AIR QUALITY PROGRAM AMENDMENTS
SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVE(S) GREEN
JRN-DATE JRN-PG ACTION
02/12/96 2729 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S)
02/12/96 2729 (H) RESOURCES, FINANCE
04/17/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
04/22/96 (H) RES AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
JEFF LOGAN, Legislative Aide
to Representative Green
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol, Room 24
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-4931
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on HB 381
GRANT J. MILLER
P.O. Box 2456
Sitka, Alaska 99833
Telephone: (907) 747-5982
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Board of Fisheries
VIRGIL L. UMPHENOUR
2400 Davis Road
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Telephone: (907) 456-3885
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Board of Fisheries
DAN KELLY COFFEY
207 East Northern Lights Boulevard, Number 200
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Telephone: (907) 274-3385
POSITION STATEMENT: Appointee to the Board of Fisheries
CHRIS PERRY
P.O. Box 1808
Homer, Alaska 99603
Telephone: (907) 235-6069
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey and Mr.
Umphenour
ART NELSON, Fisheries Biologist
Bering Sea Fishermen Association
725 Christensen Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99501
Telephone: (907) 279-6519
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
ROBERT SUNDOWN, Fisheries Biologist
Association of Village Council Presidents
P.O. Box 219
Bethel, Alaska 99559
Telephone: (907) 543-3521
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
MYRON NANENG, President
Association of Village Council Presidents
P.O. Box 219
Bethel, Alaska 99559
Telephone: (907) 543-3521
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
JACOB OLANNA, SR.
Kawerak, Incorporated
P.O. Box 948
Nome, Alaska 99762
Telephone: (907) 443-4728
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
ROY ASHENFELTER, Subistence Fisherman
Kawerak, Incorporated
P.O. Box 948
Nome, Alaska 99762
Telephone: (907) 443-4324
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
JACOB AHWINONA, Subsistence Fisherman
Kawerak, Incorporated
P.O. Box 746
Nome, Alaska 99762
Telephone: (907) 443-5702
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
JOHN CHILDS, Commercial Fisherman and Sportsfishing Guide
2091 Yellow Snow Road
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
Telephone: (907) 455-6028
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
BILL HENRY
1081 Duck Pond Road
North Pole, Alaska 99705
Telephone: (907) 488-6800
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
GARY HULL, Sportsfish Guide
P.O. Box 1964
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-5661
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
TYLAND VAN LIER, Sportsfish Guide
P.O. Box 2357
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-1521
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
RHON LYONS, Sportsfish Guide
P.O. Box 731
Sterling, Alaska 99672
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
JOHN EFTA
P.O. Box 353
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Telephone: (907) 283-5899
POSITION STATEMENT: Opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
BEN ELLIS, Executive Director
Kenai River Sport Fishing Association
P.O. Box 1228
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-8088
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
DOUG SWEAT
11516 Gilliam Way
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Telephone: (907) 455-8810
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
MIKE WING, Commercial Fisherman
P.O. Box 55122
North Pole, Alaska 99705
Telephone: (907) 488-2757
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
LAURA AMUNDSON
590 Gold Mine Trail
Fairbanks, Alaska 99712
Telephone: (907) 457-7191
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
testified on the appointment of Mr. Coffey
DICK BOWER, Member
Board of Fisheries
P.O. Box 3662
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-7132
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the appointments of Mr.
Umphenour, Mr. Coffey and Mr. Miller
JOE HARDY, Representative
Local SPARIC Chapter
Kenai, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-9981
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
JOE HANES, President
Kenai River Guides Association
P.O. Box 3132
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-6388
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
BRAD ADAMS
P.O. Box 994
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-1961
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
GILBERT HUNTINGTON, Co-Chair
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association
P.O. Box 264
Galena, Alaska 99741
Telephone: (907) 656-1435
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Miller, Opposed the appointment of Mr.
Coffey
RICHARD BURNMAN, Subsistence and Commercial Fisherman
Kaltag, Alaska
Telephone: (907) 534-2203
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
JOE HAGER, Sport fish Guide
P.O. Box 11
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-1575
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
RON KANDAS
P.O. Box 2744
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-1961
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
CHARLIE DREW, Sport fisherman
P.O. Box 3132
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-6388
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Coffey,
Testified on the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
DALE BONDURANT
HC1 bOX 1197
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-0818
POSITION STATEMENT: Testified on the Confirmation Process
DREW SPARLIN
37010 Cannery Road
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Telephone: (907) 283-4095
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Miller
Opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey
IRENE FANDEL, Business Owner
702 Lawton Drive
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Telephone: (907) 283-4501
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
HENRY FANDEL, Business Owner and Sportsfish Guide
702 Lawton Drive
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Telephone: (907) 283-4501
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
BILL WHITNEY
HC3 Box 5762
Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Telephone: (907) 262-2535
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and
Mr. Coffey
PAUL DALE, President
Salmon Producers Alliance
P.O. Box 2725
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Telephone: (907) 776-5342
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Miller and
Testified on the appointment of Mr. Umphenour
JERRY McCUNE, Lobbyist
United Fishermen of Alaska
211 4th Street, Number 122
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 586-2820
POSITION STATEMENT: Supported the appointment of Mr. Miller
Opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey and
Testified on Mr. Umphenour
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-61, SIDE A
Number 0000
CO-CHAIR JOE GREEN called the House Standing Committee on Resources
to order at 8:11 a.m. Members present at the call to order
included Austerman, Long, Ogan, Williams and Green. A quorum was
present. This meeting was teleconferenced to Anchorage, Fairbanks,
Bethel, Homer, Kenai, Sitka, Kodiak, Nome and various offnet sites.
CO-CHAIR GREEN announced that the agenda would include HB 381,
Governor's Appointment to the Board of Fisheries, SB 199, SB 198
and HB 516 if time allowed.
HB 381 - OIL AND GAS CONSERVATION & RECOVERY
Number 0061
CO-CHAIR GREEN announced that the first item on the agenda was HB
381, an act relating to oil and gas conservation and recovery.
JEFF LOGAN, Legislative Aide to Representative Green, was first to
testify. He read the sponsor statement into the record, "HB 381
clarified that the powers of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission (AOGCC) to prevent waste, protect correlative rights and
realize ultimate recovery on all state land lawfully subject to its
police powers prevails over a contrary decision by the DNR.
AS 31.05.027 states very clearly that, `The authority of the
commission applies to all land in the state lawfully subject to its
police powers.' However, recently the administration has raised
the specter of overlapping jurisdiction."
MR. LOGAN referred to the document titled, "Decision Regarding
Jurisdiction," located in the committee packet and continued
reading the statement, "We believe that a clear, concise line of
authority from the legislature to the independent agency, the oil
and gas commission, is important for the development of our
hydrocarbon resources."
Number 0177
REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN asked for a section by section
analysis on HB 381.
MR. LOGAN said the first section of HB 381 does exactly as the
language states, it allows the AOGCC to modify determination or
action by the commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) except for 38.05.180, subsections (p), (q) and (u). He said
Section 1 does not allow the AOGCC to modify subsection (j), which
was HB 207, passed last year, allowing the commissioner of DNR to
change royalty rates.
Number 0266
CO-CHAIR GREEN said the other sections of HB 381 have to do with
unitization, which is a prerogative of DNR as opposed to the AOGCC.
He said HB 381 says, where concessions or agreements have been
reached with DNR because the leases being on state property, if
there is a jurisdictional dispute which includes conservation or
correlative rights, the two prime functions of the AOGCC, the AOGCC
would have authority. He said in other states with subsurface
mineral rights there is a continuing need to prevent waste of the
reservoir and protect correlative rights. He said in all the
boundaries, except for the Kenai Moose Range and the potential
Northstar unit, the mineral rights are kept by the state of Alaska.
He said, in the future, there are possibilities for Native
ownership or federal ownership of subsurface mineral rights. He
said HB 381 just makes a stronger statement about what is already
in state law.
Number 0400
CO-CHAIR BILL WILLIAMS made a motion to "move CSHB 381
(indiscernible) with individual recommendations." Hearing no
objections CSHB 381 was moved from the House Standing Committee on
Resources.
GOVERNOR'S APPT. TO BOARD OF FISHERIES
Number 0433
CO-CHAIR GREEN announced the next item on the agenda was the
Confirmation of Grant Miller to the Board of Fisheries.
Number 0460
GRANT J. MILLER, said he was 49 years old, lived in Sitka and had
been a commercial fisherman for 30 years. He said his wife and two
sons have been in the commercial fish business and have fished
together since coming to Alaska in 1977. He said his sons grew up
on the boat and the family has spent their lives fishing in Alaska
and has dedicated their efforts to Alaska and its resources.
MR. MILLER said he has participated in power trolling in the
Southeast Alaska salmon troll fisheries since 1977. Three years
ago, he began seining, currently his primary income, to obtain
salmon in Southeast Alaska. He said he has experience in many
different fisheries on the East Coast, participating in bottom
dragging, scallop fishing, fish traps, and inshore and offshore
lobster fishing. He said, in California, he fished for anchovy and
herring with a power seine and began salmon trolling there. He
said he herring gillnetted in California as well as herring
gillnetting in Alaska from Kah Shakes to Norton Sound. He said he
operated a herring bait pound in Sitka as well as longlining for
Halibut. He said he currently does this with the trolling and the
seining boats.
