Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
02/11/2015 03:30 PM Senate RESOURCES
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| Alaska Department of Fish and Game (adf&g) Overview | |
| Adjourn |
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ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE
February 11, 2015
3:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Cathy Giessel, Chair
Senator Mia Costello, Vice Chair
Senator John Coghill
Senator Peter Micciche
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Bill Stoltze
Senator Bill Wielechowski
MEMBERS ABSENT
All members present
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
OVERVIEW: ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME (ADF&G)
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
SAM COTTEN, COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented overview of ADF&G.
TOM BROOKOVER, Acting Director
Division of Sport Fish
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Related the license modernization effort
taking place in his division.
ACTION NARRATIVE
3:30:18 PM
CHAIR CATHY GIESSEL called the Senate Resources Standing
Committee meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Costello, Wielechowski, Stedman, Coghill,
Stoltze, and Chair Giessel.
^Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Overview
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Overview
3:30:58 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL announced an overview of the Alaska Department of
Fish and Game (ADF&G) and invited Commissioner Cotten to the
table.
SAM COTTEN, Commissioner Designee, Alaska Department of Fish and
Game (ADF&G), Juneau, Alaska, said one the department's core
services is managing the resources. It measures its success by
level of commercial harvest, habitat permits issued, angler
days, and user harvest. It participates in federal issues that
affect the state. The more information they have the better job
they can do of managing the resources.
He said the department provides another core service of stock
assessment and research for meeting escapement goals, which
addresses the sustained yield requirements of the constitution:
meeting or exceeding threshold harvest or catch levels,
performing wildlife surveys and research and performing
subsistence surveys and research to help ensure sustainable and
harvestable surpluses.
Their customer service and public involvement are core services
that include program development to improve angling skills and
to learn about wildlife and wildlife management, selling hunting
and fishing licenses and providing a lot of information about
hunting permit drawings. A lot of their public involvement has
to do with the boards and advisory committees where the public
has good opportunity to participate in the regulatory process as
well as the advisory committee process.
3:34:20 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL asked if the boards are self-supporting.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that the department provides some
funding for the advisory committees and that the board support
section of the budget has to do with funding the board's needs
to travel, rent hotels, and hold meetings. Funding was not
reduced in this budget round, but it was reduced in the past two
budgets. It was felt that reducing it more would too seriously
affect the public's ability to participate.
CHAIR GIESSEL asked if fishing permits and licenses don't even
come close to paying for the Board of Fisheries (BOF), do
hunting license fees cover the Board of Game.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that the money the state receives
from fishing and hunting licenses goes into the Fish and Game
Fund and those funds have to be used for either the Division of
Wildlife or the Division of Sport Fish. Those divisions
supplement the board support requirements in the budget.
3:35:47 PM
He showed a map of Alaska with their offices, but it didn't
include a lot of the field offices that are seasonal, for
instance for the weir and camp on the Deshka River. Hundreds of
temporary people help with management activities like that.
3:35:55 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE joined the committee.
3:36:18 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said the commissioner delegates some
activities to the Deputy Commissioner; for example the Pacific
Salmon Commission that is a treaty organization with Canada,
Washington and representatives of the Washington Tribes.
Another very important extra responsibility is participation in
the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC), which is
what he has done for several years, but now, as commissioner, he
will lead the state delegation on that council. It is an 11-
member council that is one of several regional councils around
the country that were established when the Magnuson Stevens Act
provided for extended jurisdiction up to 200 miles. The regional
council does the regulatory work for the federal waters. This
includes codfish, pollock (the biggest biomass that is harvested
in the Bering Sea), and dozens of other species. The halibut
responsibilities are shared between the U.S. and Canada in a
Treaty organization, although the NPFMC and the State of Alaska
do some things with halibut, too. The State of Alaska manages
crab under a federal plan in a combination of efforts.
