Legislature(2011 - 2012)CAPITOL 120
03/15/2011 05:00 PM House FISHERIES
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Overview: Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (cfec) | |
| HB20 | |
| HB181 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| *+ | HB 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 181 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 181-COMMERCIAL FISHING CREWMEMBER STATISTICS
6:03:34 PM
CHAIR THOMPSON announced that the final order of business would
be HOUSE BILL NO. 181, "An Act requiring the Department of Fish
and Game annually to collect confidential information related to
days worked by commercial fishing crewmembers and to compile
statistical data."
6:06:18 PM
REPRESENTATIVE ALAN AUSTERMAN, Alaska State Legislature,
speaking as the prime sponsor, paraphrased from the sponsor
statement, which read as follows [original punctuation
provided]:
Economists estimate that the Alaska seafood industry
is the largest private sector employer in the state.
In November 2010, the Alaska Department of Labor
reported that the industry employed at least 53,500
workers-skippers, crew and processing workers-at some
point during ... during 2009. This number is a best
estimate, though, because commercial fishermen, as
self-employed people, are outside of standard labor
data collection. At present, data to describe the
workforce of 20,000 crewmembers who work in Alaska's
fisheries is almost non-existent. We cannot determine
whether an individual crewmember fished 5 days or 250
in a given year; whether he or she fished in a single
salmon fishery or in seven fisheries across five
regions of the state; on a single boat or on 10; or
whether he or she fished a single year as an
adventure, or is a 25-year veteran of the industry.
State and federal fishery policy can have strong
impacts-positive or negative-on employment in the
seafood industry. At present, however, decision
makers have extremely limited information that can
guide their policy direction with respect to the labor
force in the fishing industry. They are asked to
formulate resource policies that impact the largest
labor force in Alaska, without the benefit of
information on that labor force. Time and time again-
particularly in federal regulatory arenas-Alaskans
have seen regulations implemented that have
significant and deleterious impacts on the seafood
industry that could have been foreseen, mitigated, or
avoided had this information been in hand.
HB 181 is the result of five years of work by fishing
industry participants, coastal municipalities, and the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game to develop a
program and approach that addresses the policy needs
and interests of Alaskan fishermen and communities.
It establishes a pilot crew data program in the Alaska
Department of Fish and Game. Simple year end reports
from commercial fishing crew will provide information
on fishery participation through the course of the
year, and allow the department to link crewmember data
with harvest data for aggregated statistical analysis.
HB 181 has a 5-year sunset. This provides the
Legislature the opportunity to review the efficacy of
the program and ensure it meets the intended policy
goals.
6:08:52 PM
ERIN HARRINGTON, Staff, Representative Alan Austerman, Alaska
State Legislature, directed attention to the committee packet
and the report titled "Improving Seafood Harvesting Labor Data,"
prepared for the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC),
and published in March 2007; the first comprehensive report to
establish the importance of crewmember data for policy making
purposes. She noted that the bill is an important step in
filling a significant information gap regarding Alaska's labor
force. Fishermen are self employed contract workers, reporting
income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on form 1099. The
self employed status exempts them from unemployment insurance
reporting, which is Alaska's major source for data of valid
employment. Thus, the Department of Labor & Workforce
Development (DLWD) cannot include crewmember statistics in
employment reports. As a result, it is not possible to
characterize the crewmember work force regarding contributions
to Alaska's economy, which presents a major disconnect in the
system. She referred to the previously named handout, page 23,
which mentions the ramifications that occur when municipalities
apply for certain federal programs, but lack the data indicating
the seasonal industry impacts. Further, lack of this data
presents a challenge to communities performing comprehensive
planning processes.
6:17:35 PM
MS. HARRINGTON explained that Section 1 adds a requirement for
ADF&G to distribute a crew activity form, to crewmembers, when
practicable. Section 2 describes the new program, one in which
crewmembers would report fishing activity at year's end and
describe the ways in which they had participated. The
subsections establish: what information is to be collected;
ensures that information will be maintained as confidential and
used for statistical purposes only; names the agencies with
which the information can be shared; allows rebuttal privileges
regarding the accuracy of the information collected; allows the
department to establish regulatory authority; and defines the
terms used in the bill. She elaborated on the meaning of the
term "obligated to a vessel."
6:23:50 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON asked, "Why don't we require them to fill
the log books out."
MS. HARRINGTON indicated that it has been discussed but there is
stipulation that crewmembers "shall" fill out log books; it may
be an oversight.