Number 0590
MR. MILLER said he has a Merchant Marine license of up to 1,600
tons. He said he has spent a great deal of his life in Alaska
dedicated to the resources of the state. He served on the Northern
Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association Board for ten years and
was president for eight years. He served on the Sitka Committee on
Alcohol and Other Drugs, the Sitka Committee on Fisheries, is a
member of the Seafood Producers Co-op Board of Directors and a
member of United Fishermen of Alaska. He said he has an extensive
background in fisheries and felt he could contribute to the
decision making process. He said he fully supports the Board of
Fisheries process and that is the reason why he put his name in to
be on this board. He said he would like to see the process
strengthened, that although it has done a great job so far, there
is room for improvement.
Representatives Davies and Nicholia joined the committee at 9:25
a.m.
Number 0654
REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN said, over the last few weeks,
questions have been raised about Mr. Miller's residency status in
the state of Alaska. He said people have said Mr. Miller does not
own a home in Alaska, but owns a home in the state of Washington
and that both of his sons graduated from high school in Washington
high schools within the past few years. He asked Mr. Miller to
clarify his residency.
Number 0693
MR. MILLER said he has been a resident in the state of Alaska since
1984, owning two homes in the state as well as a couple of other
lots. He said he owns a piece of property in Vashon, Washington
which he invested in "because we have no retirement in our fishery,
it seems like a good thing to do." He said his family has been in
the process of building a house on his Vashon property. He said,
on family vacations, they spend time in that house working on it as
it is not yet finished.
Number 0765
MR. MILLER said, in regards to his children, his oldest son
graduated from a high school in Sitka. He said his youngest son,
when he was 18 years old, chose to finish his senior year and
graduate from Vashon High School in order to play baseball and
receive educational options not available in Sitka. He said his
youngest son did graduate from a high school in the state of
Washington while he remained in Alaska. He said he dedicated his
life to Alaska, its resources and its communities. He said he owns
property in Alaska and pays quite a bit of property taxes in the
city of Sitka.
Number 0797
REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT OGAN clarified that his son graduated from a
high school located in the state of Washington and then asked how
many months he spent in the state of Alaska during that year.
Number 0840
MR. MILLER said he spent 9.5 to 10 months in the state of Alaska.
He said, during his vacation, work was done on the house and boat
in the state of Washington. During that vacation, his son decided
to stay and finish high school. He said his family came back to
the state of Alaska to continue their life and business while his
son stayed in the state of Washington because he was 18 years old
and Mr. Miller said he respected his decision. He said his
youngest son did join the family for the Alaskan salmon season.
Number 0882
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked if he received the permanent fund dividend
(PFD).
Number 0890
MR. MILLER said he and his family has received PFDs since 1984.
Number 0902
CO-CHAIR GREEN referred to his comment about spending 9.5 to 10
months in the state of Alaska, and asked him if this was a
representative number. He asked if his absence has caused any
problems with attendance to the Board of Fisheries meetings.
Number 0936
MR. MILLER said his absence, over the last two years, were a little
longer than normal because of bringing his sein boat south to redo
the refrigeration system and, last year, to rebuild the fish hold.
He said it was impossible to do those things in Sitka, as a result
over two months were spent down south. The family returned to
Alaska during the first part of February.
Number 0977
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said doing this boat work is standard
practice for commercial fishermen because of the limited facilities
in the state of Alaska.
Number 0987
MR. MILLER agreed and said it depends on the work involved. He
said the rebuilding of the fish hold required a great deal of
fiberglass work and the spraying of foam and there was no facility
for that type of work here in the state. He said he made an
attempt to do some of the refrigeration work in Alaska, but was
unsuccessful, so the work was done down south.
Number 1022
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said, in the past, it had been standard
practice to take boats south to be worked on, but the Seward
shipbuilding facility has been built up and a lot of boats are now
going there to have work done. He said Southeast fishermen have a
problem with the distance required to take their boats to Seward.
Number 1045
CO-CHAIR GREEN referred to a recent Board of Fisheries meeting and
said Mr. Miller had put a motion forward limiting power boats on
the Kenai River when most of the audience had left. He asked Mr.
Miller to comment on this.
Number 1076
MR. MILLER said it was suggested to him, after a contentious
meeting, to put a "feel good" proposal on the table so that
everyone could feel good about the meeting and he did so. He said,
everyone was exhausted at the end of the meeting, no one wanted to
address the proposal. He said his intention of bringing the
proposal to the floor was upon a suggestion and he had no idea that
it would create a problem.
Number 1117
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked him to describe the proposal.
Number 1124
MR. MILLER said he believed it was a proposal to limit a section of
the Kenai River to drift-boat-only fishing. He said there had been
discussions on power boats and said the Board of Fisheries has some
concern about power boats. He said the proposal wasn't discussed
as to the ramifications and Mr. Miller reiterated that it was
raised because it was something the entire board could agree on.
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked if he was still in favor of the proposal.
Number 1173
MR. MILLER said he could not say whether or not he was in favor of
the proposal. He said would like to get input and discussion on
the proposal and added that he did not know enough about the
ramifications.
Number 1182
CO-CHAIR GREEN clarified that Mr. Miller submitted this proposal
and now he is not so sure he can support it.
Number 1190
MR. MILLER said he submitted the proposal was because he was told
it was a proposal that everyone would agree on and the board could
walk away feeling good. He said he did not scrutinize it, study
it, have conversations about what it might mean, or what the
ramifications of the proposal might be. He said he did not propose
the proposal, he only moved to bring it to the floor for reasons
other than what the content of the proposal was. He said it was
probably a mistake on his part being a new board member, if he had
known it was going to be a contentious item he would not have done
it.
Number 1226
CO-CHAIR GREEN said he proposed HJR 51 in an effort to try to
curtail the number of sport fishermen on the Kenai River in concern
for the degradation over fishing. He asked Mr. Miller for his
input on HJR 51.
Number 1252
MR. MILLER said he felt the resources of this state should
primarily be for the residents of this state. He said when there
is an abundance of a resource, we can share that resource, but when
there is a conservation problem or when the resource is limited
there should be some control on the non-resident users. He said,
regarding the issue of allocation, the problem comes from an
expanding user group which he would identify as the guided sport
fishing group because every other user group is limited in some way
or another. He said the resident sport effort has remained
constant over the past few years and does not seem to be the
problem. The problem is the growing use of the resource by guided
sport, particularly non-resident people, and without a control the
state could jeopardize not only the resource but other users in the
commercial fishing industry.
Number 1317
CO-CHAIR GREEN said Governor Knowles' Transition Team on Fisheries
has recommended that the Board of Fisheries be split in order to
create a Board of Shellfish as either a subgroup or equal group to
the Board of Fisheries and asked Mr. Miller if he had any feeling
on whether or not this was a good idea.
Number 1333
MR. MILLER said a more economical method might be used to
streamline this board process to make it more efficient. He said
he would like to see an improved advisory board and have the
advisory board, possibly by statute, receive representation from
all user groups within their areas. He said he would like to see
the proposals, which come before the Board of Fisheries, go through
the advisory committee process. He said those committees are in
place and having them review the proposals before they go to the
board would eliminate a lot of proposals or would combine
proposals. He said the advisory committees can offer
recommendations, which would ultimately reduce the number of
proposals coming before the board in a given year. He said, when
you have a situation where anyone can sit down and write a proposal
or three or four or five proposals, submit those proposals without
any support, you end up with a large number of proposals before the
board which creates a burden. He said the Board of Fisheries is
getting to the point where they are feeling this burden.
Number 1402
CO-CHAIR GREEN referred to the F.I.S.H. initiative petition which
had been signed and will be on the ballot and said he is concerned
over the need to resort to a petition to allocate fish. He asked
if it was a system failure and, if so, who failed.
Number 1425
MR. MILLER said he felt it was probably as much a sign of the times
as any failure on the part of the system. He said when a resource
becomes limited, is reduced in any way or a user group grows, there
are going to be users usurping other users to achieve a bigger
piece. He said when these users are not satisfied, or don't get a
bigger share through the process we have, people tend to resort to
the legal system or to initiatives. He said it is his hope that
the board process can be strengthened and make it work to prevent
petitions, initiatives or litigation.
Number 1471
CO-CHAIR GREEN said it appeared from what Mr. Miller said that if
there was an allocation problem, the Board of Fisheries should
handle it, rather than have the issue go to an initiative petition
or to the legislature. He asked why it has taken an initiative
petition to resolve this allocation issue and why the Board of
Fisheries hadn't resolved this issue sooner.
Number 1540
MR. MILLER said, at times when issues appear unresolvable, other
approaches can be taken such as arbitration which had been
previously used on this issue. He said if the involved parties
could sit down and identify specific areas to address, maybe a task
force could be selected, of scientists, to develop data to make a
better decision. He said, it is always a difficult issue, when you
come to allocation and someone has to give up something and other
people don't feel that they are getting their full share. He said
he does not believe the allocation issue will be resolved until the
state gets control over an expanding user group.
Number 1584
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked him if he would want yet another study and to
fix this problem legislatively.
MR. MILLER agreed that there are a lot of studies, but said studies
need to have a focus and that focus might change from year to year.
He said he was suggesting that if you have a scientific focus on a
particular aspect of the problem then you might get an answer. He
said he is not able to give a clear answer because it is not a
issue which allows a simple answer. He said, through the board
process, any improvement that can be achieved can come to a
resolution, but reiterated that this will be a tough issue.
Number 1621
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN DAVIES asked him what aspects of the board
process would he want strengthened and how those aspects would
assist in the allocation issues.
