Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
05/04/2005 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB26 | |
| HB71 | |
| HB286 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 71 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 26 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | HB 286 | TELECONFERENCED | |
CSHB 26(FIN)-SHORT-TERM COM FISHING CREWMEMBER LICENSE
CHAIR WAGONER announced CSHB 26(FIN) to be up for consideration.
3:37:06 PM
ADAM BERG, staff to Representative Carl Moses, sponsor,
explained that CSHB 26(FIN) allows the purchase of a seven-day
commercial fishing crew member license for $30. The only option
available now for crew members is an annual license, which is
$60 for residents and $180 for non-residents.
The reason for introducing the bill is to try to give commercial
fishermen more opportunities to earn a living by charging
tourists to participate hands-on in the commercial fishery.
Right now they can only observe. Secondly, it would allow
commercial fishermen temporary short-term help, such as
relatives and friends, at a lower cost.
3:38:46 PM
SENATOR ELTON joined the committee.
3:39:40 PM
SENATOR GUESS joined the committee.
SENATOR DYSON said the Coast Guard Auxiliary asked him if
conformity with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 46 had
been discussed.
MR. BERG replied that the Juneau Charter Boat Operators
Association asked that question of Sue Jorgenson with the Coast
Guard, and she responded if an individual pays for the
opportunity to go out fishing on a commercial vessel, that
vessel is then considered a vessel for hire and would have to
follow the same Coast Guard rules that charter boat operators
follow now.
SENATOR DYSON asked if this isn't a backdoor way around Coast
Guard licensing procedure.
MR. BERG replied that is correct.
3:41:36 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked if this bill would have any implications on
the Fishermen's Fund.
SENATOR STEDMAN joined the committee.
MR. BERG replied that an amendment was offered saying that
short-term crewmembers aren't allowed any type of compensation.
Currently, 39 percent of the first $60 of any license goes to
the Fishermen's Fund. That doesn't change under this bill, which
has an indeterminate fiscal note from the Department of Labor
and Workforce Development.
3:43:35 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if the commercial fishermen would fall
into the category of six-pack license requirements.
MR. BERG replied that they would have to have a six-pack
license, be enrolled in the random drug testing program and the
vessel would have to be documented for coastwise as well as
fishery type 1 personal floatation devices - in addition to the
survival suits that are required on commercial boats.
3:44:38 PM
PAUL SHADURA, President, Kenai Fishermen's Association,
supported HB 26. Its approach is reasonable and adds a lot of
dynamics to the commercial fishing industry. It offers a
survivalist type of experience for those who are interested and
would probably not affect any other users in any way. A lot of
people have family members come up and visit them and currently
hiring them for a couple of days is prohibitively expensive.
3:46:37 PM
CHRIS CONDOR, Board Member, Juneau Charter Boat Association,
opposed HB 26, because it has all kinds of holes and dangers in
it for tourists, especially.
You're going to put people who have never been on a
boat out in these type of seas. Despite all the safety
precautions a charter boat has, they're [commercial
boats] in much more dangerous situations.... In those
seas something is going to happen.... In these
disclaimers when they talk about these releases,
they're not worth the paper they're written on when
you talk to a lawyer about them....
If someone gets into a problem out there, we're going
to have a real bad PR problem about that. You can see
it any time...we lose a tourist. It's real bad PR for
Alaska.
Furthermore, he said the charter boat license and insurance
requirements would be prohibitive. Another consideration was how
enforcement would be conducted and he surmised that a Coast
Guard person would have to board each vessel to check out the
people on it. He also thought it was an unfair bill for the
charter fleet saying:
If you want to be a commercial fisherman, be a
commercial fisherman. If you want to be a charter
fisherman, be a charter boat fisherman. If you want to
do both, that's fine too, but you have to do it
separately, not combined. I can't sell my catch. The
commercial fleet would never allow me to do something
like that. It's just not fair.
3:50:41 PM
JACK CADIGAN, Captain, M/V CADIGAN, suggested amending the bill
to address licensing short-term people who would not be
compensated on commercial boats. Because of the unusual activity
of taking tourists out, commercial boats should be required to
display an appropriate decal, which would be similar or
identical to that of charter boat operators, so that enforcement
doesn't necessarily have to board the vessels.
MR. CADIGAN pointed out a the further issue of whether the fish
would be counted as sport or commercial fish allocations and
whether the tourist passengers would be allowed to keep any fish
caught without having to purchase them via a fish ticket. In any
case, he asked how the catch would be identified and allocated
under current regulations.
