Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/22/1999 03:20 PM Senate RES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SJR 13-AK NATIVE ON PACIFIC SALMON COMMISSION
CHAIRMAN HALFORD announced SJR 13 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR WARD, sponsor, explained that as an Athabascan Native he
had never voted to give up rights. Mr. Mike Williams brought it to
his attention that he has never known of any Alaska Native who has
been involved in a treaty. There has been a lot of talk about
"have Alaska natives at the table," but when the time comes to
select the voting people who are going to represent the State of
Alaska, they are certainly not Alaska natives, and appear to be
bureaucrats at first glance and are special interests.
SENATOR WARD said he has never disputed his rights under the
Constitution, but when people aren't even invited to the table to
sit down in a bargaining agreement, like the Pacific Salmon Treaty
that is going to affect their life, he didn't think that was right.
MR. EDDIE BURKE, Aide to Representative Jerry Sanders, said a very
interesting statement was given to the House Resources Committee.
Mr. Dick Hoffman, President, Alaska Troller Association, said that
there wasn't the caliber of Alaska Native to sit on this Board.
SENATOR MACKIE asked what that private conversation had with the
bill.
SENATOR WARD said he thought it described a mind-set against having
the people who actually consume the fish at the bargaining table.
They have a position on it before the people who catch it and sell
it and they are not at the table.
SENATOR MACKIE said he didn't necessarily disagree with him,
especially regarding the U.S./Canada Treaty.
SENATOR MACKIE said he thought that Commission was representing the
rights of all Alaskans, commercial, subsistence, white, and native
and he asked for an example of where the people on the Commission
are not doing there job. He also asked for an example where
natives are being disadvantaged in the process.
SENATOR WARD answered since they are closed door meetings, he
couldn't say. He wanted an Alaskan Native added to it.
SENATOR MACKIE asked how they added another commissioner when the
make up is set by the U.S. Government.
SENATOR WARD said that according to the rules, Canada would get one
more seat also.
SENATOR MACKIE asked where Alaska Natives have been disadvantaged
by the Commission that represents Alaska. He said he fails to see
where this is needed, because he feels that all Alaskans are being
represented.
SENATOR WARD replied if an Alaska Native had been representing
subsistence on this Commission, it would have been resolved a long
time ago.
Number 420
SENATOR KELLY said he had a fundamental problem with this
legislation, because the people of Alaska are already represented.
If you add an Alaskan native, you are beginning to divide things
racially. Natives own most of the private land in Alaska and their
corporations have advantages far above anyone else's corporation.
SENATOR WARD said he thought Alaska Natives should have a part of
a treaty process that will affect them for the next hundred years.
SENATOR MACKIE explained that the reason the natives in Washington
state have a seat at the table is because of the treaties that
involve the tribes with allocations.
MR. MYLES CONWAY, Assistant Attorney General, added that the makeup
of the Commission is set by federal statute. If the resolution
goes forward, it should be directed to the Congress.
SENATOR WARD responded that our congressional delegation told him
that the request needs to come through the administration to them,
because that's the way the original treaty was set up.
MR. DAVID BEDFORD, Executive Director, Southeast Alaska Seiners,
read Mr. Jim Bacon's testimony. Mr. Bacon is the co-chair of the
Northern Panel and is a seiner in Southeast. The following is part
of his letter: "I have served on the Northern Panel U.S. Section of
the Pacific Salmon Commission since 1991. I currently serve as the
co-chairman of that body.
The Pacific Salmon Commission was created by the Pacific Salmon
Treaty. The United State and Canada struggled through 15 years of
difficult negotiations to produce the existing treaty. To add
another commissioner to the Pacific Salmon Commission would require
renegotiating provisions of the Treaty and opening contentious
lengthy discussion with no certainty of success.
However, I would council against pursuing SJR 13 not merely because
its success is uncertain, but because we do not need it. Alaska's
delegation to the Treaty fights diligently and, for the most part,
successfully, on behalf of all Alaskans, native and non-native.
The original treaty set management regimes for fisheries that
impact salmon stocks that spawn in one nation and travel into the
other nation's waters.