Number 1633
MR. MILLER said he would like to strengthen the advisory committee
portion of this process. He said a lot of these issues, rather
than being heard before the whole board, could be resolved, or at
least some consensus achieved with a majority vote coming out of
each region through the advisory committee. He said most issues
could be heard at this level and then the advisory committee could
make their recommendations to the Board of Fisheries in order to
save time, address the issues themselves and hopefully come up with
a solution at that level. He said a strengthened advisory
committee process would allow the Board of Fisheries to address the
serious issues.
Number 1675
CO-CHAIR GREEN, "is there any problem with any member of the
committee for moving Mr. Miller's name on. Hearing none."
CONFIRMATION OF VIRGIL L. UMPHENOUR TO THE BOARD OF FISHERIES
Number 1714
MR. VIRGIL L. UMPHENOUR said he moved to Alaska in 1971 after
returning from Vietnam. He said he has been involved in hunting
and fishing all of his life. He spent time up in Nome as an
officer of the Alaska National Guard and was executive officer for
the first scout battalion in Nome and his last assignment, before
retirement, was as intelligence officer for the Scouts in the
state, all the way from Ketchikan to Kotzebue and Barrow. He said
he spent time in the rural areas, been a high powered rifle
competitor and, as such, he has had a lot of association with
sporting groups. He said he has an understanding of what the needs
of the people in the state are regarding fisheries.
MR. UMPHENOUR filed a limited entry permit in 1984 for a fish wheel
in the upper Yukon River and in 1985 he started a small, processing
business. He said he has a plant in North Pole and one in
Fairbanks which does value added processing, buying fish from
primarily the upper Yukon River districts. He also processes
personal use and poor caught fish. He said he helped organize the
Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association and was Co-Chair until
he was appointed to the Board of Fisheries two years ago. He
served on the Yukon River Salmon Treaty Negotiations since 1989.
He said, being on the Board of Fisheries, means you deal with a lot
of contentious issues and said board members are needed who have an
understanding of all the fisheries in the state, not just a
regional understanding, and said this is why he thought he should
remain on the Board of Fisheries.
Number 1831
REPRESENTATIVE IRENE NICHOLIA said Mr. Umphenour has the backing of
the sport, commercial and subsistence fishery user group. She said
as a board member it is impossible to make everyone happy, but said
he has worked hard to make fair decisions backed up by hours of
work on his part. She asked him to explain the role of sustained
yield and conservation in his decision making as a board member and
how should these two management principles affect allocation of the
state of Alaska's fishery resource.
Number 1875
MR. UMPHENOUR said sustained yield is mandated by the constitution
of the state of Alaska. He said the delegates spend a lot of time
on this subject and said that, sometimes, sustained yield can be
defined scientifically such as with timber or agricultural
resources. He said fish and game resources are much harder to
define and said there is no definition in the state constitution
regarding sustained yield, so he described his definition of
sustained yield in fisheries as being enough fish for return to the
spawning grounds, this definition adheres mostly to salmon, so that
after those fish spawn the life cycle will produce enough fish so
that all consumptive human users will get their average historical
share of those fish, plus enough fish on the spawning grounds to
perpetuate fish runs into the future.
Number 1949
MR. UMPHENOUR said the state needs to conserve the resource and
said conservation fits in with the sustained yield part of his
answer. He said, as a Board of Fisheries member, you must decide
what is the most important; conservation of the resource or
consumptive uses. He said, at times, you are going to have to cut
the consumptive uses and the Board of Fisheries has stopped
consumptive uses to conserve the resource. He said the sustained
yield and the conservation aspect work hand in hand.
Number 1987
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked him if there was enough escapement into the
various rivers and tributaries for sport fishing and renewal of the
resource or would an imposition be required on commercial
fishermen.
Number 2002
MR. UMPHENOUR said no, he did not say that. He said, when he
referred to consumptive users, he meant commercial fishing,
personal use fishing, sport fishing and subsistence use fishing.
He said, a lot of times, the personal use, sport and subsistence
fishing is one and the same. He said a lot of people feed their
family using sport fish equipment and under a sport fish license.
He said, when we are conserving the resource and identifying the
priorities in allocation, the sport fish and the commercial fish
allocation are on equal footings. He said, in his mind the
personal use fish would come next with the subsistence fish having
the highest priority of all.
Number 2046
CO-CHAIR GREEN said there is a conflict occurring between the
Alaska constitution and the federal government on allocation and
asked if he had an opinion on this issue.
Number 2057
MR. UMPHENOUR said the main controversy is whether or not rural
residents should have priority over urban residents. He said both
the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game have made seasons in
areas, at times when it would be very difficult for urban people to
participate. He said most people are not going to spend a thousand
dollars to catch a few salmon. He said, generally, he does not
favor federal management of the state's resources and said the
state can do other things such as setting up seasons and bag limits
which will give the rural people some type of preference.
Number 2129
CO-CHAIR GREEN said the state of Alaska has had a problem with
allocation for a number of years and asked him if he had a
suggestion as to why the state needed to resort to a petition or
legislative impetus because the problem could not be resolved, as
it should be, by the Board of Fisheries.
Number 2162
MR. UMPHENOUR said the problem of allocation can be resolved by the
Board of Fisheries. He said one of the problems the Board of
Fisheries had was that the people, who do not have a lot of money,
do not get as much input into the process as the people who have a
lot of money. He said the wealthier interests have paid attorneys
and paid lobbyist who work full time and lobby very heavily at
board meetings. He said the people who are just trying to get fish
to feed their family do not have that money, cannot travel great
distances and spend up to 15 days at meetings. He said because of
the system, many times of the subsistence users and sport users are
at a definite disadvantage and so it is incumbent on the board
members to try to see through to the issues.
MR. UMPHENOUR said some of the organizations go so far as to hire
the head of the School of Fisheries in the state of Washington as
well as professors and attorneys from the state of Washington to
lobby their interest. He said scientific reports and all types of
things are brought forth to confuse the board members. He said a
board member has to see through the system to see what money buys
and see what the credibility is.
Number 2339
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said there is a perceived notion that Mr.
Umphenour has a strong bias in reference to Area M and the Yukon
Kuskokwim delta. In the House Special Committee on Fisheries, Mr.
Umphenour made a reference to Colonel Glass's statement, from the
Department of Public safety, that there was a lot of chum chucking
going on in the Area M fisheries. Since then Representative
Austerman read some articles, which had interviews with Colonel
Glass in reference to the investigation of the chum chucking in the
Area M, where they could not prove that any chum chucking had
occurred. He said maybe one or two cases were found where fish
were thrown overboard, but the investigation did not find anything.
He asked Mr. Umphenhour to clarify the statement he made at the
previous meeting.
Number 2387
MR. UMPHENOUR said Colonel Glass, in his report, had said that chum
salmon were frequently, "released," and he reported this to the
Board of Fisheries and its members. Colonel Glass said there was
no way to know whether the fish lived or died. He said, when fish
are caught in a gillnet, the odds of them surviving are 1 percent.
When the fish are caught in a purse seine and hauled up on deck,
then grabbed by the tail and hauled overboard the fish survival
rate is probably less than 10 percent. He said, when the state
troopers conducted their investigation in the south peninsula
fishery last year, they ran their regular trooper vessels and
compared this situation with parking a state trooper car with its
big lights next to a stop sign to see how many people will run the
stop sign. He said fishermen from Area M are sick of some
fishermen throwing hundreds of thousands of chums overboard. He
said he could supply the committee with a letter that estimates
that, in 1994, fishermen chucked 2 million chums overboard.
Number 2359
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES referred to the rural versus urban issue and
said that a majority of subsistence users are in the rural areas.
He asked if there was anyway to discuss this issue without using
strict urban versus rural geographic boundaries.
Number 2384
MR. UMPHENOUR said the Tier 2 system gives him a great amount of
problems, because it is easily superseded by stretching the truth
when filling out the application system such as for caribou hunting
in Unit 13. He said it is really hard to answer this question
because of his association with a large number of people from rural
areas and said the resource can only take so much pressure.
Number 2424
MR. UMPHENOUR said at the Board of Game meeting, earlier this month
in Fairbanks, they made fee proposals and department proposals
relating to moose hunting in the middle Yukon area. He said you
need to declare whether you are going to be a general hunter, a
sport hunter or a subsistence hunter. If you were going to be a
sport hunter then there were going to be (indiscernible)
restrictions on you, if you were going to be a subsistence hunter
then other restrictions were placed on you and said this seemed to
be one of the best ways to solve the problem in that area. He
said, in regards to the entire state...
TAPE 96-61, SIDE B
Number 0000
MR. UMPHENOUR, "it is going to be up to the Board of Fisheries and
the Board of Game to decide."
Number 0012
REPRESENTATIVE DON LONG referred to the comment that he would like
to see the state manage its wildlife fish resources and said it
appeared to him that to equally distribute fisheries throughout the
state a constitutional amendment would be needed.
Number 0037
MR. UMPHENOUR said he did not think a constitutional amendment was
needed to distribute the fisheries in a fair manner. He said, in
recent years, the fish prices have dramatically dropped and a lot
of commercial fishermen have had to catch two or three times as
much fish to maintain their lifestyle and said the resource cannot
handle that. He said the biggest problem is that the fish are not
marketed properly. He said chum and pink salmon should be
incorporated into the federal supply system.
Number 0161
REPRESENTATIVE NICHOLIA asked him to explain his action on the crab
fishery in Area M.