3:38:54 PM
The department has fishery management plans that regulate things
like bycatch levels. For example, in the Bering Sea, the state's
effort has been to reduce the bycatch allowed by the trawl
fleets, because the halibut stocks are so far down that the
directed fisheries - for example, in St. Paul - were down to
almost nothing. They did the same thing with Chinook salmon
bycatch limits in the Bering Sea.
3:39:29 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said the Division of Commercial Fisheries
manages all commercial, personal use and subsistence fisheries
in state waters and some shell fish fisheries under delegation
from the federal government. They do research, plan and permit
salmon hatcheries and mariculture operations like oysters and
mussels and negotiate fishing agreements subject to the Pacific
Salmon Treaty and the Alaska/Yukon Treaty (requires a certain
number of Chinook salmon to make it across the border into the
Yukon). They participate in the Board of Fisheries process of
which the commissioner is the ex-officio secretary, a non-voting
member. The department always has a presence at the meetings in
support of the boards.
3:40:41 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE said the FY16 proposed Division of Commercial
Fish budget is a little over $71.1 million and of that, $51.7
million is from unrestricted general funds and incoming revenues
are projected to be $24.7 million (according to the Revenue
Sources Book) and asked what his long-term goals were for having
the largest private sector employer pay for all of their
operations.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that the long term goal is, if it's
possible, to become pay as you go. There is interest in the
outdoor community in proposing some options along those lines
and there is a possible opportunity from the commercial fishing
industry, but that might not be quite as voluntary. Who likes to
pay taxes? But the commercial fishing industry recognizes that
without a good management system in Alaska, they can't enjoy the
success they have been having.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked how soon.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he didn't have a timeline, but time is
running short.
3:43:53 PM
He showed a chart of the value of the commercial harvest in
Alaska and stated that scientific management of the various
fisheries contributes to the success of the seafood industry.
Scientific management practices allow for the largest harvest
that can be biologically sustained over time. The ADF&G also
plays a vital role by the adoption of regulations and fishery
management plans in conjunction with the Board of Fisheries,
fishermen, and processors. This provides an orderly fishery that
produces high quality products in a cost effective manner for
utilization by the seafood industry.
He reported that the 2014 commercial salmon fishery all-species
harvest was 156 million fish with an estimated preliminary value
of $576 million.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said the Division of Sport Fish is
responsible for managing Alaska's sport fisheries as well as
many personal use fisheries and some subsistence fisheries. They
do fisheries enhancement through the two major hatcheries, one
in Fairbanks and one in Anchorage. They maintain and improve
boater and angler access for sport fishing and recreational
opportunities. They give a lot of information to the public
about recreational fishing opportunities, angler skills,
management-related and conservation issues. It is the ADF&G lead
on invasive species. It has three regional offices and 22 area
offices.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked how likely it is that the decision
that allows subsistence set netting halfway across the Kenai
River by the Federal Subsistence Board can be reversed.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that the department has a
representative that sits on the Federal Subsistence Board as a
non-voting member and four federal agencies have votes; three of
those voted no and one voted yes. They were quite surprised and
didn't have any advance warning that the National Park Service
was going to vote in favor. He emphasized their conservation
concerns about the details on where the nets will be placed; it
could be on the spawning grounds or where it would affect other
species. Geoff Haskett, Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS) in Alaska and he informed him that he,
too, was surprised at that vote.
3:47:13 PM
He said that getting that vote turned around could be done
through a reconsideration by the department, individuals, or
maybe the legislature. Director Haskett suggested that the USFWS
overturn it on an ANILCA compliance basis. ANILCA describes the
purpose of the refuge, and if this isn't compatible with that
purpose, then they can make a determination and disallow that
regulation; and that is what he is working on. But there is
still plenty of time to request reconsideration.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI encouraged reconsideration of that decision
and went on to another issue about salmon returns to the Susitna
Drainage. He said it is about a two-hour drive to get to the
Kenai and one hour to the Susitna, so they would prefer going to
Susitna, but there has been a huge lack of fish coming back to
that drainage. Changes were made at the Board of Fisheries last
year and he wondered if they had gotten any data back on the
effect of those changes.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he knew there was a good silver
return, but he couldn't say if it was a result of the new
regulations.
