04/17/1996 04:10 PM Senate RES

                                                                               
      CSHB 547(RES) am Moratorium on S.E. Dive Fisheries                     
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN LEMAN  announced  CSHB 547(RES) am  to be up for                  
 consideration.  He said the bill was heard and there was                      
 substantial interest in moving it. However, it was not unanimous.             
 At least one person would be affected by it and he thought the bill           
 was now represented a reasonable consensus on limiting the number             
 of divers for abalone, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and geoducks.              
                                                                               
  SENATOR HOFFMAN  said there was concern that the people who                  
 pioneered the fishery would be left out and there was testimony               
 that half of them were Alaskan residents.                                     
                                                                               
  SENATOR PEARCE  asked if the catch was limited in any of the                 
 fisheries.                                                                    
                                                                               
  CHERYL SUTTON,  Legislative Aide, House Resources Committee,                 
 answered that the purpose of the bill is to establish a moratorium            
 on four of the dive species in Southeast so the development of the            
 fisheries can be observed and consistent, sustained yield                     
 management plans can be devised.  She said the bill is widely                 
 supported and they had worked closely with all the communities and            
 divers in Southeast Alaska.  There is a lot of compromise contained           
 in this bill.                                                                 
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN LEMAN  asked her to comment on the fisherman who would be           
 excluded from the fishery as a result of this bill.   MS. SUTTON              
 explained that he was basically a Kodiak fisherman and this is a              
 Southeast Alaska moratorium on specific species in Southeast                  
 Alaska.                                                                       
                                                                               
 Number 540                                                                    
  SENATOR FRANK  moved to pass CSHB 547(RES) am from committee.                
                                                                               
  SENATOR HALFORD  objected because he didn't want to limit                    
 participation in any more fisheries.   SENATOR HOFFMAN  pointed out           
 that this did not limit fisheries, but it was a four-year                     
 moratorium so that the resource could be further evaluated.                   
                                                                               
  MS. SUTTON  commented that there was a lot of assessment work that           
 needed to be done with these developing fisheries and that funding            
 had been cut for this.  The participants in this fishery are                  
 interested in looking at a self-funding mechanism to have on-going            
 management and stock assessment.  She said there are already too              
 many participants in the fishery.                                             
                                                                               
  SENATOR FRANK  asked if they already limit the catch.   MS. SUTTON           
  replied that they do have quotas already.                                    
                                                                               
  SENATOR FRANK  asked if the openings could be structured so that             
 they would favor Alaskan residents.   MS. SUTTON  replied that the            
 Department was trying to do that, but there is such a rush from               
 folks in failing fisheries that a sound management cannot be                  
 developed because of the unknown number of participants.  A                   
 moratorium would fix some numbers and give them the opportunity to            
 develop more effective management.                                            
                                                                               
  SENATOR FRANK  suggested closing the fishery down altogether and let         
 the stocks come back and have surprise openings.                              
                                                                               
 Number 484                                                                    
                                                                               
  REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS,  sponsor of HB 547, said he couldn't add            
 much more to what Ms. Sutton said.                                            
                                                                               
  SENATOR HALFORD  said he was concerned that half the participants            
 now are outsiders.   MS. SUTTON  replied that that was incorrect.             
                                                                               
 Number 458                                                                    
                                                                               
  FRANK HOHMAN,  Limited Entry Commissioner, explained that in three           
 of the fisheries a substantial majority are resident fishermen.  In           
 the geoduck fishery their latest statistics indicate 50/50 and this           
 is the newest fishery.  He explained that the rush to get into the            
 open fisheries has mushroomed and the reason for the moratorium is            
 to cap it to have time to study it.                                           
                                                                               
  SENATOR HALFORD  suggested having the fisheries managed for resident         
 participation while the information is gathered, use those                    
 participants as a starting point, and then make the permits non-              
 transferable.  He noted that all the other fisheries with                     
 transferable permits have a huge debt-load and they are all going             
 down hill.                                                                    
                                                                               
  MR. HOHMAN  answered that those things had been tried and the                
 abalone fishery, for example, is down to one day per year.  He said           
 that 95 percent of the harvesters in that fishery are residents.              
 He added that this moratorium might be an opportunity for them to             
 investigate some of the methods he just mentioned.                            
                                                                               
 Number 415                                                                    
                                                                               
  SENATOR FRANK  asked the status of the moratorium on the dungeness           
 crab fishery they instituted a few years ago.  MR. HOHMAN answered            
 that was completed and it was operating with the input from people            
 within the fleet and the Department.  They developed a new type of            
 limited entry system which has a new phase called the tiered pot              
 system.  Each participant, based on their past production, is given           
 a number of pots they can fish.  This preserves the resource and              
 allows a certain number of pots to be fished and it preserved the             
 economic opportunity for those who are in it.  He thought this was            
 a very successful conclusion to that fishery.                                 
                                                                               
  MR. HOHMAN  added that there would likely be some non-transferable           
 permits within that fishery, but there would also be transferable             
 ones.  It is based on a complicated point system.                             
                                                                               
  SENATOR HALFORD  asked why we should ever create another                     
 transferable fishery.   REPRESENTATIVE WILLIAMS  said that he agreed          
 with him, but the dive fishery required large boats to service the            
 divers and fishermen from down south are equipped to handle that.             
 This makes it difficult for the residents to invest money if they             
 are not assured they will have a fishery.  That is what basically             
 is happening.                                                                 
                                                                               
  SENATOR LINCOLN  asked what the objection was to having the                  
 moratorium reviewed in two years instead of waiting for four years.           
  MR. HOHMAN  replied that the reason for the four years is to give            
 time to the Commission.  This isn't the only issue before them and            
 their last experience with the Southeast Dungeness Crab fishery               
 took a four year period of time.  He said it took at least three              
 public hearing phases throughout Southeastern to come to agreement            
 there.                                                                        
                                                                               
    SENATOR HALFORD  withdrew his objection with the condition that he         
 would come up with a floor amendment that prohibits the creation of           
 new transferable fisheries.                                                   
                                                                               
  CHAIRMAN LEMAN  asked if there was further objection to the motion           
 to pass CSHB 547(RES) am from committee.  Hearing none, it was so             
 ordered.