Number 0168
MR. UMPHENOUR said the Board of Fisheries identified statewide crab
fishing. He said there were experimental deep water fisheries
occurring in the peninsula, in the Aleutian Islands areas, and the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) wanted to put a crab pot
limit so that a vessel would only have so many pots. He said the
fear was that those large vessels, primarily from Washington state
area, have over a thousand pots as the vessels have in the king
crab fishery off Adak and the there was a need to prevent huge
harvesting in order to gather scientific data and prevent over
fishing in those crab fisheries. He mentioned that crab fisheries
were closed all over the state.
MR. UMPHENOUR said most of the smaller vessel fishermen, who tend
to be from Kodiak and Area M, are limit seiner type of vessels, up
to 58 feet long. He said these vessels cannot use these large 7 by
7 pots, their hydraulic gear won't lift them because they are
longlined which means a whole bunch of pots are put on one big line
because they might be fishing in 600 fathoms of water. When asking
the ADFG the catch differences between the large pots and the
smaller pots such as the limit seiners could use, the ADFG said the
smaller pots have an average catch of 12 to 15 crabs per pot, in
the large pots they can catch 70 to 80 crabs per pot. He said
three or four hours was spent trying to figure out this problem,
and the Department gave a definition of a small pot and a large pot
and he had discussions with seiners who said to use a definition of
a pot that is five feet square. He said he amended the proposal
that the Department put in, so that the fishermen using the small
pots in Area M would get twice as many pots as the large pot
people.
Number 0292
CO-CHAIR GREEN referred to HJR 51 which would limit the number of
sport guide fishing licenses issued in the Kenai River and asked
him if this resolution had the potential to reduce the number of
guides on rivers to prevent a potential reduction in habitat.
Number 0320
MR. UMPHENOUR said he has been involved quite heavily in this issue
and clarified that he is a hunting guide. He said in discussions
with sport fish guides across the state the easiest way to resolve
the problem would be to pass a statute similar to the statute
pertaining to the experience requirements of registered hunting
guides. He said, before a person is eligible to take the test to
become a registered hunting guide, they have to have five years of
hunting experience in the state of Alaska. He said he has talked
with the Attorney General's office about this issue and said a
statute would prevent non-residents from coming to Alaska and
declaring themselves a sport fish guide. He said there are ethics
issues involved with these non-residents starting up guiding
operations in the state. He said the statute proposal he has
suggested would not stop a person if they really wanted to move to
Alaska and become a sport fish guide. He said this proposal should
not be grandfathered in, if they don't have the five years
experience, tough luck, they can't guide in the state.
Number 0381
MR. UMPHENOUR said he has a problem with alien sport fish guides
and lodgers. He said there are at least 12 to 15 alien sport fish
lodges in the upper Susitna system and there was a problem, the
year before last, of a sport fish guide from the Netherlands who
ended up drowning. He said this issue is one of safety and
conservation. He said placing a moratorium or totally limiting new
sport fish guides denies residents in the state from being able to
be a guide.
Number 0435
CO-CHAIR GREEN said, "Is there any objection, from the committee,
of moving Mr. Umphenour's nomination. Thank you very much."
CONFIRMATION OF DAN KELLY COFFEY TO THE BOARD OF FISHERIES
MR. COFFEY said he is a 49 year Alaska resident with three young
sons who live with him in Anchorage. He is an attorney and a
businessman. Over the years he has been both a commercial and a
sport fisherman. He said his commercial interest started in the
late 1960s and continued until the late 1980s. He said on his last
venture in commercial fishing he owned an 80 foot halibut longline
vessel and fished out of Kodiak.
Number 0537
MR. COFFEY said, in his law practice, he has represented commercial
fisherman, commercial fish processors as well as sport fishing
interests. This experience relates to crabbing, to shore
fisheries, to lease permits and to game infractions. He served on
previous boards including the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
for three years, recently he was Vice-Chair on the Governor's Task
Force for Charitable Gaming and served on the Alaska State Bar
Association Peer Arbitration Panel for about 12 years.
Number 0599
MR. COFFEY said he brings to the Board of Fisheries the following
attributes, in his 20 years as an attorney, he has learned how to
handle volumes of paperwork, deal with difficult issues and to make
decisions. He said he is willing to work very hard on the board
and said anyone, who has seen the last three board meetings, would
attest to his willingness to work even if they have not agreed with
the decisions he has made. He said he has read the constitution on
fisheries, read the statutes, the regulations, the case law and
everything he could to make himself prepared to be a board member.
He said he did this because some of the other board members have
much greater experience in fisheries than he has. He wanted to
stress his ability to listen and his long-term and abiding interest
in Alaska's welfare. He has lived in Alaska all of his life and
intends to live here the rest of his life, raising his family. He
said he believes it is crucial that all fisheries remain viable
including sport, subsistence, commercial, personal use, et cetera.
He said he is not afraid to make decisions and he said the Board of
Fisheries is faced with tough decisions which can be unpleasant,
but this is the duty of the board and he is not afraid to make
those decisions.
MR. COFFEY said, when Governor Knowles asked him to serve, he was
asked to try to do the best he could to make the board process work
and to strengthen the board. He said he would adhere to that
request and said he was here to tell the committee that he will do
this.
Number 0613
CO-CHAIR BILL WILLIAMS said he served on the board of F.I.S.H.,
Incorporated which sponsored the initiative to increase the
allocation of salmon to sport fishermen. He said Mr. Coffey's
resume states, "I have no preconceived notions about what should or
should not be done." and the resume also states, "I do not
represent any special interests." He asked Mr. Coffey to explain
exactly how he divested himself from the preconceived notion that
sport fishermen should have an increased allocation of salmon prior
to accepting the position on the Board of Fisheries.
Number 0640
MR. COFFEY said, when he put in his name for the Board of
Fisheries, he resigned from the board of F.I.S.H. in December of
1995, turning over all the books and records sometime in January of
1996. He said it was brought to his attention that he had remained
as the registered agent, the person who receives the official
process if the board of F.I.S.H. was sued, and said he immediately
took steps to correct that situation. He the F.I.S.H. Initiative
was predicated on a sense of frustration that the Board of
Fisheries process was not working in a proper manner and was not
addressing issues between sport and commercial fisherman. He said
the initiative was a desire to rectify, what was deemed, a short
fall of the Board of Fisheries. He said when he became involved
with the Board of Fisheries, and saw the nature of the
responsibilities which the board had, the wealth of information and
the deeply divided nature of the people who are seeking to use the
resource, he recognized the need to make decisions based on the
criteria which the Board of Fisheries has established over a long
period of time.
Number 0754
MR. COFFEY cited an example, in 1977, where the Board of Fisheries
adopted a policy which became regulation, in 1981, called the Upper
Cook Inlet Salmon Management Plan. He said that plan, basically,
divides the fishery into time and species segments. He said it led
to the frustration felt by the board of F.I.S.H., expressed in
their initiative as part of the question of how the Board of
Fisheries process has either worked or failed to work. He said, to
this day, despite some efforts at this meeting in February, some of
the sub-issues, on that plan which has been in effect for 18 years,
have still not been addressed. He said these issues remain for the
Board of Fisheries to resolve. He said the F.I.S.H. initiative was
done to force compliance and resolve.
MR. COFFEY said, from his current perspective, it is too bad that
an initiative was resorted to, but at the time it was felt to be an
appropriate way to resolve the issues. He said the F.I.S.H.
initiative was intiated around the time the Governor's Task Force
was appointed to mediate the Board of Fisheries process. He said,
to a small degree, he participated in that mediation process. He
found many of the participants in the process where very willing to
sit down and discuss their differences, but that some were
absolutely adamant that there was nothing to discuss and nothing to
do. He viewed the intransigence, of some people, as unfortunate in
the circumstances and that it left the Board of Fisheries to make
decisions which might be best left to those who participate in the
fishery. He said if those people are unwilling to come to the
table and negotiate, then the Board of Fisheries will have to make
those decisions.
Number 0792
CO-CHAIR WILLIAMS said he did not hear the answer of how he
divested himself from the initiative, but said he would not go into
that further. He said it appears that Mr. Coffey had a long term
relationship with Bob Penney, who paid for the expenses of the
F.I.S.H. initiative, and asked him to comment on this relationship
and how he disclosed this during the ethics disclosure for the
Board of Fisheries.
Number 0811
MR. COFFEY said he has known Mr. Penney for a long time, somewhere
around 18 to 22 years. He said, two or three years ago, he was a
guest at his place and had gone fishing with him on the Kenai
River. He said he saw Mr. Penney at political functions over the
years, been to his home in Anchorage three or four times mostly at
political fundraisers.
Number 0891
MR. COFFEY said he has done legal work for the sport fishing caucus
which was charged with an Alaska Public Office Commission (APOC)
violation in 1994. He said Bob Penney, Phil Cutler, Bruce Knowles
were all active in that caucus and said that as he represented the
sport fishing caucus, he represented those members as well. He
said he believed this matter was concluded in 1995, but when this
issue was revived, in 1996, he received a letter from the APOC and
he turned the matter over to another attorney. He said he has not
represented Mr. Penney personally, but did some legal research for
a company at the request of his son, Henry Penney, in 1995 relating
to APOC matters.
Number 0907
CO-CHAIR WILLIAMS asked him how he felt about the subsistence issue
and how it affects the Area M fisheries and how would he like to
see it resolved.
Number 0927
MR. COFFEY said he would like to see it end. He said the
subsistence issue is very divisive to Alaskans and is leading to
something which Alaska wanted to avoid. He said upon statehood we
wanted state control over natural resources. He said we are losing
that control to the federal government. He said the federal
government is taking over subsistence isues all over the state as
well as on its own lands. He said people, who have more hours
wrestling with this issue, have not come up with a solution. He
said, he would hope, a solution could be derived which would
preserve the subsistence lifestyle with those who are dependent on
subsistence, but said he does not know how to do this.