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON referred to the fiscal note narrative, and
suggested contracting with a private agency to handle the log
books, rather than expanding bureaucracy.
6:25:10 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLER inquired how HB 181 will be enforced and
reporting handled.
MS. HARRINGTON responded that ADF&G would be honing the process
over the next five years and the sunset date provides an
opportunity for the legislature to review the effectiveness of
the program. She indicated that enforcement would be handled
through the regulatory process.
6:27:22 PM
MARCUS HARTLEY, Vice President and Senior Economist, Northern
Economics Consulting, stated support for HB 181, and said that
the need for crewmember data has been a concern since the
establishment of the individual fishing quota (IFQ) system. At
the time, estimates were made based entirely on assumptions
regarding how many crewmembers might be on a particular type of
fishing boat. Accurate data still does not exist and analysis
of fisheries continues to be absent crewmember information,
which, he opined, if it existed, could prove to be helpful. He
provided an anecdotal story regarding the convoluted process
that ensued when a U.S. Congressional award was made to
compensate fishermen damaged by a ruling. Not having
information on crewmembers greatly impeded the award process.
Also, the lack of crewmember data has an effect on the economic
analysis that is currently being undertaken to characterize
communities and which could be used to support municipal
developments being considered.
6:32:45 PM
CHAIR THOMPSON noted that the accuracy of the information would
be important, and asked whether there is concern for exactitude
received from residents versus non-residents.
MR. HARTLEY stated his belief that both resident and non-
resident crewmembers participate seriously in the fishing life
style, and would understand the importance of providing
information to support the activity. He acknowledged the
difficulty in arriving at a verifiable, enforceable, and
simplistic system. In response to a follow up question, he
suggested that a possible means for enforcement of compliance
would be to deny renewal of a crewmember's license.
6:34:51 PM
ERIK O'BRIEN, Member, Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference
(SWAMC), stated support for HB 181, and said the organization
has worked for seven years to establish a means for gathering
crewmember information, which will allow better economic
decisions to be made in municipalities.
6:37:55 PM
JEFF REGNART, Director, Division of Commercial Fisheries, stated
support for HB 181, and said that the state sells approximately
20,000 crewmember licenses annually, but fails to recoup any
information regarding the participation level of the licensees.
Collection of the information will enable the state to more
fully describe the contributions of commercial fishing to the
state's local economies, as well as provide valuable information
to policy and rule making bodies
6:39:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE HERRON asked if collection of the data could be
accomplished by contracting with the private sector.
MR. REGNART replied that it could be possible; however, the
confidentiality issue may be a concern.
6:40:31 PM
JULIANNE CURRY, Executive Director, Petersburg Vessel Owner's
Association, stated support for HB 181, and said the previous
attempts to collect this information were met with opposition.
However, concerns have been addressed and the lack of crewmember
information is a gaping hole in Alaska's employment statistics,
not to mention the inability of the fishing industry to gather
an accurate picture of a member's presence in the state. To
illustrate the difficulty that can occur in tracking crewmember
information, she offered that as a crewmember, who also owns a
licensed boat, she is not required to purchase a crewmember
license.
6:42:25 PM
SHAWN DOCHTERMANN, Executive Director, Crewman's Association,
stated support for HB 181, and suggested a means for collecting
the data via a swipe card system. He suggested inserting
language that fishing vessels, which deliver seafood products,
should be required to furnish crewmen with contract and
reconcilable settlement sheets, which would address the issue of
crewmembers not receiving contracts and appropriate settlement
sheets for tax purposes. He offered to provide further
information regarding these issues to the committee.
6:45:12 PM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLER asked whether accuracy might pose a
problem, and what the general attitude might be among crewman
requested to fill out paperwork.
MR. DOCHTERMANN stated his belief that collecting the
information, as requested in the bill, may not be productive.
However, the alternative suggestion of using a swipe card could
make it plausible. He said United Fisherman of Alaska did not
agree with having the swipe card approach and, thus, the
suggestion died in the task force committee meeting.
6:47:46 PM
MARK VINSEL, Executive Director, United Fisherman of Alaska
(UFA), stated support for HB 181, and said that UFA has never
opposed collection of this data. He recalled that UFA offered
comments on a proposal that required a skipper generated log
book, but which proved to have numerous problems.
6:49:35 PM
REPRESENTATIVE AUSTERMAN said questions would be circulated to
the committee for future discussion.
CHAIR THOMPSON announced that HB 181 would be held over.