HB 79-SALTWATER SPORTFISHING OPERATORS/GUIDES  4:25:14 PM CHAIR REVAK announced the consideration of CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 79(FIN) "An Act relating to sport fishing operators and sport fishing guides; requiring the Department of Fish and Game to prepare and submit a report; and providing for an effective date." 4:25:50 PM DOUG VINCENT-LANG, Commissioner, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Anchorage, Alaska, introduced HB 79 on behalf of the administration. He read the following statement into the record: [Original punctuation provided.] Thank you for this opportunity to speak to HB 79, legislation introduced by the Governor and a department priority. With this bill the department would like to reinstate the saltwater licensing and reporting requirements. Before amendment in House Fisheries and passage by the House, last year, it did not reinstate the freshwater licensing or reporting requirements because the department does not see an immediate need for this kind of reporting in freshwater at this time. However, in House Fisheries the bill was amended to require licensure of freshwater operators and guides, but not require reporting by them. This was accompanied by a reduction in licensure fees for both freshwater and saltwater guides. This change has caused some concern with the freshwater operators and guides across the state. The bill was also amended in House Finance to include a resident/nonresident licensing fee differential. The amended version of the bill was passed by the House last year and is now before you. Before I go any further let me provide you with a little bit of legislative background on this issue. The sport fish guide and operator licenses were first adopted in the 2003-2004 legislative session and took effect in 2005 and remained in effect until December 31, 2014, when they expired due to a sunset clause. This legislation was passed based on the urging of both fresh and saltwater guides who were looking to professionalize their industries and to ensure the department had information necessary to manage their fisheries. During the 2015-2016 legislative session only the saltwater licensing and reporting requirements were reinstated with a sunset of 2018. The legislature stripped the freshwater piece from the legislation and the Department supported this as we were not using the freshwater information for in season management or assessment of fisheries. And, we were seeing minor logbook violations, for example an error in the reporting of the number of grayling released, result in loss of concession permits, notably on federal lands. This legislation sunsetted in 2018. The legislature provided some bridge funding through UGF, but that has since gone away. As such we have no legislation in place to collect fees to pay for the marine logbook program. Logbook data has been collected by the department from saltwater sport fishing businesses and guides since 1998 and is critical to: • Upholding the state's US/Canada Pacific Salmon treaty obligations • Providing data to the International Pacific Halibut Commission crucial to making allocation and management decisions • It is also critical for the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council for managing federal fisheries, avoiding duplicative reporting requirements, and undue burden on the charter industry. • Logbook data also supports a myriad of additional critical uses, including but not limited to; State Fisheries Monitoring & Management, Advisory Announcements & Emergency Orders, the Alaska Board of Fisheries Processes, Advisory Committees, etc... Let me give you an example of the utility of this information in the management of saltwater fisheries. Last year, we saw significant decreases in tourism across Alaska which resulted in significant reduction in saltwater charter boat fishing. We used data from the logbook program to show that we would be significantly below our catch quotas for halibut in the charter industry and we were able to use data to relax the regulations enacted by the IPHC and allow the charter boat fishery some additional opportunity. This resulted in increased participation in halibut charter fisheries, mainly by Alaskans. It also provided a needed economic boost to the charter fisheries and local economies. Fees collected as part of this bill would provide data necessary to manage marine charter fisheries of Alaska. These fisheries support somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000 angler days of effort and contribute over $1.5M to the state's economy. In sum, the Department supports this bill as introduced by the Governor and see it as a necessary tool to fund and manage saltwater charter fisheries. We urge your support in moving this bill out of committee. 