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.