SENATE RESOURCES COMMITTEE May 3, 1999 3:30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Rick Halford, Chairman Senator Lyda Green Senator Jerry Mackie Senator Georgianna Lincoln MEMBERS ABSENT Senator Robin Taylor, Vice Chairman Senator Pete Kelly Senator Sean Parnell COMMITTEE CALENDAR CONFIRMATION HEARINGS: Board of Fisheries Dan K. Coffey - Anchorage Grant J. Miller - Sitka Virgil L. Umphenour - Fairbanks WITNESS REGISTER Virgil L. Umphenour 2400 Davis Rd. Fairbanks, AK 99701 Dan K. Coffey 207 East Northern Lights Blvd. Suite 200 Anchorage, AK 99503 Grant Miller PO Box 6097 Sitka, AK 99835 ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 99-29, SIDE A Number 001 CHAIRMAN HALFORD called the Senate Resources Committee meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Present were Senators Green, Mackie, Lincoln and Chairman Halford. The committee took up nominations to the Board of Fisheries. VIRGIL UMPHENOUR, nominee from Fairbanks, made the following comments via teleconference. After returning from Vietnam in 1971, he moved to Fairbanks. In 1984 he got a limited entry permit for an Upper Yukon fishery and in 1985 he opened a small processing plant to process his own fish. In 1989 he leased a plant in Fairbanks from the State that was built to slaughter livestock. He has been operating that plant ever since. He has been on the Board of Fisheries for the past five years and sees a lot of unfinished business regarding sustainable fisheries work. He would like to continue to be a part of that discussion. SENATOR LINCOLN stated she has received some letters from people in several areas, and one in particular from the Copper River area that contained segments of Mr. Umphenour's response to some questions posed to him by a Representative. She noted Mr. Umphenour said that some of the commercial fishermen (gillnetters in Prince William Sound) involved in the process do not like him and consider him a threat because they do not like responsible fish management, they like to be able to kill every last fish, and they do not care if the sport fishery and personal use fishery are restricted as long as they can catch all they can at the mouth of the river first. She pointed out that the people who contacted her felt that response was highly inflammatory and unsubstantiated. She asked Mr. Umphenour if that statement was taken out of context and whether he would be willing to listen to the Copper River or Prince William Sound fishermen if they came before the Board of Fisheries with proposals. MR. UMPHENOUR replied that statement was taken partially out of context. He was referring to the area of the Copper River fishery inside the Barrier Islands where commercial fishing occurs in the mouth of the river. ADF&G targets the fishery by sonar which counts all salmon, the majority of which are sockeyes. The sonar checks escapement each week beginning May 15. The goal of sockeye escapement has been met when the fishery opens, however during the first few openings more king salmon are inside of the Barrier Islands than sockeye. There are 40 populations of king salmon in the Copper River. There are escapement enumerators on only three or four of those populations. ADF&G does not know whether it will meet the biological escapement goal of those three or four populations until about eight weeks later. The king salmon spend 7 to 14 days moving between salt and fresh water in the area, which is 2 to 10 feet deep. The fishermen were using 29' gillnets designed to catch sockeye. The Board of Fisheries restricted all fisheries, except the subsistence fishery, two and one-half years ago to allow at least five percent more king salmon to escape. He argued for a larger restriction, a 10 percent escapement, which is why those fishers are upset with him. He said the personal use fishery allows the catch of four king salmon per family per year; he does not want to see the personal use, subsistence, and sport fishers restricted any more without restricting the 30 or 40 commercial fishers who caught 68,000 king salmon in the mouth of the Copper River last year. There being no further questions of Mr. Umphenour, the committee took testimony from Dan Coffey. Number 148 DAN COFFEY testified via teleconference and made the following comments. His term ends in June of 1999, and he feels the Board of Fisheries is part way down the road to resolving fairly important policy matters. The sustainable fisheries project should be completed in about a year, and he expects the policy changes to have a dramatic effect on the way fishery resources are preserved and protected. The subsistence issue is coming to the forefront with the federal takeover and he has been actively involved in that process to maintain as much control over our fisheries as possible. Finally, the area of profit and procedure, working on the committee system and doing the organizational things that allow the Board to complete its work in a timely fashion is important. He would like to see the projects that he