3:49:54 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE said Alaska statute provides that the Board of
Fisheries "may" allocate among the uses, but it also says they
"shall" provide the criteria on which to make those decision and
asked if the board has the necessary tools to make those
criteria decisions, particularly on the economic value of
fisheries and its importance to a region.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that information available to the
department will certainly be available to the boards and that he
hadn't heard any concerns expressed from board members that they
were unable to get information that the department might have.
SENATOR STOLTZE said he was concerned that the economic studies
on the benefits of sport fish uses had not been updated, and
there is also an incredible lack of non-anecdotal data about
personal use fisheries.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he had seen separate economic studies
that show value as a result of the sport fishing industry, the
personal use fisheries and the commercial fishing industries,
and thought perhaps they could all be put altogether to make
into one credible study as well as to have a comparison of
existing fishing industries.
3:53:52 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said the United Cook Inlet Driftnet
Association (UCIDA) had filed a lawsuit that would allow the
federal government to become more involved in management of the
Cook Inlet, and asked if he knew the status of that lawsuit, and
whether or not it is appropriate to change the structure as
UCIDA is suggesting.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he is very familiar with the
lawsuit and dealt with that issue when he sat on the North
Pacific Management Council (NPFMC). He explained that under the
Magnuson Act, the federal government controls the waters beyond
three miles, so many places in Alaska have been ceded to state
government by the federal government for management for obvious
reasons like a salmon run that might cross over a line into
federal waters. There was concern that perhaps people would be
able to fish out beyond three miles and not have to put up with
any state regulations as long as they didn't land the fish in
Alaska. That is one of the reasons the council decided it would
be better to make sure that those authorities were with the
State of Alaska. At that point, the state also said it would
prefer to have comprehensive management of salmon. So, from the
state and NPFMC's perspective the most logical thing was to
allow salmon management within Alaska.
The argument from the advocates involved with the lawsuit
suggested the Magnuson Stevens Act had national standards that
should be considered by Alaska fish managers that had to do with
a fishing community's sustainability, and perhaps if they were
able to get those national standards at the table, their point
of view might have carried more weight. He voted against that
perspective as a member of the council, and his personal
position is to allow the State of Alaska to have full management
of the salmon.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked what actions the department is taking
to minimize by-catch that is impacting returning king salmon.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN clarified that "bycatch" has more than one
definition, but the one the council uses is a prohibited species
that must be discarded or otherwise not kept for profit. In that
regard, most of the by-catch takes place in federal fisheries,
and as a member of the NPFMC, Alaska has a lot to say about that
and has established by-catch limits in the Gulf of Alaska (that
had not been there before the pollock industry) and for all
other fishing in the Gulf (two different bycatch limits), and
they will take final action in April to reduce Chinook salmon
bycatch limits in the Bering Sea. They are also working on chum
salmon bycatch restrictions in the Bering Sea. One of the
problems, he explained, is if you get the fleets off of chum
salmon they may have to move and land on the Chinook salmon, so
they are forced to make some choices occasionally. From his and
now from the state's perspective they are being more aggressive
on reducing bycatch. In June, they expect to take final action
on some major halibut bycatch reductions.
3:58:33 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said the chart on slide 10 surprised him
when he discovered that there were more non-resident fishing
licenses sold than resident. That's a good thing, because we
enjoy a lot of visitors up here.
CHAIR GIESSEL said she is hearing from citizens that our fishing
licenses are an incredible bargain and it's time to raise their
price, particularly for non-residents.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN referenced the Carlson case that limited how
much of a difference can be charged for a non-resident license,
but he has an over-60 free license, which is really a bargain,
and there are 87,000 of those. He said he had spreadsheets and
statistics showing what all the states charge for different
licenses and, by most accounts, Alaska is quite a bargain.
