CS FOR SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 28(RES) Establishing the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force. SENATOR ALAN AUSTERMAN, SPONSOR, testified in support of SCR 28. He observed that the legislation reflects what is happening in the salmon industry in terms of a decline in price and an influx of farmed fish. He observed that the issue has been coming down the road for quite some time and noted that it has been waiting for the industry to react and the Administration to take on the issue. He noted that he has attended four different salmon summits sponsored by the Administration, which have not resulted in any action. He hoped that legislators on the Task Force would drive the issue and find answers and make recommendations that the legislature can implement, which would help crisis and indicate actions that the industry can take. In response to a question by Representative Croft, Senator Austerman stated that he did not object to changing the Task Force to eleven members. Co-Chair Mulder MOVED to ADOPT proposed committee substitute, work draft 22-LS1572\P, 4/15/02. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Senator Austerman noted that a change occurred on line 19 of page 3 - 28, which reduced the membership from 13 to 9. Co-Chair Williams observed his intent to change the membership to 11: four legislative and seven public members. Senator Austerman noted that there was some concern that the amount of work would require more than 13 members. He thought that 11 members would be sufficient. Vice-Chair Bunde questioned the effect of 11 members on the fiscal note. SUE ASPELUND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORDOVA DISTRICT FISHERMEN UNITED, CORDOVA testified via teleconference in support of CSSCR 28 (RES). She maintained that representatives of the salmon industry: fishermen, tendermen, and processors, must sit on the Task Force. Without the extensive and intimate involvement of the industry at that level, constituent buy- in of the results is unlikely. She noted that it would also be critical to seek the knowledge and expertise of resource managers, seafood marketers, economists, industry regulators, infrastructure representatives and local governments. She noted that they agree with the comment of NorQuest President Terry Gardiner in his paper entitled "Alaska Seafood Industry, Radical 5urgery? or Slow Death." She maintained that leaders are needed to represent the various segments of the industry. A forum needs to be established to have serious discussions and a goal established in order to develop a broad-based consensus for change. Without a broad base of consensus, any plans for change would be dead on arrival. She noted that the Cordova District Fishermen United strongly believes that the Austerman Task Force as it passed the Senate is the forum described by Mr. Gardiner, and that consensus in the fishing industry would only be realized when industry folks are significantly involved in identifying the problems and developing the solutions. Ms. Aspelund maintained that formalizing and supporting this Task Force is on appropriate role for government to play given the importance of the industry to the economies of dozens of coastal communities, to thousands of small independent family fishing operations, to the seafood processors and industry support infrastructures, and to the tax base of the state. PAUL A. SHADURA II, KENAI PENINSULA FISHERMEN'S ASSOCIATION, KENAI, testified via teleconference in support of CSSCR 28 (RES). He stressed that the task force is an excellent attempt by Senator Austerman and the legislature in facilitating solutions for the Alaska fishing communities. Mr. Shadura observed that at the salmon summit in Kodiak, discussion moved toward the next step in the revitalization process. Many felt that the discussions should continue and that time was of the essence. Many representatives identified problems they felt determined should be addressed. The debate of whether there should be "regional" task forces or a "statewide" task force seemed to be even Mr. Shadura maintained that, with financial considerations, the statewide concept should be the catalyst for regional task forces and that the committee must be comprised of diverse representation. He emphasized that all Alaskan fishing communities must have identification within the task force. Mr. Shadura stressed the need to develop a consensus of major improvements that will benefit every fishing community and the people of Alaska. He acknowledged that that the group could recommend hard decisions that would change Alaskan lifestyles. "It is my hope that this task force will design a framework and thus a long range salmon fisheries plan that regions can develop on and establish economic and regulatory stability for the future of all residents of the state. The last statewide plan was developed for Governor Hammond in approximately 1975. It is a comprehensive review for the fisheries in the entire state. It established goals and objectives for fisheries resources and concurrent users. Though not perfect, the design could be identified as the framework for preliminary discussions. It is imperative that all ideas, studies, facts