JUNEAU -- A state task force told to come up with fixes for Alaska's salmon industry decided Jan. 23 to forward more than a dozen proposals to the Legislature.
In its first order of business, the 11-member Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force decided to ask the Legislature to let it continue until March 2005. The task force was convened last summer after the Legislature appropriated $908,000.
"It is an ongoing crisis,'' said task force member Duncan Fields, a Kodiak lawyer and salmon fisherman.
While Alaska's salmon fishery remains largely healthy, fishermen and processors are faced with dwindling market share as high-quality, inexpensive farmed salmon reduces demand for wild salmon.
To tackle the problem, task force members served on five subcommittees: quality, finance, production, governance and marketing. Public meetings were held around the state and in Seattle.
The quality subcommittee put forward just one proposal: mandatory chilling of salmon. Several task force members expressed concern that the proposal lacked specifics. Some said it would be particularly hard on the Bristol Bay fleet because of the remoteness of the fishery.
Task force member Robin Samuelson, a Dillingham salmon fisherman and president of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp., said it was unrealistic to expect the Bristol Bay fleet, given the downturn in the salmon fishery, to chill fish without some financial help.
"Boy, it is going to take big bucks,'' he said.
Task force member John Lowrance, owner of Leader Creek Fisheries in Naknek, which processes Bristol Bay salmon and Togiak herring, said the proposal was too important to turn back.
"The single best thing we can do is chill at the time of harvest,'' he said.
After a lengthy debate, the proposal moved forward based on the consensus that, despite the difficulties and expense of mandatory chilling, quality needed to get better if Alaska was to improve its reputation for producing premier products.
While agreeing that too many salmon fishermen hold permits, the task force rejected a proposal that would have reduced the number of limited entry permits. Members complained the formula set forth in the proposal was too complicated. They asked the subcommittee to work on it more.
"If we move down this road, I think we are going to confuse the fishermen,'' Samuelson said.
The task force did forward a proposal allowing a surcharge to be collected to offset the cost of any buyback program if approved by 66 percent of entry permit holders.
Task force members chose to forward several proposals concerning money, including taking $5 million in state money to boost funding for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Another proposal allows processors to pay business taxes on a monthly basis instead of having to prepay a year's taxes. Lowrance said the measure will be particularly helpful to small processors.
One proposal provides a tax credit to encourage development of new salmon products and expand markets. The proposal was revised to remove an exclusion for businesses involved in canning operations.
Another proposal allows fishermen to have someone else transport their fish for sale. Task force member Gary Slaven, a Petersburg fisherman and former Board of Fisheries member, said the measure will result in fuel cost savings and less wear on boats.
The task force rejected a proposal to impose a small tax on salmon from state hatcheries.
Task force chairman Sen. Ben Stevens, R-Anchorage, said the proposals were to be forwarded to the Legislature on Jan. 31.
