HOUSE BILL NO. 28 "An Act relating to the registration of commercial vessels; and providing for an effective date." Co-Chair Merrick indicated that the committee had a prior hearing on HB 28 on April 22. 2021. 1:42:43 PM THATCHER BROWER, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE TARR, thanked the committee for hearing the bill. He recounted that the bill removed the duplicative requirement for vessels with a current Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) license to register every three years with the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV). 1:43:18 PM Co-Chair Merrick OPENED public testimony. 1:43:33 PM SUSAN DOHERTY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SOUTHEAST ALASKA SEINERS ASSOCIATION (via teleconference), relayed her organizations support for HB 28. She elaborated that the bill fixed the unintended consequences created by the passage of SB 92 [Vessels: Registration/Titles; Derelicts Chapter 111 SLA 18, 10/11/2018] in 2018. She believed that the redundancy created an unnecessary hardship for Alaska's fleet in communities lacking a DMV office and for out-of- state license holders. She offered that the intent of the bill was to ensure proper ownership and contact information was on file in the event the vessel was abandoned. She encouraged the committee to pass the legislation. 1:45:19 PM ROBERT HEYANO, SELF, DILLINGHAM (via teleconference), spoke in support of HB 28. He shared that he was a commercial herring and salmon fisher in Bristol Bay. He agreed that the bill corrected an oversight. He believed that commercial fishing vessels had sufficient identification and asked for passage of the bill. 1:46:31 PM CHELSEA HAISMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORDOVA DISTRICT FISHERMAN UNITED, CORDOVA (via teleconference), spoke in support of HB 28. She conveyed that the bill eliminated the need for an additional vessel registration with the DMV as required by prior passage of SB 92 and provided an exemption for vessels registered with the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC). Currently, all vessel owners who participate in Alaskas commercial fisheries are required to register their vessel with the CFEC, which provided each vessel with a permanent Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) number. She indicated that CFEC already had a database that was easily searchable and publicly accessible online, and vessels registered with the CFEC are well documented by the state. Most commercial fishermen had U.S. Coast Guard documented vessels. 1:47:43 PM Co-Chair Merrick CLOSED public testimony. HB 28 was HEARD and HELD in committee for further consideration.