SENATOR MICCICHE said fishing is important in his district; a
key industry is sport fishing guides and lodges and asked how
the spread works between resident and non-residents in that
regard.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that some guidelines were used in
the Carlson Case that required the State of Alaska to pay
people back for having paid too much for their licenses and he
would get those for him.
SENATOR STEDMAN said the state, in settling the Carlson Case,
had to pay the attorney tens of millions of dollars and he would
like to see the cost of hunting and fishing licenses for
residents held to a minimum. A fundamental objective that
Alaskans should have is access to and enjoyment of the great
outdoors. It's not just for running around with your go-pro
camera, but running around with your rifle and fishing pole. He
likes not charging young Alaskans under the age of 16 to fish
and hunt. He is just not interested in raising license fees for
Alaskans.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked how much decreased opportunity there has
been in Southcentral Alaska.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he would get that historical data for
him.
4:03:40 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said that the Division of Wildlife
Conservation collects scientifically sound information and
manages wildlife populations in Alaska on a sustained yield
principle. Managers have to understand the animals Alaska has
and the division has a lot of good scientific experts. It has a
program that is intended to increase lower or declining ungulate
populations through intensive management that has had good
success. It helps maintain opportunities to hunt, trap and view
wildlife; three shooting ranges conduct hunter education and
safety programs.
SENATOR STEDMAN said the shooting ranges used to have a subsidy
of $360,000 a year and that needed to be reviewed at some point.
CHAIR GIESSEL said there is talk about a buffer zone around
Denali National Park and asked what ADF&G is doing about
maintaining state control of its lands and, therefore, hunting
and fishing opportunities, as the federal government attempts to
expand its land.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN answered that when he first got appointed to
this job, he received a letter asking him to rescind a Board of
Game action that allowed trapping in this buffer zone (that the
state has authority over). Since the board had just made that
decision, he declined to reverse it. It was an allocative issue
that had a close vote. He suggested bringing any new information
to the board and asking it to rule based on that.
He said the state is facing some pretty intense opposition to
some of its management measures, both proposed and in place, and
a lot of it has to do with intensive management. For example,
the Board of Game wanted to extend a wolf hunting and trapping
season, and that can be done on state land, but the federal
government wouldn't allow it on refuge lands - suspecting the
state's purpose was to increase moose or caribou populations,
which they wouldn't allow. He is keeping a positive attitude,
but hasn't had a lot of encouragement in meeting with the Park
Service. Other meetings with the USFWS were coming up, too.
CHAIR GIESSEL asked how he would address the Endangered Species
Act proposals.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that he had a conversation with
the director on that one and there is an interesting debate
about wolves in Southeast. Some people want to refer to them as
the Archipelago Wolves and they aren't necessarily widely
accepted as a distinct population. Prince of Wales Island has a
lot of wolves and recently the board took action to limit the
percentage of wolves that could be taken there on an annual
basis. Green Peace had a proposal in to limit them to 30, but
after hearing the state had a proposal to limit the numbers to
20, they quickly changed theirs to zero. The state has the
responsibility of sustainably managing wolves and not causing
their extinction or that of any other predators, and they
probably won't be listed.
On the other hand, the state has had some "not so good"
experiences over the years with Steller sea lions. A lot of the
closures - that shouldn't have been - in the Aleutians seriously
affected the fishing industry. It took a long time for the USFWS
and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to finally
agree that they couldn't defend their case and many of those
areas got reopened. "The struggle continues," he said.
CHAIR GIESSEL asked who will be the lead on addressing
Endangered Species proposed designations.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he was very involved personally
and he has a special assistant who is an attorney that has had
some experience in that field and is coming up to speed pretty
quickly. Some of the department staff has experience that will
be used, as well, and they work closely with two attorneys from
the Department of Law (DOL). They are currently involved with
Ice Seals.