The Commission is designed to review current arrangements and
renegotiate expired annexes or management agreements. The Alaskan
North Panel (there is a Canadian Northern Panel, as well) is made
up of representatives from the Alaska Native Brotherhood, the
recreational fishing community, the commercial gear groups, and
fisheries managers from Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
We discuss the issues relevant to the negotiations and work toward
a consensus to present to the Alaska Commissioner and alternate
commissioner who act as our chief negotiators in the discussions
with Canada and the Southern United States. Alaska's greatest
strength has been our ability to work together..."
SENATOR MACKIE interrupted to ask if Mr. Andy Ebono was on our
Northern Panel serving native interests.
CHAIRMAN HALFORD indicated he was and noted that it was just an
advisory panel.
MR. BEDFORD added that the Panel drives the issues as far as they
can get them, then the Commission takes them "for the final lap."
"with all affected interests and the State of Alaska to protect
Alaska's interests. While other delegations insist on circling the
wagons and shooting inward, Alaskans consistently work together to
serve all of our interests.
Alaskan fisheries of relevance to the Treaty are the Southeast
Alaska Chinook Fishery, both recreational and personal, the
District 104 purse seine fishery (Noise Island Fishery), the
District 101 gillnet(Tree Point) Fishery, and the Trans Boundary
River Fisheries of the Taku and Stikine Rivers. The Commission
also shares information about the Alsek River fishery. A separate
body deals with Yukon River issues.
The Pacific Salmon Treaty does not deal with any subsistence
fisheries in Alaskan waters. Our subsistence fisheries are
primarily in fresh water and intertidal marine waters near the
terminal areas and, therefore, do not fit the criteria for Treaty
or Commission involvement. Thus the decisions of the Pacific
Salmon Commission do not affect subsistence harvests. The fishery
of greatest importance to my fleet (I am a purse seiner) is the
Noise Island fishery. Tlingit and Haida peoples of the west coast
of Prince of Wales pioneered that fishery and served the first
cannery built in Alaska in the late eighteen hundreds. To this day
there is no distinction between native and non-native fishermen's
interests with respect to negotiations with Canada. Our interest
is the same, to protect Alaska's right to harvest salmon in the
sovereign waters of Alaska. I am concerned with any approach which
would either directly or indirectly divide or dilute Alaska's
message or provide our adversaries with the ability to exploit
potential perceived political differences. As I stated earlier,
our unity is our strength. I believe that the current makeup of
the Northern Panel, along with the Alaskan Commissioners serve all
of Alaskan's interests well. I would urge the committee to not
pass SJR 13."
MR. JEV SHELTON, Southeast Alaska Gillnetter, said he is also
Alaska's alternate commissioner on the Pacific Salmon Commission.
He has been involved in the Pacific Salmon Treaty since 1974. He
endorsed everything in Mr. Bacon's statement. He said that native
fishermen are integral to all the fisheries in Southeast Alaska.
They are leaders in the industry and are well respected. There is
nothing that excludes them implicitly or explicitly. The record
will show that they have been very much involved in the Treaty
issues.
Right now would be a bad time to insert this kind of an issue in
front of the federal government. Alaska needs support and help on
treaty related issues; it doesn't need anything that would indicate
a split that might be exploited. The suggestion that this could be
divided along subsistence lines is bad and the suggestion that it
be divided along racial lines is hugely unfortunate. Adding
members would take a lot of maneuvering to even accomplish. Each
country has four commissioners and each country decides its own
makeup.
MR. SHELTON said he had dealt with many native fishermen and no one
had expressed any dissatisfaction about the way their interests are
being represented in this. He reiterated that subsistence is not
an issue within the Treaty. How fish are allocated is up to the
Board of Fisheries. The Pacific Salmon Treaty is concerned most
with the Dixon Entrance and the troll fishery along the outer
coast.
TAPE 15, SIDE B
Number 590
The streams up by Yakutat are completely out of bounds as far as
the Canadians are concerned and never enter into discussions within
the Treaty. The job of the Alaska delegation is to get the best
possible allocation for Alaska and then the issue remains to be
dealt with internally.
SENATOR MACKIE asked who our four representatives are.
MR. SHELTON said Dave Benton, Jim Pitman (non-voting federal
representative), Curt Smitch (Advisor to Governor Lock),
representing both Washington and Oregon, and Ron Allen who
represents the 24 treaty tribes in Washington and Oregon.
SENATOR MACKIE noted that adding another Alaskan would be two from
Alaska and only one from Washington and Oregon and one from the
federal government.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|