MR. COFFEY said Lieutenant Governor Ulmer and Governor Knowles have
an extensive proposal which was the result of compromise by all
involved parties. He said it has been his experience as a lawyer
that if you can get all the involved parties to give a little you
can reach a decision. He said, to the extent that he understands
it, that is the situation and he supports what they are trying to
do.
CO-CHAIR WILLIAMS asked how he felt about the Area M fisheries
which is supposedly affecting subsistence.
MR. COFFEY said the Board of Fisheries was told that a judge in
Nome had closed a fishery and the rest of the board and the
Attorney General's office felt the board needed to have a meeting
in response to the judge's decision. He said the board felt they
should limit themselves to what they undertook and took limited
testimony, allowed written comments, comments from the advisory
committees and reports from the staff. Upon reading that
information, the board was asked to meet for two to three days, two
weeks ago, and deliberate.
MR. COFFEY said questions needed to be resolved such as whether or
not the Area M fishery should be opened and whether or not Judge
Erlich's injunction, closing that entire fishery, should continue.
Another question was whether or not the chum salmon moving through
Area M were of such quantity and so closely related to the chum
salmon in Norton Sound that you could draw a direct correlation
between what was going on in Area M and what may or may not happen
in Norton Sound. He said the two pieces of scientific evidence
were genetic and tagging studies and the evidence indicated to four
of the six board members, including him, that the affect of the
Area M fishery on Nome was around 5 percent.
MR. COFFEY said, on the basis of that fact, it seemed inappropriate
to close an entire fishery down, impacting several hundred families
in the Aleutian area, to achieve a possible 5 percent gain in chum
salmon escapement in Norton Sound. He said this fact plus the fact
that the last couple of years have seen great improvements in the
quantity of chum salmon in Norton Sound and this years prediction
of an average return, led him to conclude that it would be wise to
have the fishery in June in Area M and it would be imprudent to
take the steps to satisfy the judge so that the injunction could be
lifted.
Number 1114
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES referred to the F.I.S.H. initiative, and
asked whether or not he believed that the frustration leading to
the initiative was a result of the failure of the Board of
Fisheries to act or make "the wrong decision" in regard to
allocation.
MR. COFFEY said it was his belief that the initiative was a result
of a failure on the part of the Board of Fisheries to act and that
the current board has addressed and will continue to address the
issues that "arise up from under its own plan."
Number 1202
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES asked him what he proposed to change in the
Board of Fisheries process to address those issues.
Number 1217
MR. COFFEY said, when he was put on the Board of Fisheries, the
first thing the board did, after listening to public testimony, was
to develop a set of guiding principles and criteria which will
determine how the board is going to make decisions. He said the
board spent a day and a half going over these principles and
adopted seven guiding principles, which will be adopted into
regulation, setting forth the guidelines by which the Board of
Fisheries address these issues. He said the board went from what
the board calls the "umbrella plan" which is the 1977, 1981 Upper
Cook Inlet Salmon Management Plan and is in the process of adopting
"subplans" which deal with each species in the major plan.
MR. COFFEY said the major plan divides the season before July 1,
and after August 15, and said the before and after dates are
reserved, primarily, for sport fisherman and the middle period is
reserved, primarily, for commercial fishermen. He said, within
those plans, there are instructions to minimize the catch of king
salmon during the commercial period. He said the board needs to
develop plans for each one of those subsets and the board is
currently in the process of doing that. He said once those plans
are in place with the guiding principles then there will be
instructions for this Board of Fisheries and any board which comes
along in the future regarding difficult allocation issues.
MR. COFFEY said the fisheries are fully utilized, particularly in
Cook Inlet, and there is a growing sport and recreational demand.
He said the Board of Fisheries does not take these facts into
consideration, to abdicated the decision making process. He said
the guiding principles will help the board to consistently take the
facts, which generally everyone agrees on, and apply them in
clearly defined ways and then present the decision to the public.
Number 1372
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked for clarification that this issue was being
addressed on a single species problem, rather than dealing with the
issue on a mixed stocks basis.
Number 1388
MR. COFFEY said the board has a mixed stock policy and said all of
the salmon fisheries are, to some degree, mixed stock because the
salmon all return at relatively the same time. He said the board
is trying to get away from this strong stock management which
completely ignores weak stocks to the detriment of all stock. He
said, in Cook Inlet, the board has been driven by the Kenai sockeye
which has produced an extremely valuable fishery worth preserving
and protecting. He said, while the board is working on this issue,
they must also recognize that as a result of some of the past
policies the board almost ruined commercial fisheries in the
northern district. Only recently, in the Susistina River, has the
sockeye escapement been met. He said the board has no idea what is
happening to northern district coho, chum or pink salmon stocks and
attention must be paid to these less strong fish stocks. He
questioned what burdens should be placed on what fishermen at what
time to insure the protection and preservation of their industry,
while preserving and protecting the weaker stocks in different
districts. He said these are not easy issues, but they are issues
that need to be resolved through the Board of Fisheries process.
Number 1491
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked if there will be a need for further studies
when examining these weaker stocks.
Number 1516
MR. COFFEY said it depends on the fishery. He said Cook Inlet,
particularly the Kenai River, has plenty of data to make decisions.
The biologists can tell the board where the fish runs are and
provide 20 years of run timing. He said the Area M and the Yukon
Kuskokwim district only have generalized information regarding the
salmon fisheries. He said the crab fishery in the Bering Sea,
primarily Bristol Bay, has tons of data. He said in western Alaska
there is an absence of data. He said some fisheries have plenty of
data and the board doesn't need any more than the ongoing seasonal
information and said other fisheries could use a lot more data to
assist the board in making decisions.
Number 1584
CO-CHAIR WILLIAMS clarified that Mr. Coffey believes sport fishing
is growing in Alaska and asked how many sport fishermen are Alaskan
residents and how many are non-residents. He asked where this
growth was occurring and how he felt about resident versus non-
resident fishermen.
Number 1625
MR. COFFEY said he believes that Alaskans should have first
opportunity at their fish. He said the data that was presented to
the Board of Fisheries indicated two things; one that there is an
absolute growing population of non-resident sport fishermen in
Alaska, while the number of licenses by Alaskan residents is
growing proportional to the population. He believed that the
overall level of participation by residents is greater. He said
the terms sport and personal use fishery can be interchanged, he
asked if a personal use dip net fishery on the Kenai was a sport
license or a subsistence license and said these uses are difficult
to put into categories.
MR. COFFEY said he believed that the sport fishery is growing,
primarily in the non-resident population and that the resident
sport fishery, if you combine it with the personal use, is
certainly growing.
Number 1705
CO-CHAIR WILLIAMS clarified that he served on the board of
F.I.S.H., responsible for the F.I.S.H. initiative to increase the
number of salmon to sport fishermen. He asked how that initiative
would affect the commercial fishermen and other fisheries
throughout Alaska, Southeast fisheries in particular.
Number 1745
MR. COFFEY said he could not answer this question with great
specificity. He said the F.I.S.H. initiative was intended to
establish a guideline for board decisions which would recognize
that sport fishing needs and entitled the sport fishery to a
portion of the fish. He said the initiative was drafted in a way
to have statewide application, because you are not allowed to draft
an initiative that is regional. He said the initiative was
primarily directed at the Cook Inlet, at the perceived
misallocation of fish there. He said he would not know the affect
of the initiative on Southeast, but the initiative would have
statewide application and a direct affect on fisheries throughout
the state where there is a sport and commercial conflict.
Number 1810
CO-CHAIR WILLIAMS clarified that the initiative would increase the
sport fisheries up to 5 percent and asked what this increase would
mean, for example, to the king salmon fishery in Southeast.
Number 1852
MR. COFFEY said the affect would depend on the stock that you are
addressing. He said the initiative is not meant to replace
conservation needs or treaty needs, and suggested that Southeast
received an allocation of 100,000 king salmon, theoretically, 5,000
of those would be allocated to sport fishing concerns.
Number 1913
CO-CHAIR GREEN referred to the ongoing problem of allocation
between sport and commercial fisheries and asked him to give his
opinion on HJR 51, "which limit the number of sportguide licenses
issued for the Kenai area..what is your opinion of that...is that
...you think a practical solution for habitat, perhaps for river
bank erosions and things like that."
Number 1978
MR. COFFEY said there are a lot of tools in the bag and this is one
such tool. He said HJR 51, as described, is appropriate, but he
wouldn't just limit the resolution to the Kenai River. He said the
state needs to control sport fish guides. The problem of
controlling guiding has to do with the definition. He said the
definition of commercial fishermen, in statute, specifically
excludes guided sport. So any legislation that regulates sport
fish guides by limited entry, through the Board of Fisheries,
through statute or by some other manner is appropriate. He said he
has not read HJR 51, but he supports the concept.
Number 2042
CO-CHAIR GREEN asked if he felt certain rivers should have limited
access because, even if the west side of Cook Inlet could be opened
to relieve pressure, the increasing number of sport fish licenses
would eventually lead to a situation similar to the current
situation. He asked if there was a legal ability or desire for
limited access, red or blue tags for example, and would it be a
practical situation.