CHAIR GIESSEL said she heard the Department of Law is losing
some of the attorneys who have been working on these federal
overreach issues. They had seen some success, for example, the
Bearded Seal designation.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said there hadn't been a change of
philosophy, and he couldn't comment on the DOL's budget.
4:13:13 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said he was concerned about the federal
government's 100-year view of invasive species, because he gets
the impression that they view humans as the invasive species.
Otters continue to proliferate and they are more invasive than
humans.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said Southeast Alaska isn't the only place
with a few extra sea otters. Kachemak Bay used to have a lot of
Dungeness and Tanner crab and shrimp, so he could relate to what
he was saying. He said he would be interested in working with
Senator Stedman to see what could be done.
SENATOR STEDMAN added that it's pretty clear they can't have a
bounty on otters as was done in the territorial days to thin
them out. The state has to get the feds to at least do their
research and keep accurate data on harvest numbers. Maybe the
department could get back to him on some of the red crab
surveys, as well.
4:16:16 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked his basic philosophy of where the
management plans intersect and if there is any potential for
improvement.
COMMISSIONER COTTON said he was keeping an open mind, but he
hadn't had a lot of encouragement that he would have much
success working with the federal agencies. But some meetings are
currently set up to discuss some of these issues and he intended
to give them a fair chance.
4:17:16 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE said there had been a lot of concern about
proposals 207 and 208 regarding Dall sheep and a corresponding
concern about a lack of information coming from the department
in the upcoming Board of Game meeting.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that the sheep issues will be
predominant on the agenda and there will be a workshop Friday
night that everyone can attend. All of the sheep proposals have
to do with resident versus non-resident. But he would have to
claim ignorance on whether the department has kept anything
internal that should have been made public and promised to look
into it.
He showed a graph indicating the big difference in non-resident
versus resident hunting licenses and noted that the small uptick
in resident hunting licenses might be the result of the
department's hunter education programs.
4:19:47 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said several years ago, he was surprised at the
lack of both hunting and fishing licenses being sold in northern
and western Alaska and asked for an update of those statistics,
because they would be handy to have in discussing fee
structures.
4:21:22 PM
SENATOR COGHILL said he also wanted to see histories of issues
that require a tag or a specific license.
4:23:00 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said the Division of Subsistence is
primarily compiles and analyzes subsistence harvest information.
People in the field actually go to villages, sometimes getting a
local person to walk around and knock on doors with them. This
is typically in the winter and they will end up sleeping at the
school or wherever trying to get data in what is a "pretty
personal" operation that takes a lot of time. But the data is
extremely valuable and is used in a lot of areas.
4:23:56 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN, who represents a lot of subsistence
communities, asked for subsistence numbers from around the
state.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he would make sure to get back
to Senator Stedman with that information.
4:25:27 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE said both personal use and subsistence are
managed within the Division of Commercial Fisheries and asked
his view of the similarities and differences between them,
absent a federal definition. He said it was more of a
philosophical question.
4:26:57 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that those terms are defined by
regulation.
He said the Division of Habitat has a new director, Tony
DeGange, and it reviews applications, issues permits for
activities in anadromous water bodies, fish bearing waters and
legislatively designated special areas. It provides expertise to
protect important fish and wildlife habitat, monitor and
authorize projects, conduct compliance actions and maintain and
revise the anadromous waters catalogue (important to industrial
folks that need to know where to stay away from). It reviews
proposed timber harvest activities and development projects
(although it doesn't issue permits) and conducts applied
research to develop methods and means to minimize impacts of
development projects on fish and wildlife resources. It has six
offices statewide.