4:30:46 PM RACHEL HANKE, Legislative Liaison, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Soldotna, Alaska, paraphrased the sectional analysis for HB 79. [Original punctuation provided.] Section 1  Establishes license fees for resident sport fishing guides and operators. • Resident guide license - $100 • Resident operator license - $200 • Resident operator and guide combined license - $200 Establishes license fees for nonresident sport fishing guides and operators. • Nonresident guide license - $200 • Nonresident operator license - $400 • Nonresident operator and guide combined license - $400 Section 2  Adds new Article to AS 16.40 that • AS 16.40.262 provides stipulations for the sport fishing operator license and defines the license type o Includes requirements such as a business license and general liability insurance • AS 16.40.272 provides stipulations for the sport fishing guide license and combined operator guide license, defines both license types o Includes requirements such as a current sport fishing license and first aid certification • AS 16.40.282 establishes the logbook reporting requirements for saltwater guides and operators. Allows the department to collect freshwater logbook information if the departments deem the information necessary. • AS 16.40.292 establishes penalties for violations the of the chapter • AS 16.40.301 defines "sport fishing guide" and "sport fishing guide services". Section 3  Adds salt sportfishing operator and guide license to AS 25.27.244(s)(2) which defines "license" in statutes regarding the Child Support Services Agency. Section 4  Uncodified law directing the Department of Fish and Game to prepare a report for the legislature proposing solutions to gathering harvest data for the saltwater rental and unguided fishing industry, due December 1, 2022. Section 5  Effective date of January 1, 2022. 4:32:18 PM SENATOR STEVENS recalled the courts ruled that the cost of a nonresident commercial fisheries license must equate to the cost to administer the program. He asked whether the nonresident fee increases in this bill are justifiable. COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG responded that in the Carlson Case, the courts ruled that the department may not charge nonresident businesses more to operate in the state than the relative cost to administer the program. Typically, the nonresident to resident cost differential is 3 to 1. On the advice of counsel, HB 79 settled on a defensible 2 to 1 differential. 4:33:37 PM SENATOR KAWASAKI asked whether $600,000 was required to implement the logbook program at the department level and meet the obligations of the Pacific Salmon Treaty and International Halibut Act. COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that the cost is a little more than $600,000. Limited funds from the Halibut Commission and the Salmon Treaty will supplement the cost to do portions of the logbook program. He said that $600,000 is the unrecoverable cost associated with this program. SENATOR KAWASAKI asked how the program was funded prior to 2004/2005 and what the bridge funds were in 2018/2019. COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that this was originally funded through Fish and Game unrestricted general fund (UGF) dollars. He said that early on the guides wanted to professionalize the industry, set standards, and use data for economic analysis. The guides pushed freshwater and saltwater licensing in the original bill. Later, this information was used against the freshwater guide industry and became very controversial. The guide industry successfully let the program sunset, and the bill with it. The freshwater guide data was not used by ADFG. The department still had obligations, which Fish and Game funded through the Sportfish Division UGF and Dingell- Johnson (DJ) funds in federal aid. Since the bill did not get reapproved, the department lost the legislature UGF bridge funds over time. He stated that the department decided to reintroduce the saltwater piece of this bill to reduce Fish and Game's dependence on UGF and recover some of those funds. The saltwater guide industry, in-large part, is supportive of HB 79. 4:36:08 PM SENATOR KIEHL commented that this a good bill. He asked at what threshold guide-type activities define an individual as a guide. He illustrated the question, asking whether a guide/operator license would be required to put highlighter marks on an angler's chart, rent an angler a boat and rod, or sell an angler a bucket of bait. COMMISSIONER VINCENT-LANG answered that guide activities do not include boat rentals at this point in time. The official definition of a guide means that an individual accompanies an individual, guiding. 4:37:36 PM CHAIR REVAK opened public testimony on HB 79. 4:38:27 PM ED MARTIN JR., representing self, Kenai, Alaska, testified on HB 79. He is a 56-year resident of Alaska. He agrees with the cost of the resident sport fishing services license but strongly disagrees with the nonresident cost. He reasoned nonresident fees should be significantly higher because: 1. Nonresident dollars are a better option for generating revenue than a state income tax, and 2. Cost prohibitive fees will reduce the number of nonresidents that obtain a guide/operator license. The reduced number of nonresident guides/operators will create space in the industry for more local guides/operators. SENATOR STEVENS commented later in the meeting that he appreciated Mr. Martin's testimony. Senator Stevens said that the legislature has attempted to increase nonresident fees for commercial fisheries in the past. He suggested the Department of Law brief the committee on the implications and limitations opined in the Carlson Case. 4:41:33 PM CHAIR REVAK closed public testimony on HB 79 [and held the bill in committee.]