Saving Seafood

Alaska ports hope to keep fish tax: ‘We can’t get answers’ says Stutes

July 11, 2019 — One fisheries item that appears to have escaped Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen so far is his desire to divert local fish taxes from coastal communities into state coffers.

Dunleavy’s initial budget in February aimed to repeal the sharing of fisheries business and landing taxes that towns and boroughs split 50/50 with the state. Instead, all of the tax revenues would go to the state’s general fund – a loss of $28 million in FY 2020 to fishing communities.

“There is a recognition that these are viewed as shared resources, and they should be shared by Alaskans,” press secretary Matt Shuckerow said at the time. “So that’s kind of what this proposal does. It takes shared resources and shares them with all Alaskans, not just some select communities.”

The tax split remains in place, and the dollars are still destined for fishing towns, said Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak), who also represents Cordova, Yakutat and several smaller towns.

“It’s general fund revenue and that has been appropriated to the appropriate communities,” Stutes said in a phone interview. “What we can tell right now is it slipped by unscathed because it appears he did not veto that revenue to the communities that generate the dollars. So, it looks like we’re good to go there.”

What’s not so good is the nearly $1 million cut to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s commercial fisheries budget.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Alaska ports hope to keep fish tax: ‘We can’t get answers’ says Stutes

July 10, 2019 — One fisheries item that appears to have escaped Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto pen so far is his desire to divert local fish taxes from coastal communities into state coffers.

Dunleavy’s initial budget in February aimed to repeal the sharing of fisheries business and landing taxes that towns and boroughs split 50/50 with the state. Instead, all of the tax revenues would go to the state’s general fund – a loss of $28 million in FY 2020 to fishing communities.

“There is a recognition that these are viewed as shared resources, and they should be shared by Alaskans,” press secretary Matt Shuckerow said at the time. “So that’s kind of what this proposal does. It takes shared resources and shares them with all Alaskans, not just some select communities.”

The tax split remains in place, and the dollars are still destined for fishing towns, said Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak), who also represents Cordova, Yakutat and several smaller towns.

“It’s general fund revenue and that has been appropriated to the appropriate communities,” Stutes said in a phone interview. “What we can tell right now is it slipped by unscathed because it appears he did not veto that revenue to the communities that generate the dollars. So, it looks like we’re good to go there.”

What’s not so good is the nearly $1 million cut to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s commercial fisheries budget.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Alaska gov. issues gag order on state fish budget

February 27, 2019 — Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration has a full gag order in place at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. All budget questions, no matter how basic, are referred to press secretary Matt Shuckerow. Likewise, queries to the many deputies and assistants at the ADF&G commissioner’s office are deferred to Shuckerow, who did not acknowledge requests for information.

“It isn’t just the media or Alaskans. Legislators are faced with that same gag order,” said Rep. Louise Stutes (R-Kodiak). “I don’t know if the administration is just trying to settle in and thinks that the Legislature is their worst enemy and they want to keep people at bay or what. Hopefully, they will realize that we have to work together. And the sooner we do it, the better relationship we’re going to have.”

Stutes, who is the majority whip in the Alaska Legislature and also chairs both the House Fisheries and Transportation committees, said “the governor has made very few appearances, and nobody can get an appointment with him.”

She confirmed that anyone who meets with Dunleavy must relinquish cell phones, Apple watches and any recording devices.

Dunleavy’s proposed budget for the state’s commercial fisheries division is $69.45 million, a $1.64 million reduction, according to Stutes’ office.

Details are sketchy, but it aims to reorganize and consolidate the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission into the ADF&G Commercial Fisheries Division. Also, the directors of the Habitat and Subsistence divisions would be moved from ADF&G to the Office of Management and Budget.

Read the full story at the Alaska Journal of Commerce

Alaska fishing communities would take hit under Dunleavy proposal to end fish tax revenue-sharing

February 22, 2019 — Gov. Mike Dunleavy proposed legislation this week that would keep commercial fish tax revenue that has for years been shared with Alaska fishing communities in the state’s coffers instead, a move that mayors in some of those cities say would be devastating.

At play are two taxes: Alaska’s fisheries business tax, and the fishery resource landing tax. Dunleavy’s legislation would repeal the fisheries business tax allocation to municipalities and repeal revenue sharing for the fishery resource landing tax. Those shared funds go to local governments in communities where fish processing and landings occur.

Under the proposed bill, about $28 million would stay in the state’s general fund in fiscal year 2020 instead of being shared with communities.

Dunleavy’s plan to close a $1.6 billion state budget deficit includes deep cuts, especially in education and health care, and does not include new taxes. His proposed budget still needs to go through the Legislature.

The fish taxes are crucial to many small Alaska fishing communities. The fisheries business tax is levied on fish caught commercially in Alaska waters, and is based on the price paid to commercial fishermen for the raw resource. The fishery resource landing tax is levied on fish caught commercially in federal waters and landed in Alaska, based on its unprocessed value.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News