CHAIR GIESSEL said Mr. DeGange has 30 years in the USFWS and
USGS, both agencies that in some opinions overly protect federal
jurisdiction in Alaska and asked if he was comfortable that he
will have Alaska's best interest in terms of maximum use for
Alaskans in mind.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he thinks Alaska is lucky to
have Mr. DeGange in this position. He brings a lot of expertise
with him and probably some ability on how to understand and work
better with the federal agencies. He will also be a good
advocate for Alaska.
4:31:23 PM
He said the Division of Administrative Services supports the
other divisions' budget, accounting and IT. The Board Support
Section has a person for the Board of Game and the Board of
Fisheries. He really enjoys interacting with people at the Board
of Fisheries on issues that they care a lot about.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked if he went as an interested citizen or as
a compensated participant.
COMMISSIONER COTTON replied both. He did some work as an
employee and later as a consultant for the Aleutians East
Borough. Fishing is their only economy and one of his duties was
to attend Board of Fisheries meetings and North Pacific
Fisheries Management Council (NPFMC) meetings. He was later
appointed to the NPFMC as a private citizen. He enjoyed working
there and learned a lot.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said a couple of independent agencies are
the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) and the Exxon
Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he read the CFEC report and asked how
it was generated and what actions he is taking at this point to
enact any of the recommendations.
4:34:33 PM
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that his understanding is that last
year Representative Seaton introduced a bill to get rid of CFEC.
So, the department decided to do an independent review. They got
it back, read it and decided to not make any changes, as it was
a completed piece of work that the previous administration had
initiated. They decided to put it out, let everybody see it and
draw their own conclusions. He said it appears that some
efficiencies could be gained, but cautioned that this commission
performs some extremely important functions that somebody would
have to do, like registering and issuing permits for boats and
people on an annual basis. Most of the proposed changes would
require legislation.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said it seems the CFEC has good people and
it performs a necessary service and asked if he is going to lead
the charge.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that Representative Stutes said she
was going to introduce a bill and he informed her they would be
happy to work with her on it.
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if he had plans to look for more
efficiencies in permitting through technology.
4:38:45 PM
TOM BROOKOVER, Acting Director, Division of Sport Fish, Alaska
Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), answered that the
department had undertaken a licensing modernization effort that
includes an on line store that will open within days. That will
make it more efficient for people to apply and obtain licenses
and other products in the future. His division is working on
incorporating an electronic capability for personal use fresh
water permits - for example, the Cook Inlet personal use fishery
and the Chuitna dip net fishery - and couple it with an ability
to report harvest electronically. It will be an option not a
requirement. They are also working on a pilot electronic charter
vessel log book program on the Kenai River.
SENATOR MICCICHE agreed with previous statements that it seems
like CFEC is still a very manual process.
SENATOR STOLTZE cautioned against totally automating, because
people buy a lot of gear where they buy their licenses.
4:41:54 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked when online harvesting for personal
use will be ready to go and if he was getting complaints from
people who have sent them in and are getting second and third
notices. He sent his Copper River dip netting and Kenai River
report in twice and that's not the first time it has happened.
MR. BROOKOVER answered that they are shooting for June for the
online capability. He was not familiar with specific complaints
about the paper system, but they do what they can to work with
folks to minimize those.
SENATOR MICCICHE said the various user groups in his community
have access challenges to the Kenai River and asked how he felt
about the philosophy behind Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS)
properties that are sealed off from public use or any level of
development. Huge chunks of property along the Kenai River,
specifically around the City of Soldotna, are off-limits.
4:44:05 PM
MR. BROOKOVER, the EVOS designee, explained Exxon Valdez Oil
Spill Trustee Council is involved in purchasing land for habitat
conservation reasons. In order to purchase land under EVOS
guidelines, it has to add value to either the resources or the
surfaces damaged by the spill. With those requirements there are
requirements for habitat conservation. He was not aware of any
hard and fast guidelines that prohibit some types of access.
Some low scale development has taken place, such as board walks
and signage. The importance of access to those properties and
habitat conservation measures have been discussed recognizing
the potential use that could be occurring there while still
fulfilling the habitat conservation guidelines.