has worked on brought to success and he sees the Board of Fisheries' process, which provides for a lot of public participation, to be a very good way to manage fisheries. He never thought he would volunteer for a second term, however it is one way he can pay back a lot of the benefits that the state has given him. SENATOR MACKIE thanked Mr. Coffey for his quick response to a situation in Kodiak in which the Board may have erred in a king salmon allocation for residents decision. He also said he had concerns when Mr. Coffey was initially appointed to the Board, but he is now quite pleased with how Mr. Coffey deals with people and issues. He noted he would support Mr. Coffey's renomination for that reason, however he could not say the same for the other nominees. MR. COFFEY stated the people of Kodiak worked hard with the Board. While they were upset about the decision, they were kind and courteous to Board members and they pitched in to find a solution to the problem. He noted the committee system that the Board put together in April allowed him to deal with the problem effectively. SENATOR MACKIE added that he was quite disappointed with a few Board members about the recent decision regarding the bottom trawl fisheries around Kodiak. He noted the local advisory committee came up with a solution that he believes was fair and addressed all user group concerns, however some Board members completely disregarded that process. He asked Mr. Coffey why the Board was not willing to look more closely at the local fish and game advisory council process and the recommendations that come from the councils. MR. COFFEY replied the recommendation that came out of Kodiak was in large measure followed except for the concerns on the mainland peninsula and two small islands on the East side of the island. Most of what the local advisory committee recommended was accepted. Often the local advisory committee has a lot of specialized and local knowledge that the Board does not have. Under most circumstances, the local advisory committee has the best wisdom on the area. But, as an example, one of the things the Board learned was that the topography on the Shelikof Straits side of Kodiak Island was such that there are not a lot of crab migrations between the bays, inlets and fiords. On the other side the topography is different and is described as a highway in and out of the inlets. The Board feared that if it did not do some of the things that it ultimately chose to do, it would be defeating the purpose of protecting both the bottom and the crab population. The thought was that because of the topographical differences, the Board would be better off to limit the bottom trawling to the areas where potential damage to crab was less. Mr. Coffey noted the Kodiak Local Advisory Committee is one of the best in the State. It covers the entire island and people with diverse views. Sometimes the Board learns things in its meeting and committee process that lead to variations of what the local advisory committees recommend. SENATOR MACKIE noted his concern was some Board members' attitudes that if the smaller trawl boats on the East side of the island that fish the non-migratory species cannot compete in the Gulf, they should give up fishing. MR. COFFEY noted the Board did try to preserve and protect that fishery for the smaller boats. He stated the issues are very complicated but the Board does listen to people. There being no further questions of Mr. Coffey, Mr. Grant Miller was asked to speak. Number 321 GRANT MILLER stated that one of the reasons he decided to put his name back in the hat is that he feels comfortable working with this particular Board and he has really good feelings about what it has accomplished along the way. Some of the changes the Board has made regarding public access, resource conservation, and the creation of the State cod fishery have been important. He has been on the state fisheries committee since it was first formed in Anchorage about three years ago and he is committed to seeing the development of a State fisheries policy through to the end. He has fished in Alaska since 1977. He has a great deal of respect for the resource and he is in a position to protect the resource so that others can benefit from it in the future. Regarding his fellow Board members who are up for reappointment, he believes Mr. Umphenour has always been well informed, he has a strong concern for the resource, and he is straightforward. Mr. Coffey has been a tremendous asset to this Board with his organizational, leadership, and mediation skills. They have both accomplished a lot on the Board. SENATOR MACKIE told Mr. Miller he appreciates his open-mindedness and hard work, and his attempts at consensus building. There being no further questions, SENATOR MACKIE moved to forward the three names to the Joint Session for a vote. There being no objection, the motion carried. There being no further business to come before the committee, CHAIRMAN HALFORD adjourned the meeting at 3:53 p.m.