Legislature(1995 - 1996)
01/24/1996 05:02 PM House FSH
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
January 24, 1996
5:02 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Alan Austerman, Chairman
Representative Carl Moses, Vice Chairman
Representative Scott Ogan
Representative Gary Davis
Representative Kim Elton
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members were present.
OTHER HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Joe Green
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Guide/Charter Task Force Proposal Presentation
PREVIOUS ACTION
No previous action on this presentation.
WITNESS REGISTER
BUD HODSON, Chair
Sport Fishing Guide/Charter/
Task Force
4852 Hunter Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99502
Telephone: (907) 243-8450
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented recommendations from Task Force.
PAT CARTER, Member
Sport Fishing Guide/Charter/
Task Force; and
Legislative Assistant to
Representative Eldon Mulder
Alaska State Legislature
State Capitol Building, Room 411
Juneau, Alaska 99801
Telephone: (907) 465-2647
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on Task Force recommendations.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 96-2, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIRMAN ALAN AUSTERMAN called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. Members present at the
call to order were Representatives Austerman, Moses, Ogan, Davis
and Elton. Chairman Austerman informed the committee that the
presentation would end at 5:25 p.m. Further testimony would be
taken when the committee reconvened the following Wednesday for
that purpose.
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN noted that there already had been a public
hearing on the original recommendations from the Sport Fishing
Guide/Charter Task Force ("Task Force"). He commented that the
purpose of the current meeting was to hear the final
recommendations from the Task Force. He added that at this point,
testimony would only be taken from Task Force members; however, a
representative from the Department of Fish and Game was available
to answer any technical questions.
Number 0196
BUD HODSON, Chair, Sport Fishing Guide/Charter Task Force,
presented recommendations via teleconference from Anchorage. He
prefaced his remarks by saying he owned the Tikchik Narrows Lodge
and participated in the sport fishing industry in Bristol Bay. He
referred to a letter he had written to Chairman Austerman the
previous spring and thanked him for working with their group during
the interim.
MR. HODSON explained that the Task Force had been created by the
Board of Fisheries because of a proposal for guide registration
that was before the board. Prior to the board's meeting on this
subject, a group of industry representatives from around Alaska had
met to discuss the proposal. At that time, he said, it had become
clear that the definitions and requirements in the proposal were
inadequate. The industry representatives had recommended that the
Board of Fisheries form a task force to address these issues.
Number 0331
MR. HODSON observed that the difference between registration and
licensing was that the Board of Fisheries could not require a fee
when a person registered, nor require certain other elements that
occurred in association with licensing. The Task Force's first
question, then, was whether licensing was appropriate and if so,
should it be accomplished through statute rather than regulations
by the Board of Fisheries. Mr. Hodson noted that the Task Force
had mulled over the problem of identifying precisely who was
participating in the sport fish guiding industry. The Task Force
had quickly concluded there were two categories of participants,
employees and operators. The operators employed the guides; both
groups carried different responsibilities. In response to these
considerations, the Task Force had come up with their two-tier
licensing proposal.
Number 0498
MR. HODSON said the Task Force had sent out more than 3,000 copies
of their original proposal, met with different user groups, and
held both teleconferences and workshops before creating the
proposal currently before the committee. In reaction to public
testimony and letters received, he added, the Task Force had made
several amendments when they met on January 11, 1996, including one
that lowered the insurance rates. Deletions were made at that time
to drop both the age limit and the requirement of a separate
guide's license for operators. The rationale behind dropping the
age limit, he said, was that there was a lot of public comment
about family operations where teenagers participated in the
industry.
MR. HODSON explained that the proposal before the committee was the
final action of the Task Force, approved unanimously by that body.
He disclosed that following the January 11, 1996, meeting, several
Task Force members had found the original proposal unacceptable.
However, after amendments were made, they had been in unanimous
agreement. Mr. Hodson expressed that in the sport fishing
industry, there was still concern over licensing at the statewide
level, with many operators worried about the possibility for
numerous rules, excessive fees and lots of paperwork. Therefore,
there were still many people opposed to any form of licensing. On
the other hand, Mr. Hodson said, as chairman of the Task Force, he
had heard numerous positive remarks, with many saying they could
not believe it had not been done earlier. He expressed that
although he did not believe the proposal was perfect, he personally
felt good about the product the Task Force had created.