and figures will be available to the committee. Equally as important is that the administrative arm should establish full support in supplying all it's information gathering and expertise to facilitate the task force. JERRY MADDEN, UNITED SOUTHEAST ALASKA GILLNETTERS, JUNEAU, testified in support of the legislation. He noted that there is some concern regarding representatives from the private sector. He suggested that the language be more specific to address the appointment of commercial fishermen. TAPE HFC 02 - 83, Side B DAVID BEDFORD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SOUTHEAST ALASKA SEINERS, JUNEAU, testified in support of the legislation. He noted that 10 years ago a Bristol Bay permit was worth $250 thousand dollars; today it would be worth $25 thousand dollars. In the course of 10 years the expectation on the fishery has dropped to a dime on a dollar. The price of salmon has gone from over a dollar a pound to .40 cents a pound in the past year. There have been parallel collapses in salmon prices elsewhere. Processors have laid-off dozens of purse seine fisherman, some of which have been fishing for scores of years. He emphasized that any solution must be built on the communities that rely on the fisheries. JERRY MCCUNE, UNITED FISHERMEN OF ALASKA, JUNEAU, testified in support of the legislation. He stressed that problems in the fishing industry run from infrastructure, to harvest and processing. He felt that the forum would help turn the industry around and acknowledged that it would take a lot of hard work. Co-Chair Mulder MOVED to changed the representation to 11 members with 7 public members. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Senator Austerman noted that the original legislation set out regional representation. Discussion in the Senate expressed concern that the best-qualified persons be appointed to the Task Force. The intent was to allow appointments to be made by the Senate President and House Speaker based on submissions and recommendations from other legislators or institutions. The desire is to have persons with financial and economics expertise relating to the fishing industry. Small and large processors, the commercial industry and other entitles need to be involved. Co-Chair Williams added that he would like to see someone with working knowledge of the world economy to identify ways to compete in the current climate. Senator Austerman pointed out that it would be impossible to get everyone with an interest at the table. He stressed that there is a large amount of work to be done and indicated that the Task Force could appoint subcommittees that may include others not on the Task Force. Co-Chair Mulder agreed that the Task Force number should be kept small, functional and focused on production. He asked if the expertise of the Board of Fish would be utilized. Senator Austerman agreed that the Board of Fish has appropriate information and should be consulted. He noted that the Legislature with the help of the Task Force is going to have to push for a result. Representative Lancaster assumed that the Task Force would be broad based. He noted that there are questions regarding over production. Co-Chair Williams interjected that the Administration would be engaged in the task force work. A subcommittee of fishermen from throughout the state could work along with the Administration. Representative Harris noted that there are disagreements within the fishing industry and expressed the hope that there would be cooperation. He referred to the fiscal note and questioned the $110 thousand dollar appropriation for travel. Senator Austerman thought that the number may be low by the time task force members are moved to meetings and travel of experts needed to address issues such as anti- trust is funded. He indicated that one-year might not be enough time to address the long-range vision. The intent is to stabilize the industry so that it is there 15 - 30 years from now. Representative Hudson agreed with the size of the board. He noted that large boards become overloaded with logistics. He noted that the activity could be significant, especially with a new administration. He emphasized that existing intelligence should be tapped into, such as the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. He added that sports, guiding and commercial fishermen should all be included. Representative John Davies MOVED to ADOPT Amendment 2. Amendment 2 would require that one of the four legislative members be appointed from the minority. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. Senator Austerman stressed that the Task Force would indicate that legislators could come up with creative ideas and regulatory changes to make the industry work. He expressed the hope that the result would be a separate task to address all of the sustainable fisheries in the state of Alaska in order to generate jobs. Salmon is only one of the fisheries in crisis. Representative Foster MOVED to report HCS CSSCR 28 (FIN) out of Committee with the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. HCS CSSCR 28 (FIN) was REPORTED out of Committee with a "do pass" recommendation and with a new fiscal impact note by the Legislative Affairs Agency.