Legislature(2011 - 2012)BUTROVICH 205
02/13/2012 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB192 | |
| Presentation: Five Year Look Back on Oil Industry Capital Expenditures by Category 2006-2010 & Access to Information | |
| HB60 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 192 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| HB 60 | |||
HB 60-GEODUCK AQUATIC FARMING/SEED TRANSFER
5:06:12 PM
CO-CHAIR WAGONER announced the consideration of HB 60.
5:06:46 PM
CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked for a motion.
5:06:55 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN moved to bring HB 60, version \A, before the
committee for purposes of discussion.
CO-CHAIR WAGONER objected for purposes of discussion.
5:07:20 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PAUL SEATON, sponsor of HB 60, said he
appreciated the timely effort the committee was taking on this
bill. He said it works on trying to promote economic development
around the coast of Alaska where it is difficult to establish
new economic bases, especially ones that won't conflict in time
with salmon and herring fishing. He said HB 60 allows for sub-
tidal farming of geoduck clams. They average about 2.5 lbs. and
are about 7 inches long. They are filter feeders and are
generally two to three feet down in one place their entire life.
Their habitat has worms and tunicates, a small sessile animal
(naturally immobile) that aren't used commercially for
subsistence, and nothing about geoducks has been found to
inhibit their numbers.
His said his plan is necessary because the ADF&G has an informal
policy of not allowing geoducks to go to the single certified
hatchery in the state in Seward for raising and being
distributed to farms anywhere other than where they are already
occurring (only in Southeast). The recent geoduck conflict has
been because wild stocks are harvested by divers and people want
to put farms in good habitat which is where there is already a
wild stock.
He explained however, that if the species would proliferate it
would be a great bonus for Alaska, because right now fishermen
are getting $21 lb. for them. It is good for communities around
the coast because geoducks, unlike oysters or muscles that have
to be tended two or three times every summer, are put in the
sediment with a small plastic piece of pipe with a net on the
top to keep out predators, two years later those are taken off,
and in about seven years you are in harvest mode without doing
anything else.
5:11:13 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON began his video presentation at 5:11 and
that ran until 5:14 p.m.
5:14:41 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said HB 60 simply says you can't use the
absence of geoducks in an area to deny a plan permit. It would
be for all areas around the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak, Yakutat,
Chignik and other areas out West, but not including Kachemak
Bay, which is designated a critical habitat and doesn't allow
bottom farming.
5:15:18 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON said HB 60 limits farms to sub-tidal
areas, so there is no interference with subsistence or sport
fisheries. This is a clean and renewable fishery; it depends on
clean water so people will make sure no pollution comes in.
He said the state has "larval drift zones" to make sure if you
are enhancing a clam species you have to take the stock from
that same area, raise the seed and then replant from that same
stock so you don't get genetic crosses. And HB 60 is
specifically for taking clam seed to an area where there are no
natural stocks in the first place to alleviate that worry.
5:16:44 PM
CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked what the main predator for geoducks is as
they are being raised.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered when they are juveniles it's the
star fish.
SENATOR STEVENS asked how the red tide would affect geoducks.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered that geoducks are filter feeders
and would be affected by a red tide bloom. This bill does not
exempt any farm from all of the health and safety criteria that
all Mari culture farms must deal with. So the geoducks have to
be tested before they are sold.
5:17:59 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if there are shellfish hatcheries ready to
supply the needs of this new industry.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON replied the problem with having the only
shellfish hatchery in the state is that its business plan was
based on sale of seeds so it could be self-sustaining. Geoduck
seed is much more valuable than oyster seed and without being
able to distribute to more farms than just in Southeastern
Alaska that business plan has not been realized. This bill
should make the shellfish hatchery self-sustaining.
5:18:35 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI recalled concerns from ADF&G and asked if
they had been resolved.
5:18:56 PM
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered yes, and the department is now
neutral. They were concerned about the larval drift zones in
terms of contamination and there is no question of that here.
5:19:31 PM
SENATOR FRENCH asked if he heard any opposition to the bill.
REPRESENTATIVE SEATON answered not since ADF&G came out with its
concern.
5:19:47 PM
CO-CHAIR WAGONER opened the public hearing.
5:20:56 PM
PAUL FUHS, Alaska Sea Farms, said he supported HB 60 and that
Alaska Sea Farms is the biggest operation growing geoducks in
Southeast. He said if they pass this bill, it won't be a wasted
effort. They would go immediately to a research permit and get
some geoducks in the ground and see how they grow, mortalities
and things like that. Geoducks are growing in Resurrection Bay
right now. He said "the market has just gone off the deep end
for geoducks" and that $21 lb. to fisherman makes it the highest
price fish in Alaska. It takes seven or eight years to grow
them, but once you get them in the ground that is all you need
to do. It's really good for rural Alaska, but what makes it so
simple is the logistics: the transportation, the hatchery, the
PSP testing is all there and that is what Southeast fights all
the time. So it could be even more successful in Southcentral.