Number 2096
MR. COFFEY said all of those alternatives should be explored. He
said there is intensified pressure on the salmon milling and
spawning grounds. He said, he has a belief, that once those
creatures make it past the miles of net and the sport fishing
lures, the salmon ought to be free to spawn. He said there should
not be damage to the salmon habitat, or high power boats running up
and down the rivers, no fishing should be allowed on spawning beds,
non-resident and aliens should not be able to fish without
knowledge or respect for the resources and regulations. He said
every member of the Board of Fisheries supports those types of
things and searchs for ways to accomplish them, but the Board of
Fisheries has found themselves hamstrung.
Number 2189
REPRESENTATIVE DAVIES asked him, with all the commitments he had,
how he had time to be on the Board of Fisheries. He said he
appreciated the contributions that people on the Board of Fisheries
make in terms of time and effort.
Number 2223
MR. COFFEY said he works hard, makes the time and allocates it
appropriately. He said there are people who are involved in their
community and the state to a degree which makes the opinion they
have not as important as the commitment they have made. He said he
feels he has to be an active participant in his state's business
and to make a difference in the place where he lives.
Number 2332
REPRESENTATIVE NICHOLIA referred to Genetic Stock Investigation
(GSI) studies and said the ADFG is still conducting GSI studies on
salmon stocks in Alaska which is important when conducting a mixed
stock fishery and asked what his position was when making
allocation decisions in a mixed stock fishery where one or more of
the river systems was facing conservation problems and GSI
information is not yet complete. She asked him how he would make
allocation decisions in this case and how the burden of
conservation would be spread fairly among mixed stock fisheries and
terminal stream users in the absence of adequate GSI information.
Number 2402
MR. COFFEY said the mixed stock policy requires that the burden of
conservation be shared when there are conservation concerns. He
said when the case of the Area M fishery was decided, in Judge
Erlich's decision, the Board of Fisheries looked at the burden of
conservation imposed, both on the people who lived in the Norton
Sound area, particularly the Nome subdistrict and the Golovin
subdistricts, and the burden imposed on the Area M fishermen
because Area M is a mixed stock fishery.
MR. COFFEY said the GSI data, one of two scientific studies...
TAPE 96-62, SIDE A
Number 0000
MR. COFFEY...the Yukon River or Norton Sound and said there were a
large number of places where the salmon were going. He said the
GSI studies told the board that some 60 percent of those fish were
bound for four huge areas. He said, if this is true, how big is
Norton Sound relative to the Kuskokwim relative to the Yukon
relative to Bristol Bay and said, without being scientifically
certain, decisions can be based on the GSI studies. He said
calculations can be made, concluding that 5 percent to 10 percent
of the fish are bound for Norton Sound.
MR. COFFEY said, based on this calculation, the Nome subdistrict is
one of six subdistricts in Norton Sound including Unalakleet, St.
Michael, Shatoolik, Stevens Village and those places are getting
sufficient chum salmon, but Nome is not getting enough chum. He
questioned if it was because of an intercept from Area M or if it
was caused from something else. He said the book, Pacific Salmon,
says that certainly some of the migratory routes of the salmon
bound for Norton Sound come through Area M, but a large part of the
salmon migrate from western Alaska toward Russia and Japan and
never go to Norton Sound. He said when you get all the data,
including the tagging study, you derive a decision based on that
data.
MR. COFFEY said the Nome River is not producing properly and has
conservation problems in eight rivers in the Nome and Golovin
District. In four of those rivers have made their escapement goal
in the last two years and three of those rivers have admitted
conservation concerns. He said the Nome district continues to
allow subsistence fishing to occur. He said, when everything is
balanced out, the Board of Fisheries decision allowed the Area M
fishery to open.
Number 0258
MR. COFFEY said, in 1997, Area M comes up in its regular cycle and
further GSI studies will be available to allow the Board of
Fisheries to treat the issue with the full scope that it deserves,
rather than being forced to respond because some judge in Nome
closed an entire fishery.
Number 0294
REPRESENTATIVE NICHOLIA said there should be subsistence fishing
due to the rural location and the expense of food. She said if
four out of eight rivers are having problems in the Norton Sound
area and asked about a reduction in the harvested amount.
Number 0341
MR. COFFEY said he disagreed that these rivers were in deep
trouble. He said biologist, using highly inaccurate aerial
surveys, concluded that the rivers did not meet their escapement
goal. He said questions have been raised about these conclusions.
He said the only proposal made, by John White, was to reduce the
chum cap from 700,000 to 500,000 and given the management practices
of the ADFG would result in a catch of chum in the range of 400,000
because of the conservative management policy. He said the last
three years resulted in a chum catch of less than 600,000 and said
it was unclear whether reducing the cap would have improved the
escapement into Norton Sound, specifically into those rivers. He
said if he believed there were conservation concerns to the point
where shutting down a fishery would result in the recovery of
another fishery, then he would be constitutionally and statutorily
bound to shut down that other fishery. He said he did not believe
this was the case when he reviewed the Area M and Norton Sound
evidence.
Number 0459
MR. COFFEY said the amount of subsistence fish for Norton Sound,
22,000 chums, set in 1993 by the Board of Fisheries was met in 1994
and doubled in 1995. He said the subsistence needs for Norton
Sound chum salmon were met.
Number 0493
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN referred to the statements Mr. Coffey made
about fisheries and by-catch, he referred to an article he read
about the king by-catch by the troll fleet out in the Bering Sea
where, in 1995, the figures were 19,000 plus king salmon caught
and, in 1996, there were over 43,000 king salmon caught by the
draggers and asked him if the Board of Fisheries looked at the
numbers of the drag fleet.
Number 0543
MR. COFFEY said they do, and said he specifically asked a question
about the troll by-catch of salmon bound for Norton Sound. He said
he was told that, and said he was unclear of the year, in 1993
there were substantial amounts of fish which caused concern in the
North Pacific Fisheries Council circles and they took steps to
reduce the by-catch. He was told that the troll by-catch was
reduced. He said the Board of Fisheries needs to take into
consideration all of those things such as high seas intercept, road
systems which follow the river and lack of enforcement which would
affect the escapement goal. He said the Board of Fisheries meeting
was designed to see if the Area M fishery would be opened at all.
He said the Board of Fisheries operates a three year cycle and said
Area M has been considered every six months since 1986.
Number 0640
CO-CHAIR GREEN said he would now go to public testimony.
CHRIS PERRY testified next via teleconference from Homer in
opposition to the appointment of Mr. Coffey and Mr. Umphenour to
the Board of Fisheries. He said he is concerned about unbiased
votes, that the issue is management of a resource rather than
allocation of fish to sport or commercial fishermen. He expressed
concern that the resource be put before personal interest. He said
he his primarily concerned about the Cook Inlet area, but said this
concern applies to other areas of the state.
MR. PERRY said he did not understand how Mr. Coffey could have
supported the F.I.S.H. initiative as a management tool for a state
resource and how Mr. Coffey could now become a voting member on the
Board of Fisheries. He said the appointments were untimely
considering the issues raised at the last Board of Fisheries
meeting. He said he was opposed to the votes cast at these
meetings.
Number 0781
MR. PERRY referred to a comment made by Mr. Umphenour relating to
aliens fishing in our streams and said he would consider a paying
or non-paying tourist or sport user from the Lower 48 as an alien
user of Alaskan resources. He did not feel that the state
resources should be allocated towards the use by residents of the
Lower 48, either through sport or guided sport use. He said money
towards these sport fish coalitions has come from other areas
besides the local area which is affected. He said on the East
Coast many fisheries were shut down because of sport fish
coalitions paid for by money from other areas of the country.
Number 0850
ART NELSON, Fisheries Biologist, Bering Sea Fishermen Association,
testified next via teleconference from Anchorage. He said his
association represent commercial fishermen from Bristol Bay to the
Yukon Kuskokwim delta, Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound. He said
the board of directors met last night and unanimously voted to
support the confirmation of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of
Fisheries. Mr. Umphenour fairly represents fisheries all across
Alaska, is one of the hardest working members on the Board of
Fisheries and makes a fair and equitable decision regarding each
fishery. Mr. Umphenour understands the small boat fisheries of the
Yukon Kuskokwim region and the importance to their rural economies
and understands the importance of subsistence and larger commercial
fisheries.
Number 0928
ROBERT SUNDOWN, Fisheries Biologist, Association of Village Council
Presidents, testified next via teleconference from Bethel. He said
ABCT, Incorporated serves 54 Yukon delta villages. He said he
wanted to voice his support for the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to
the Board of Fisheries because of his involvement in communities
and various fisheries throughout the Yukon and the Fairbanks
region. Mr. Umphenour has his own business, supports the economy
of both the Fairbanks and the Yukon region and is a hard working
Board of Fisheries member. He continued by saying that Mr.
Umphenour is knowledgeable of the issues, is an ardent supporter of
the state constitution requiring sustained yield and is a fighter
for the subsistence mandate as dictated by state laws.
MR. SUNDOWN said he wanted to oppose the appointment of Mr. Coffey.
He said Mr. Coffey has made some erroneous decisions regarding the
chum cap. He referred to Mr. Coffey's testimony about the 5
percent chum return to Norton Sound and Mr. Sundown said Mr. Coffey
got that information erroneously from the Doug Acker's (ph.)
Harvestry Study. He said this study was completely withdraw by the
ADFG for the Board of Fisheries meeting and added that Mr. Coffey
knew that this information was withdrawn from consideration. Mr.
Sundown said that Mr. Coffey has ignored the state constitution
requiring sustained yield, he has ignored the state law requiring
subsistence priority and he has ignored the fact that Norton Sound
stocks are completely in trouble. He referred to Mr. Coffey's
testimony where he explained the issue was not due to biological
problems within the Norton stocks and Mr. Sundown. He said the
ADFG has defined conservation stocks as a chronic inability to make
escapement despite the (indiscernible) management action. He said
those are the reasons why he opposes the appointment of Mr. Coffey
to the Board of Fisheries.
