Alaska Senator Cowdery Introduces Bill for Cooperative Allocation Powers for Board of Fisheries

May 17, 2007

By Stephen Taufen - The gloves are off! SB0184A (PDF), "An Act amending the powers of the Board of Fisheries to include regulating commercial cooperative fisheries," was introduced, by the Senate Rules Committee by Request, on May 16, 2007. Oh yes, John Cowdery chairs the Rules committee - or maybe it's "Senator A." We just heard from a legislative aide that Cowdery introduced the bill.

Was Governor Sarah Palin's comment about "ridiculous" behavior in the Legislature referring to this type of skullduggery? And what of her instructions for the State attorney general to look into state violations in addition to recent federal indictments? Dear Mr. Colberg, it looks like it is time to go to work! As just the introduction of this bill could start a revolution.

We'd known for weeks that the lobbyist for the Chignik coop was prepped and wanted a bill like this introduced. Introduced late in the final night of the current Alaska legislative session; the bill is referred to: Community and Regional Affairs, Resources, and Finance.

The purpose of the bill is to clarify that the Board of Fisheries has authority to establish and allocate fishery resources to commercial cooperative fisheries and to overrule the holdings of the Alaska Supreme Court case Grunert v. State, 109 P.3s 924 (Alaska 2005), and Grunert v. State, 139 P.3d 1226 (Alaska 2006).

This would clarify that AS 16.43 does not limit the BOF's authority to allocate to cooperatives. The bill specifically calls for amending AS 16.05.251 to read: "The Board of Fisheries may allocate fishery resources among and within personal use, sport, guided sport, and commercial fisheries, including allocating to cooperatives within a single fishery or between fisheries.

Senator Gary Stevens is co-chair of the Rules committee; but his office could not be reached this morning, as this goes to press. Lyda Green is also on the Rule committee. So are senator Gene Therriault and Johnny Ellis.

UPDATE .................................

Senator Gary Stevens' office responded this afternoon, saying that when the bill came up last night the senator was quick to respond strongly to ensure this bill did not go anywhere during the current session. And the bill was not part of a committee discussion, so apparently Cowdery did this on his own accord. That's not surprising for type-"A" behavior, is it?

Fresh off "coordinated rationalization" memories of the 2005 SB0113 attempt to enact similar powers, Kodiak quickly took to the phones and email today. An update is that the lobbyist representing the Chignik Seafood Producers Alliance is Kim Hutchinson. CSPA paid Hutchinson $20,000, according to the Alaska Public Offices Commission database. [Locator: https://webapp.state.ak.us/apoc/lobbyist_reporting.jsp ] It leaves open the question of who paid CSPA.

Earlier in the week, moves were made to get HB188 (the "within fisheries" amendment) tucked in a bill, along with HB16 on hair crab and scallops. Alan Austermann, former fish czar, lobbies for the scallopers. Both attempts failed. We were also told by legislative staffers that Robert "Bobby T" Thorstenson Jr., still sitting as the president of UFA , was representing SEAS and similar seine vessel interests who have concerns for equal sharing arrangements and Sitka herring cooperative harvesting interests was also pushing aggressively and openly for including such cooperative powers under the BOF.

It has been said that Thorstenson and other seiners have bought multiple permits during the past few years, and hope to take advantage of cooperative situations, as well as receive funds from a federal buyback program that Bobby T is running out of the Calhoun St. building, under the Southeast Revitalization Association.

As readers know, with Ben Stevens now in hiding, Bobby T is fast distinguishing himself as the highest paid fisheries lobbyist ("doughboy") in the state. It is interesting that his registration at APOC as a lobbyist includes working for "AK Seine Boat Owners", listing he works for Mr. Rob Zuanich at 410 Calhoun Street in Juneau, who is Bobby's partner and where he is a property co-owner.

Rumor has it, Bobby T has a sleeping cot in the building's basement - right next to the treasure chest. Rob must have the penthouse.

Is there any conflict-of-interest in Bobby T's lobbying actions with the membership's needs and the future goals of the (wrongly named) United Fishermen of Alaska? Did the UFA Board and membership vote for ignoring state constitutional guarantees for common use rights, overthrowing protections of limited entry, and approve of pushing such cooperative allocation powers to the BOF level?

At this time, the bill sits during the interim, and we'll all be back in January for the next session. So, until then, Groundswell simply says thanks to the deceitful ones for revealing themselves and their nefarious plans. We hope the Legislature fully understands this attempt to shift power to appointees, and comes back ready to throw this into the steel trash can and pour the lighter fluid on it. We'll gladly provide the stinking matches.

Related Story:
Allocation within an Alaska State Fishery - HB0188A

By Stephen Taufen, Groundswell Fisheries Movement