He suggested requiring vessels operating under the authority of
this legislation to comply with all applicable regulations under
CFR and with all Alaska licensing requirements apropos to
sportfishing guides and sportfishing business licenses unless
non of the personnel who are acting as crewmembers are in any
sort of a paid status.
3:55:05 PM
RICK BIERMAN, Whaleside Lodge, Shelter Island, said last year
the Legislature passed comprehensive regulations on the guided
sport fishing industry regarding vessel safety and operator
responsibility. Now it is proposing to put his clients on
commercial fishing boats without the same safeguards contained
in those regulations. He said a commercial fishing boat is a far
more dangerous environment than a charter boat. The Coast Guard
also stated that enforcement isn't practical unless vessels
somehow indicate they have passengers for hire and he suggested
requiring vessels to carry a prominent sticker that identifies
them as carrying tourists.
3:57:36 PM
He was also concerned that since this bill creates a whole new
fishing experience in Alaska, his clients will now have a choice
to come to his lodge and be restricted to three king salmon a
year, bag, possession and gear limits or they could rent a
commercial vessel and catch as many fish as they want. "There is
nothing in this bill that says the operator of the vessels can
include those fish in the price of the adventure." He insisted
that the tourists should have to buy the fish they catch;
otherwise they would be circumventing sport regulations that
happen to be good regulations.
3:59:11 PM
Further, he said the people who use this license should be
required to prove they have liability insurance.
3:59:43 PM
SENATOR DYSON asked who from the marine insurance industry could
comment on lines of liability protection for the short-term
people.
MR. BIERMAN replied that he didn't know of anyone locally, but
Charter Lakes Insurance Company in St. Paul writes 50 percent of
the liability for charter boats.
CHAIR WAGONER commented that he looked at this bill from the
commercial point of view and ran away from it because of the
liability and insurance he would be required to have.
4:01:21 PM
JERRY MCCUNE, United Fishermen of Alaska, supported HB 26.
However there were some misconceptions he wanted to clarify.
Commercial fishermen already need to have most things on board
already and are required to carry liability between $300,000 and
$1 million for crew. Some of his members have gillnetters and
they come to town, take their net off, take two or three clients
out and already have the same equipment a charter boat does. He
did agree that commercial vessels being used for charter should
be readily identifiable as such.
4:04:40 PM
SENATOR ELTON asked how he would address the allocation issue
for guests.
MR. MCCUNE answered:
If you were a commercial vessel and you were taking
people out for the commercial experience, which I
haven't a whole lot of this going on - myself, I
haven't had any requests for this. You're commercial
fishing; you've got to have all the commercial
permits, all the other charter stuff to go along with
it. You've got to have your card; they gotta have
their crew licenses and that would go on a fish
ticket.... You deliver, you've gotta have a fish
ticket. It's just like a commercial fishing boat.
Now if you take some of the fish and give them to your
clients, which is perfectly legal also, you could do
that. But any fish delivered to a tender has to have a
fish ticket and it's going to go down as commercial,
not sport.
CHAIR WAGONER related that in his fishery halibut has to be
marked as "retained catch" and must come off your IFQ.
SENATOR ELTON remarked that tourists are limited to three king
salmon per year, but a person on a commercial boat could take 10
kings, for instance, have them smoked and take them home.
MR. MCCUNE replied that as a commercial fisherman, he has to
report all the kings he catches, even the ones he's taking home,
so ADF&G has an accurate count of fish.
SENATOR ELTON repeated that his point is that a person hiring a
charter boat is limited to taking three kings for the season,
but if he goes out on a commercial troller he could and take 10
kings.
4:10:22 PM
CHAIR WAGONER said he understands this is to give people the
experience of being on a commercial boat and he, personally,
doesn't give his crew king salmon or halibut. If this goes
through, that is an allocation issue and should be taken up by
the Board of Fisheries.
4:11:11 PM
SENATOR ELTON responded that a person may expect to get some
fish out of the commercial experience. It could even be used as
a marketing tool.
CHAIR WAGONER acknowledged that would be an issue, but the Board
of Fisheries was the proper forum to set policy.
I think if we do anything, if this bill goes forward,
I think we want to make the intent of the Legislature
- this is not a meat fishery. We are not creating a
meat fishery. It's real dangerous when we do that.
4:12:43 PM
CHAIR WAGONER said he would hold the bill and get input from the
insurance industry and the Board of Fisheries.
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