Number 1089
MYRON NANENG, President, Association of Village Council Presidents,
testified next via teleconference from Bethel. He said the
association represents 56 villages on the Yukon Kuskokwim delta and
the association supports the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the
Board of Fisheries. He said Mr. Umphenour has shown concern for
the resource, sustained yield and his record on the Board of
Fisheries speaks for itself.
Number 1133
MR. NANENG said the association opposed the appointment of Mr.
Coffey. He referred to Mr. Coffey's statement about rivers meeting
their escapement goal of stocks from last year and the year before,
or for four years prior to that, and asked the committee to
remember 1993 when fisheries were closed on the Yukon, Kuskokwim,
as well as the Norton Sound for the last ten years in some of the
streams. Mr. Coffey's explanations made it sound like 300
commercial fishermen in Area M are more important than the 30,000
citizens in the Yukon Kuskokwim delta. He said of those 300
fishermen almost half of them are non-residents of Alaska.
Number 1180
MR. NANENG said if the F.I.S.H. initiative passes, the only
alternative that the association has is to look at getting an
Endangered Species status for some of the stocks that have not been
showing up on some of the river systems in Norton Sound. He said
he would not be surprised if the fisheries are closed on the Yukon
or Kuskokwim and said the blame for this can be placed on special
interest decisions.
Number 1201
JACOB OLANNA, SR., Kawerak, Incorporated, testified next via
teleconference from Nome. He said Kawerak represents 20 villages
in the region and supports the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the
Board of Fisheries because of his support of subsistence issues and
the region's chum fishery. He said Kawerak opposes the appointment
of Mr. Coffey to the Board of Fisheries because recently he wrote
findings which stated that both fisheries, Area M and Norton Sound,
were important to the economy of their respective region, but that
due to the size and composition the Area M fishery it was more
important to the economy of the state. He said it is difficult to
convince someone in Nuck, who has a fishing cap, that their fishery
is less important and it is for this reason that Kawerak opposes
the appointment of Mr. Coffey.
Number 1287
ROY ASHENFELTER, Kawerak, testified next via teleconference from
Nome. He said he was a subsistence fisherman from Fish River and
has attended the Board of Fisheries meetings several times over the
past three years as a advisory committee member and would
personally like to support Mr. Umphenour. He said Mr. Umphenour is
candid and straightforward and supports the conservation of
sustained yield and backs up this support by asking the Board of
Fisheries to reduce the chum cap to try to limit, but not stop, the
Area M fishery while Norton Sound continues to have their fishery
closed.
Number 1333
MR. ASHENFELTER said he opposed the confirmation of Mr. Coffey. He
referred to Mr. Coffey's testimony which said that several
fisheries in Norton Sound have met escapement goals and Mr.
Ashenfelter said the escapement goals might have been met, but said
the rivers are closed to fishing until the fish are in the river.
He said Norton Sound is two to three weeks behind in fishing and
said Area M fished for 18 days straight without any closed fishing.
He said, in certain rivers, fisheries have been closed for eight
years and said there is still conservation and sustained yield. He
concluded that Norton Sound only wants a fair, equitable
opportunity to fish.
Number 1374
JACOB AHWINONA, Kawerak, subsistence fisherman and (indiscernible),
testified next via teleconference from Nome. He said he supported
the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries because
of his support for Norton Sound and the proposed chum cap for Area
M.
Number 1432
MR. AHWINONA said he opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey to the
Board of Fisheries because of his lack of support for Norton Sound.
He said he did not believe that the salmon went to Japan, Russia
and then to Norton Sound.
Number 1477
JOHN CHILDS, commercial fisherman and sports fishing guide,
testified next via teleconference from Fairbanks. He supported the
appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries because he
did a good job and represented interior Alaska. He said Mr.
Umphenour's experience as a commercial fisherman and fish processor
gives him the knowledge to make informed decisions concerning the
management of fish.
BILL HENRY testified next via teleconference from Fairbanks and
supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of
Fisheries. He asked the committee to look at Mr. Umphenour's
record.
Number 1536
GARY HULL, Sports Fish Guide, testified next via teleconference
from Kenai and supported both the appointments of Mr. Coffey and
Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries. He said their attitude
and fairness to sport and commercial fishing interests is
refreshing. He said, in the past, the Board of Fisheries has had
too much commercial interest and it is time to level the playing
field. He asked the committee to not hold being a lawyer against
Mr. Coffey and said the decisions he made were not made alone.
Number 1571
TYLAND VAN LIER, Sport fish Guide, testified next via
teleconference from Kenai and supported the appointment of Mr.
Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries because of his support for all
areas of the state, not just one area. He also supported Mr.
Coffey to the Board of Fisheries and asked that he be given a
chance.
Number 1594
RHON LYONS, Sport fish Guide, testified next via teleconference
from Kenai and supported the appointments of both Mr. Coffey and
Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries because of the degree of
objectivity they have shown when listening to the ADFG and public
testimony, they will allocate resources and provide justification
for their actions. He said both Mr. Coffey and Mr. Umphenour are
representative of the public in general. He cited Mr. Umphenour's
experience on the Board of Fisheries which will add strength to the
board. He said Mr. Coffey and Mr. Umphenour have outdoor
experience and a strong ability to listen and sort out the facts
the opinions of specific interest groups as well as exhibiting
common sense.
Number 1639
JOHN EFTA testified next via teleconference from Kenai and opposed
the appointment of Mr. Coffey to the Board of Fisheries. He said
it appears that Mr. Coffey did not believe in the system because of
his involvement in the F.I.S.H. initiative. He said the initiative
process was done to circumvent the system and support the board of
F.I.S.H. position. He questioned how an unbiased opinion could be
achieved by a chameleon who serves as a legislator, lawyer, judge
and jury.
Number 1674
BEN ELLIS, Executive Director, Kenai River Sport Fishing
Association, testified next via teleconference from Anchorage. He
said the association is a non-profit sport fishing group based in
Soldotna and supports the appointment of Mr. Coffey and Mr.
Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries. He said both of these men
will meet the challenges the fisheries face. He said members on
the Board of Fisheries are needed who will act to protect the
resources, provide non-commercial users the constitutional rights
and then after these committements have been met allow for
responsible commercial harvests. He said the association might not
agree with Mr. Coffey or Mr. Umphenour's decisions, but when
listening to their reasoning it is hard to fault these two men who
bring perspective from the south central and the interior regions
of Alaska.
MR. ELLIS said Mr. Coffey drew praise at last monthes Board of
Fisheries hearing on Cook Inlet from Paul Ruesch the commercial
fisheries regional biologist in ADFG. Mr. Ruesch said he gained a
tremendous respect for Mr. Coffey because of the questions he asked
and his willingness to learn. Mr. Ellis said those two qualities
are the two things that you can ask from a Board of Fisheries
member. He said Mr. Umphenour has shown that he is a qualified
individual who places the importance of the resource first and his
record provided a reappointment because the Governor said, "He has
not finished his mission." He asked that the committee allow Mr.
Umphenour to complete this mission.
MR. ELLIS said this is a critical time for the Board of Fisheries
and must be comprised of members who will respond to sound
biological principles, understand public sentiment and be able to
undertake experimental, adaptive points of view in deciding salmon
management plans. He said Mr. Coffey and Mr. Umphenour know what
need to be done and the association asks the committee to give them
a chance.
Number 1795
DOUG SWEAT testified next via teleconference from Fairbanks and
supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of
Fisheries. He said Mr. Umphenour is knowledgeable about western
Alaska and interior Alaska fishery problems and the Board of
Fisheries has needed this knowledge for a long time and will lead
to a unification of Alaskan fishery issues.
Number 1817
MR. SWEAT opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey to the Board of
Fisheries despite the appreciation for his hard work and
dedication. He said he is troubled with Mr. Coffey's perception
that Norton Sound fisheries are unimportant.
Number 1844
CO-CHAIR GREEN referred to Pat and Mike Wing and asked that unless
they had different testimony, only one of them testify.
MIKE WING, Commercial Fisherman and Operator, sport fishing charter
boat, testified next via teleconference from Fairbanks and said
that he and Patti generally have the same opinion on most things so
he would speak on her behalf. He supported the appointment of Mr.
Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries because of the respect he has
for him and that Mr. Umphenour will do what is best for the limited
resource within the state of Alaska.
Number 1881
LAURA AMUNDSON testified next via teleconference from Fairbanks and
supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of
Fisheries. Mr. Umphenour has a lot of good input which supports
the fishing interest of the Norton Sound area and the interior.
"And I also Dan Coffey."
Number 1912
DICK BOWER, Member, Board of Fisheries testified next via
teleconference from Kenai and said under normal circumstances he
would not be testifying on a confirmation hearing. He said the
situation this year is similar to when he was confirmed two years
ago. He said he would not testify on behalf of Mr. Umphenour
because of his record should be sufficient to draw conclusions on
his performance. He said both Mr. Miller's and Mr. Coffey's votes
should be viewed in the respect that the last two meetings of the
Board of Fisheries were, perhaps, the most contentious. He said,
in his opinion, at the recent Board of Fisheries meetings they have
both asked critical questions, sought to draw out answers or data
by which the rest of the board members might be influenced in
connection with decisions that were being made.
MR. BOWER said Mr. Miller raised many issues relating specifically
to his knowledge of the fishery and this knowledge served the board
when the issues regarded methods, means and other things.
