Legislature(1999 - 2000)
05/03/1999 03:30 PM Senate RES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SENATE RESOURCES COMMITTEE
May 3, 1999
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Rick Halford, Chairman
Senator Lyda Green
Senator Jerry Mackie
Senator Georgianna Lincoln
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chairman
Senator Pete Kelly
Senator Sean Parnell
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CONFIRMATION HEARINGS: Board of Fisheries
Dan K. Coffey - Anchorage
Grant J. Miller - Sitka
Virgil L. Umphenour - Fairbanks
WITNESS REGISTER
Virgil L. Umphenour
2400 Davis Rd.
Fairbanks, AK 99701
Dan K. Coffey
207 East Northern Lights Blvd.
Suite 200
Anchorage, AK 99503
Grant Miller
PO Box 6097
Sitka, AK 99835
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 99-29, SIDE A
Number 001
CHAIRMAN HALFORD called the Senate Resources Committee meeting to
order at 3:30 p.m. Present were Senators Green, Mackie, Lincoln
and Chairman Halford. The committee took up nominations to the
Board of Fisheries.
VIRGIL UMPHENOUR, nominee from Fairbanks, made the following
comments via teleconference. After returning from Vietnam in 1971,
he moved to Fairbanks. In 1984 he got a limited entry permit for
an Upper Yukon fishery and in 1985 he opened a small processing
plant to process his own fish. In 1989 he leased a plant in
Fairbanks from the State that was built to slaughter livestock. He
has been operating that plant ever since. He has been on the Board
of Fisheries for the past five years and sees a lot of unfinished
business regarding sustainable fisheries work. He would like to
continue to be a part of that discussion.
SENATOR LINCOLN stated she has received some letters from people in
several areas, and one in particular from the Copper River area
that contained segments of Mr. Umphenour's response to some
questions posed to him by a Representative. She noted Mr.
Umphenour said that some of the commercial fishermen (gillnetters
in Prince William Sound) involved in the process do not like him
and consider him a threat because they do not like responsible fish
management, they like to be able to kill every last fish, and they
do not care if the sport fishery and personal use fishery are
restricted as long as they can catch all they can at the mouth of
the river first. She pointed out that the people who contacted her
felt that response was highly inflammatory and unsubstantiated.
She asked Mr. Umphenour if that statement was taken out of context
and whether he would be willing to listen to the Copper River or
Prince William Sound fishermen if they came before the Board of
Fisheries with proposals.
MR. UMPHENOUR replied that statement was taken partially out of
context. He was referring to the area of the Copper River fishery
inside the Barrier Islands where commercial fishing occurs in the
mouth of the river. ADF&G targets the fishery by sonar which
counts all salmon, the majority of which are sockeyes. The sonar
checks escapement each week beginning May 15. The goal of sockeye
escapement has been met when the fishery opens, however during the
first few openings more king salmon are inside of the Barrier
Islands than sockeye. There are 40 populations of king salmon in
the Copper River. There are escapement enumerators on only three
or four of those populations. ADF&G does not know whether it will
meet the biological escapement goal of those three or four
populations until about eight weeks later. The king salmon spend
7 to 14 days moving between salt and fresh water in the area, which
is 2 to 10 feet deep. The fishermen were using 29' gillnets
designed to catch sockeye. The Board of Fisheries restricted all
fisheries, except the subsistence fishery, two and one-half years
ago to allow at least five percent more king salmon to escape. He
argued for a larger restriction, a 10 percent escapement, which is
why those fishers are upset with him. He said the personal use
fishery allows the catch of four king salmon per family per year;
he does not want to see the personal use, subsistence, and sport
fishers restricted any more without restricting the 30 or 40
commercial fishers who caught 68,000 king salmon in the mouth of
the Copper River last year.
There being no further questions of Mr. Umphenour, the committee
took testimony from Dan Coffey.
Number 148
DAN COFFEY testified via teleconference and made the following
comments. His term ends in June of 1999, and he feels the Board of
Fisheries is part way down the road to resolving fairly important
policy matters. The sustainable fisheries project should be
completed in about a year, and he expects the policy changes to
have a dramatic effect on the way fishery resources are preserved
and protected. The subsistence issue is coming to the forefront
with the federal takeover and he has been actively involved in that
process to maintain as much control over our fisheries as possible.
