SB 304-CFEC AS INFORMATION RESOURCE    3:32:05 PM CHAIR OLSON announced the consideration of SB 304. DAVE GRAY, Staff to Senator Olson, Alaska State Legislature, said SB 304 is a committee-sponsored bill. It is meant to provide, without charge, Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) information to Alaska Regional Development Organizations (ARDOR). ARDORs are nonprofit organizations comprised of economic, political, and social interests in each region, with the purpose of encouraging and stimulating economic activity. Of the eleven regions with these organizations, eight have substantial commercial fisheries activities. SB 304 allows ARDORs to benefit, free of charge, by the fisheries information generated by the CFEC. Commercial fisheries have a multi-billion dollar impact on Alaska and are the main economic engine in many parts of the state. 3:34:11 PM SENATOR KOOKESH asked if the CFEC has a position. MR. GRAY said someone is here to testify. SENATOR WAGONER said he has trouble with line 6, page 3, of the bill. "Why would the ARDOR be able to access or even be interested in individual fishermen's earnings?" MR. GRAY said they would not have access to confidential information, only information on trends, averages, and values. 3:35:21 PM MR. GRAY said to look at AS44.33.895. It talks about public information, not confidential information. SENATOR WAGONER said if it defined earnings as collective, it would be fine. MR. GRAY said that is his understanding. The CFEC won't reveal anyone's personal gain. It does composite analyses regarding harvest value and ex-vessel added value in the region and "that sort of thing." 3:37:48 PM FRANK HOMAN, Commissioner, Alaska Commercial Fishery Entry Commission, said normally the CFEC would be reluctant to make more work for themselves without charging a fee. But there are only a few ARDORs, and he doesn't anticipate a big rush of requests. There is a zero fiscal note because the impact would not be great. It is a matter of spending a few hours of a technician's time to generate a report that is tailored to each region. He said much of the CFEC's information is presented more broadly than that. He is personally sympathetic because he was president of the Southeast ARDOR. The ARDORs have very little money. He believes that SB 304 only allows public information to be released. The confidentiality statute says that the commission may release information that does not identify individual fishers, buyers, or processors, or the specific area where fish had been taken. The CFEC also has the requirement of not releasing any information that is not aggregated to protect individual information. 3:41:08 PM CHAIR OLSON asked if there is a charge for the information now. MR. HOMAN said it runs from $20 to $50 per hour of work, depending on the quality the information. These types of requests will run from a few hundred dollars to $1,500. Even with several requests, there will only be a slight impact. MR. HOMAN said the CFEC gets harvest and earnings information from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. SENATOR THOMAS asked if this just expedites the access to this information since it is public information. MR. HOMAN said this bill just allows the CFEC to provide the information without charge. SENATOR THOMAS asked why an ARDOR would want the information. MR. HOMAN said ARDORS look at the economics of the region to stimulate development. "They use it as part of a package to portray their region that would encourage people to come there and stimulate economic development." 3:43:50 PM MR. GRAY said there is a lot of support from ARDORs even though this bill has only recently been introduced. SENATOR KOOKESH moved SB 304 from committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s). There being no objection, SB 304 moved out of committee. The committee took a brief at-ease at 3:45:13 PM.