4:46:33 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he had any plans to file a motion
with U.S. District Court to compel Exxon to honor their
commitment to pay additional damages for the oil spill.
MR. BROOKOVER replied that is being currently considered in both
the state and federal governments. A decision can be expected in
about a year or so.
SENATOR STOLTZE asked him to comment on past EVOS expenditures
now that a less money is available.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN said he would let Mr. Brookover respond on
past expenditures and he offered to do more exhaustive work with
the committee on this.
4:48:46 PM
He went on to the FY 2016 Budget by division and fund source and
offered to answer questions on it.
SENATOR STOLTZE noted the 3.7 percent reduction for the Division
of Commercial Fish and a 10-plus percent reduction for the
Division of Sport Fish and asked about that evaluation process.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that he was not prepared to respond
to that right now, but he would like to go through the different
reductions with him. He noted the full and part time positions
and said since 2012, the overall department position count was
down by 66 positions. He said the commercial component of the
2014 budget was $576 million and the biggest component of that
is in Bristol Bay. Kotzebue had a banner year for chum salmon,
second largest on record; people hadn't seen a lot of those
opportunities for quite some time.
4:51:25 PM
The department is currently implementing intensive management
programs aimed at increasing caribou and moose numbers in
portions of several game management units. It has allocated
funds to support and intensified field monitoring and research
to document population parameters to support, sustain and defend
existing and new intensive management programs.
CHAIR GIESSEL asked for his plans going forward on unjustified
Endangered Species listings by the federal government.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that it would be on a case-by-case
basis and, in fact, the Steller sea lion issue is not done. The
state was on the prevailing side of recent litigation until the
department was forced to open up some new fishing areas. Now,
the same agencies are doing a brand new review of all critical
habitat areas that were "amazingly" inspired by the delisting of
the eastern sea lion populations. Now, they are concerned the
federal government will head west. But they recently agreed to
disclose all their new work products and to get a public and
peer review before going out with a proposed rule.
CHAIR GIESSEL underscored that she didn't want the department to
stand down on those issues, because the non-governmental
organizations (NGO) won't.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN related how a recent proposal to create a
brand new marine sanctuary that would have taken in the entire
Aleutians, Alaska Peninsula and Bristol Bay was dropped.
4:55:10 PM
SENATOR STOLTZE asked what he thought were the department's
failures or shortfalls, for instance meeting the harvest goals
for moose in Game Management Unit 16.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN responded that Unit 16 is a pretty
interesting subject, because there are three different
possibilities for hunts up there: a general hunt for a 50 inch
bull (a regular hunting season that all can participate in), a
drawing hunt for bull moose of less than appropriate size and a
tier 2 hunt in the winter time that has received criticism,
because a lot of moose are available in the winter time. They
congregate along the rivers and migrate from other game units
into the Susitna Yentna area. Last year hunters had a low level
of success even though typically moose are easy to get,
especially if you have a snow machine. He would look into that
issue, because he didn't realize the numbers were down.
4:57:34 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE said that the commissioner has a tough job and
that Alaska has changed. Groups are at each other's throats and
he asked if he could make it better.
COMMISSIONER COTTEN replied that his goal was to diffuse
polarized elements, a lofty goal that he didn't have a sure-fire
plan to accomplish. One of the goals of this administration is
to be transparent and let people see how decisions are being
made. They want the face of ADF&G to be one of impartiality and
science-based management. If those goals can be achieved, it
will be a good start on a road toward less animosity.
5:00:11 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE wished Commissioner Cotton luck.
CHAIR GIESSEL thanked Commissioner Cotton for the overview.
5:00:47 PM
CHAIR GIESSEL adjourned the Senate Resources Committee meeting
at 5:00 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SRES-ADF&G Overview-02-11-2015.pdf |
SRES 2/11/2015 3:30:00 PM |