Number 2000
MR. BOWER said the Board of Fisheries is very involved with things
which makes Mr. Coffey's background useful.
Number 2012
JOE HARDY, Representing Local SPARIC Chapter, testified next via
teleconference from Kenai and supported the appointments of Mr.
Coffey and Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries. He said the
they will provide a balance in the composition of the board. He
said a diversity of backgrounds are needed from which the members
draw their decisions, not just special interest. He said many hard
decisions have been made and will continue to be made which require
an open mind, an ability to assimilate the data and to compromise.
He said both Mr. Coffey and Mr. Umphenour have a sport fishing
background which provides diversity to the board and their
perspectives have benefited from the Board of Fisheries' decision.
He attended the Cook Inlet meetings this winter and said Mr.
Umphenour and Mr. Coffey did a good job.
Number 2055
MR. HARDY said he particularly supported Mr. Coffey's appointment
to the Board of Fisheries because it will give the board's
decisions a high degree of credibility to the sport fishing
community and that Mr. Coffey will also balance the needs of
commercial and sport fishing interests and the needs of the
resource.
Number 2066
JOE HANES, President, Kenai River Guides Association, testified
next via teleconference from Kenai. He said the association has
approximately 175 members and strongly supports Mr. Umphenour's
efforts. He said Mr. Umphenour works hard, does and excellent job
and tries to find out the real facts.
MR. HANES said the association strongly supports Mr. Coffey in all
of his efforts and said he has never seen a new Board of Fisheries
member who has worked as hard and asked as many questions as Mr.
Coffey has. He said Mr. Coffey has achieved knowledge over the
last three or four months and said it would be a shame to have to
start over with a new board member. He referred to Mr. Bower's
concern over basing decisions over one or two votes, and reiterated
that Mr. Coffey has had some tough decisions which he did not make
solely on his own, but with the majority of the Board of Fisheries
members. He said sport fishing guides and commercial fishermen
have been on the Board of Fisheries and now is the time to have a
sport fisherman on the board who is not biased. He said the Board
of Fisheries and Mr. Coffey are now in the position to make some
difficult decisions and urged support for the appointment of Mr.
Coffey and Mr. Umphenour. He said both of them realize that the
non-resident anglers are the foundation of the tourism market in
Soldotna.
Number 2147
BRAD ADAMS testified next via teleconference from Kenai and
supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and Mr. Coffey because
of their qualifications and their concern for the resources of the
state.
Number 2165
GILBERT HUNTINGTON, Co-Chair, Yukon River Drainage Fisheries
Association testified next via teleconference from Galena and
supported the appointment of Mr. Miller to the Board of Fisheries.
He said Mr. Miller appeared levelheaded during the past two board
meetings. He said some of the actions and viewpoints of Mr. Coffey
have scared him and other people of his area. He said the
legislature should remember the resource when confirming
appointments. He said every member should show that they are on
the side of conservation and said that Mr. Coffey has not shown
this. He said it is for this reason that he opposes the
appointment of Mr. Coffey to the Board of Fisheries. He said he
supports the appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries
because he is willing to go on the side of conservation.
Number 2231
RICHARD BURNMAN, Subsistence and Commercial Fisherman, testified
next via teleconference from Kaltag and supported the appointment
of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries. He said Mr. Umphenour
supports a diverse and wide user group, from the interior region.
Mr. Umphenour brings a common sense approach to problems and
referred to his views on sustained yield principles. He said Mr.
Umphenour's problem solving skills are needed on the Board of
Fisheries at this time.
Number 2287
JOE HAGER, Sport fishing Guide, testified next via teleconference
from Kenai and supported the appointments of Mr. Umphenour and Mr.
Coffey to the Board of Fisheries. He said fairness has to be
achieved for both the commercial and sports fisheries. He said he
would support either of their decisions.
Number 2313
RON KANDAS testified next via teleconference from Kenai and
supported the appointments of Mr. Umphenour and Mr. Coffey to the
Board of Fisheries because of their support for sport and
commercial fisheries.
Number 2339
CHARLIE DREW, Sport fisherman, testified next via teleconference
from Kenai and supported the appointment of Mr. Coffey to the Board
of Fisheries. He referred to the fact that Mr. Coffey has been a
commercial as well as a sport fisherman. He said Mr. Umphenour's
record speaks for itself.
Number 2341
DALE BONDURANT testified next via teleconference from Kenai. He
said the fish resources belong to all the residents of the United
States, not just to the limited entry people. He said the
initiative process is a legal process. He expressed concern over
the question directed to Mr. Coffey regarding his relationship with
Mr. Penney.
Number 2397
DREW SPARLIN testified next via teleconference from Kenai and said
this was the only time that he has felt compelled to speak at a
confirmation hearing. He supported the appointment of Mr. Miller
to the Board of Fisheries. He said Mr. Miller has served on
various committees, has had no consideration of what was in it for
him, participated in several fisheries in the state and will be the
only board member who has participated in any other fishery beside
the salmon fishery. He said Mr. Miller has shown an ability to
listen to testimony, ADFG reports, biologist recommendations while
applying his vast knowledge within the state fisheries to assist
him in making unbiased decisions on important issues. He said Mr.
Miller has credentials, credibility, knowledge and integrity. He
said Mr. Miller is the type of individual necessary to make the
Board of Fisheries process work and for all of those reasons Mr.
Sparlin supported the appointment of Mr. Miller to the Board of
Fisheries.
Number 2438
MR. SPARLIN strongly opposed the appointment of Mr. Coffey to the
Board of Fisheries because of his limited participation within the
community public service sector concerning Alaska fisheries. He
said, for the most part, Mr. Coffey has served as a paid mouthpiece
for the Kenai River Sport fish Association, Cook Inlet Sport Fish
Caucus and as one of authors of the F.I.S.H. initiative. He
questioned the ability of Mr. Coffey to make an unbiased decision
on one of the most important resource of the state of Alaska. He
said Mr. Coffey's appointment will only assist in the destruction
of a unique board process.
TAPE 96-62, SIDE B
Number 0000
MR. SPARLIN urged the legislature to not confirm Mr. Coffey to the
Board of Fisheries and to ask the Governor to appoint someone who
will fulfill the campaign pledge to de-politicize the Board of
Fisheries. He said every fishery in the state of Alaska, including
sport fisheries, will helped by the rejection of Mr. Coffey because
the fish resources cannot survive in a situation of political
inaction.
Number 0039
IRENE FANDEL, Business Owner, testified next via teleconference
from Kenai and supported the appointment of Mr. Umphenour and Mr.
Coffey to the Board of Fisheries.
CO-CHAIR GREEN said, "Herman can I assume that your testimony would
be the same as Irene's."
Number 0057
HENRY FANDEL, Business owner, Sport fish Guide, testified next via
teleconference from Kenai asked that he be able to get testimony.
He said he has stopped all commercial fishing because of a small
handful of commercial fisherman monopolizing all the fish. He
said, with the hope for a more fair allocation of fish, he
supported the appointments of Mr. Coffey and Mr. Umphenour to the
Board of Fisheries.
Number 0083
BILL WHITNEY testified next via teleconference from Kenai and
supported the appointments of Mr. Umphenour and, in particular, Mr.
Coffey. He said Mr. Coffey has knowledge and experience in the
Kenai region.
Number 0100
PAUL DALE, President, Salmon Producers Alliance, testified next via
teleconference from Kenai. He said the alliance is comprised of
fish processors and commercial fisherman and supported the
appointment of Mr. Miller to the Board of Fisheries. He said he
watched Mr. Miller at the last two board meetings and was impressed
by his knowledge. He said he would let Mr. Umphenour's record
speak for itself.
Number 0140
MR. DALE said, with reluctance because of the dedication Mr. Coffey
has shown to the project, he still had to oppose the appointment of
Mr. Coffey to the Board of Fisheries. He said he would agree with
many of the positive things that has been said about Mr. Coffey,
but his association with the F.I.S.H. initiative so colors his
involvement with the allocation side of these decisions. He said
it is worth pointing out that one of things which need to occur, as
the Board of Fisheries goes through the process of resolving the
allocation disputes in the Cook Inlet, is that the decisions must
be accepted by all involved parties. He said acceptance of Mr.
Coffey's decisions will never be granted, by at least half, of the
affected people of allocated decisions.
Number 0203
JERRY McCUNE, Lobbyist, United Fishermen of Alaska, was next to
testify and said his organization was opposed to the appointment of
Mr. Coffey to the Board of Fisheries, supported the appointment of
Mr. Miller to the Board of Fisheries and were neutral on the
appointment of Mr. Umphenour to the Board of Fisheries.
Number 0221
MR. McCUNE said his organization is opposed to the appointment of
Mr. Coffey because of the involvement in the group pushing the
F.I.S.H. initiative. He said the initiative is a hostile attack on
family businesses which make up Alaska's commercial industry across
the entire state. He said his organization did not feel that Mr.
Coffey can make a fair and confident decision on the Board of
Fisheries because of his involvement in the initiative and the
allocation battle in the Kenai. He said his organization is a
strong advocate of the Board of Fisheries process, however to work
efficiently, board members must have a wide variety of experience,
have a belief in the board process and an absence of personal
agendas is critical and it is for these reasons that the United
Fishermen of Alaska opposes the appointment of Mr. Coffey to the
Board of Fisheries.
CO-CHAIR GREEN closed public testimony on the three applicants to
the Board of Fisheries Confirmation Hearing.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the House Standing
Committee on Resources, the meeting was adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
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