Number 0740
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN thanked Mr. Hodson and said he was officially
accepting the recommendations in the report from the Task Force.
He recognized Representative Green, who was attending the meeting.
He then reiterated that no public testimony was being taken at the
meeting. He stated his intention of bringing the issue up at the
following Wednesday's meeting, at which time they would accept
committee substitutes to HB 175 and discuss whether to roll these
recommendations into that bill or any other.
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN asked if any other Task Force members were on
teleconference to testify. Hearing none, he asked if any Task
Force members were in the audience and called on Pat Carter.
Number 0856
PAT CARTER, Member, Sport Fishing Guide/Charter Task Force, and
Legislative Assistant to Representative Eldon Mulder, stated that
one part of the final proposal still concerned him. He explained
that at the last meeting of the Task Force, they had combined the
licenses so that if a single-boat operator purchased an operator's
license, he was exempted from having to buy a guide's license,
provided that he qualified under the requirements for a guide. Mr.
Carter added that he had originally voted for that amendment;
however, after further discussion and thought, he and other members
had asked for a reconsideration, which was voted down.
MR. CARTER explained that his only problem with the final
conclusions of the proposal was the unknown number of single-boat
operators in Alaska. He thought the number would be quite high,
possibly 50 to 70 percent of operators. He felt that the Task
Force had effectively taken money that would have been generated by
guide fees and left the burden on the rest. He thought the
monetary burden should be shared throughout the guiding industry,
rather than exempting the single-boat operators.
Number 990
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN asked if Mr. Carter would give the committee a
recommendation in writing prior to the following Wednesday's
meeting.
MR. CARTER agreed he would. He added that he would first contact
the Department of Fish and Game to find out how many guides were
currently registered as single-boat operators and to determine the
department's likely cost of monitoring the sport fishing guide
industry.
Number 1017
REPRESENTATIVE KIM ELTON asked, if a guide were licensed under the
Department of Fish and Game, whether the license fees would go into
the Fish and Game fund and whether they could be used for that kind
of administrative work. He wanted to know what restrictions were
placed on the Fish and Game fund as it pertained to administering
such a program.
MR. CARTER asserted that the original operator's fee was paid to
the Department of Commerce and Economic Development, not to the
Department of Fish and Game.
Number 1073
REPRESENTATIVE ELTON said his understanding was that if a license
was sold by the Department of Fish and Game, then the license
receipts went into the Fish and Game fund. He wanted to know if
that fund could be used to administer the program in question.
Number 1120
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN referred to the Task Force recommendation and
asked Mr. Hodson about combining the operator's and guide's
licenses for single-boat operators. He noted that the definition
in the proposal did not specify the same qualifications for being
a guide as for being an operator. For example, the sport fish
guide license required CPR training, whereas the operator license
did not. He wondered if that simply needed correction.
Number 1166
MR. HODSON responded that the intention was that the operator would
have to qualify under the guide requirements in order to be
entitled to guide under the exemption. He said he believed the
language specified this.
Number 1212
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN referred to page 2 of the recommendations and
said that another issue which needed addressing was the reporting
requirement discussed in the second to last paragraph. He stated
that the committee wanted to put some teeth into that concept,
ensuring that reporting occurred. However, he said, they did not
want to create a bureaucracy. He added that if guides and
operators were already reporting in some manner, perhaps that would
suffice under the reporting requirement. He suggested that the
committee address that issue.
Number 1264
REPRESENTATIVE SCOTT OGAN said that for the next meeting, the
committee should consider what regulations would be affecting this
issue, whether through statute, a board or other means. He
expressed concern that they were creating additional bureaucracy.
Number 1304
MR. HODSON said the Task Force's intention was to keep the process
simple. No board had been envisioned. An operator would only have
to show proof of insurance and a business license. In talking with
the Department of Commerce and Economic Development (DCED), he
said, he understood that DCED could figure out the cost of
administering the program and set appropriate fees that could be
adjusted every two years.
Number 1343
CHAIRMAN AUSTERMAN noted that both the Task Force proposal and HB
175 would be discussed at the next meeting on Wednesday,
January31, 1996, at 5:00 p.m.
Number 1397
ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Austerman adjourned the meeting of the House Special
Committee on Fisheries at 5:25 p.m.
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