Finally, the area of profit and procedure, working on the committee
system and doing the organizational things that allow the Board to
complete its work in a timely fashion is important. He would like
to see the projects that he has worked on brought to success and he
sees the Board of Fisheries' process, which provides for a lot of
public participation, to be a very good way to manage fisheries.
He never thought he would volunteer for a second term, however it
is one way he can pay back a lot of the benefits that the state has
given him.
SENATOR MACKIE thanked Mr. Coffey for his quick response to a
situation in Kodiak in which the Board may have erred in a king
salmon allocation for residents decision. He also said he had
concerns when Mr. Coffey was initially appointed to the Board, but
he is now quite pleased with how Mr. Coffey deals with people and
issues. He noted he would support Mr. Coffey's renomination for
that reason, however he could not say the same for the other
nominees.
MR. COFFEY stated the people of Kodiak worked hard with the Board.
While they were upset about the decision, they were kind and
courteous to Board members and they pitched in to find a solution
to the problem. He noted the committee system that the Board put
together in April allowed him to deal with the problem effectively.
SENATOR MACKIE added that he was quite disappointed with a few
Board members about the recent decision regarding the bottom trawl
fisheries around Kodiak. He noted the local advisory committee
came up with a solution that he believes was fair and addressed all
user group concerns, however some Board members completely
disregarded that process. He asked Mr. Coffey why the Board was
not willing to look more closely at the local fish and game
advisory council process and the recommendations that come from the
councils.
MR. COFFEY replied the recommendation that came out of Kodiak was
in large measure followed except for the concerns on the mainland
peninsula and two small islands on the East side of the island.
Most of what the local advisory committee recommended was accepted.
Often the local advisory committee has a lot of specialized and
local knowledge that the Board does not have. Under most
circumstances, the local advisory committee has the best wisdom on
the area. But, as an example, one of the things the Board learned
was that the topography on the Shelikof Straits side of Kodiak
Island was such that there are not a lot of crab migrations between
the bays, inlets and fiords. On the other side the topography is
different and is described as a highway in and out of the inlets.
The Board feared that if it did not do some of the things that it
ultimately chose to do, it would be defeating the purpose of
protecting both the bottom and the crab population. The thought
was that because of the topographical differences, the Board would
be better off to limit the bottom trawling to the areas where
potential damage to crab was less. Mr. Coffey noted the Kodiak
Local Advisory Committee is one of the best in the State. It
covers the entire island and people with diverse views. Sometimes
the Board learns things in its meeting and committee process that
lead to variations of what the local advisory committees recommend.
SENATOR MACKIE noted his concern was some Board members' attitudes
that if the smaller trawl boats on the East side of the island that
fish the non-migratory species cannot compete in the Gulf, they
should give up fishing.
MR. COFFEY noted the Board did try to preserve and protect that
fishery for the smaller boats. He stated the issues are very
complicated but the Board does listen to people.
There being no further questions of Mr. Coffey, Mr. Grant Miller
was asked to speak.
Number 321
GRANT MILLER stated that one of the reasons he decided to put his
name back in the hat is that he feels comfortable working with this
particular Board and he has really good feelings about what it has
accomplished along the way. Some of the changes the Board has made
regarding public access, resource conservation, and the creation of
the State cod fishery have been important. He has been on the
state fisheries committee since it was first formed in Anchorage
about three years ago and he is committed to seeing the development
of a State fisheries policy through to the end. He has fished in
Alaska since 1977. He has a great deal of respect for the resource
and he is in a position to protect the resource so that others can
benefit from it in the future. Regarding his fellow Board members
who are up for reappointment, he believes Mr. Umphenour has always
been well informed, he has a strong concern for the resource, and
he is straightforward. Mr. Coffey has been a tremendous asset to
this Board with his organizational, leadership, and mediation
skills. They have both accomplished a lot on the Board.
SENATOR MACKIE told Mr. Miller he appreciates his open-mindedness
and hard work, and his attempts at consensus building.
There being no further questions, SENATOR MACKIE moved to forward
the three names to the Joint Session for a vote. There being no
objection, the motion carried.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
CHAIRMAN HALFORD adjourned the meeting at 3:53 p.m.
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