5:21:53 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked how a person starts a geoduck farm.
MR. FUHS explained that you get a lease from the State of Alaska
and from that you get exclusive use of the clams on your site.
They don't worry about people coming and taking them because
they are not a big item on most people's menu. But you have to
prove that the water is clean and take over a year's worth of
water samples; you can't be anywhere near a discharge line; you
have to stake it off; you have to get a permit to transfer the
seed from the hatchery, but that's it. The lease lasts for 10
years and is renewable. They have had some of these farms for 10
years and are just beginning to sell their first adult geoducks.
5:23:04 PM
CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked about much a first-year geoduck weighs.
MR. FUHS replied about two pounds after seven or eight years.
5:23:46 PM
ROGER PAINTER, President, Alaskan Shellfish Growers Association,
said they supported HB 60. He said the geoduck market is strong
and seems to be getting strong all the time. There are major
geoduck aquaculture operations in Puget Sound that are doing
very well, and two have had some interest in investments in
Southcentral. And while he thinks they should be successful,
they won't really know until the animals are put in the ground.
They have been unsuccessful to this point in convincing ADF&G to
do an experimental approach.
5:25:45 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if someone for ADF&G was on line.
CO-CHAIR WAGONER said no, just someone from the shellfish
hatchery.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if it was run by the state.
CO-CHAIR WAGONER said someone indicated yes.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked Mr. Hetrick (on line) if he saw any
problems to the ecosystem with this, a disease or anything.
JEFF HETRICK, General Manager, Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery,
Seward, Alaska, answered no. They are currently using
Resurrection Bay water that is filtered prior to coming into the
hatchery and then they chlorinate the effluent prior to going
back into the bay. So there should be no disease concerns. He
said there are other clam populations, but sub-tidally they
don't expect any competition between geoduck clams and anything
else.
5:26:50 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how much acreage they anticipate
leasing and how many geoducks they will allow per acre.
MR. HETRICK answered initially a fisheries resource permit would
just be a small plot to prove the concept and identify the sites
that would be applicable. The minimum size for a commercially
viable farm for DNR and ADF&G is two acres, but he didn't know
exactly how many geoducks get planted per acre - but hundreds of
thousands.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if there is spacing between the
acreage.
MR. HETRICK answered that the acreage is fee-based, so you don't
want to take more space than you actually need. But typically,
farms are contiguous; acreage would be side by side. These sites
require specific habitat and you wouldn't be taking steep rocky
slopes, for instance; you'd look for gentle sandy bottoms or
light gravel, which are "minimized." They are working with the
Sea Life Center and some local dive shops to identify some
locations for the first proof of concept program in Resurrection
Bay. Perhaps others would step forward with other sites.
5:28:28 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked how geoducks are processed, since they are
off the road system.
5:29:04 PM
MR. FUHS replied that they are taken from remote locations now
and delivered by the dock, but they are sold live. So as soon as
they hit the dock they go into "chill mode" and are flown out
immediately. They experimented with processing some of them, but
the market didn't want that. They wanted live geoduck.
5:29:39 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked if geoducks can survive for a period of
time.
MR. FUHS answered yes; they found that the farms benefit the
smaller airlines and ships, fuel, divers, and all the ancillary
services that go around it.
5:30:18 PM
CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked if some of the Native corporations want
to get into the geoduck industry; Port Graham would probably be
a perfect place because it doesn't get a big surge and is
shallow. Can they be transported to Homer on a boat and then be
put on the airplane in Homer?
MR. FUHS answered yes.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if geoducks are handpicked by SCUBA
(self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) divers.
MR. FUHS replied yes; they are dug in so hard that the diver
puts a water jet down in the mud and it loosens it up a little
bit to where the geoduck can be wrestled out. It's tough work in
about 15-40 feet of water, but a diver can harvest about 1,000
animals a day.
CO-CHAIR WAGONER asked if they use hookah gear.
MR. FUHS replied yes, sometimes hardhat, sometimes SCUBA.
CO-CHAIR WAGONER closed public testimony and removed his
objection. He asked for a motion to move HB 60 out of committee
with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).
5:31:57 PM
CO-CHAIR PASKVAN said so moved. There were no objections and HB
60 moved from the Senate Resources Standing Committee.