Sponsor Statement for SB 115

Repealing Certain Fish Price Requirements

I introduced SB 115 at the request of commercial fishermen who feel the current statutes mandating the recording and display of the purchase prices for salmon at the time of delivery have failed to achieve their original purpose. Moreover, the effect of these requirements have further confused the contractual obligations between harvesters and processors.

Initially, many fishermen were concerned that a whole fishing season could pass before they were notified of the actual price paid on delivered catches. The fear was that the situation could allow pricing practices that were unfair to the harvesters. The 1992 enactment of AS 16.05.690 (c) and AS 16.10.277 requires that a fisherman's fish ticket information record the price/lb. paid for each salmon species at the time of delivery and that these prices are posted at each delivery site.

In actuality, it is difficult for processors to post firm prices until well into the season without being exposed to serious business risks. This is primarily because of the uncertainties of harvest volumes along with the inherent volatility of salmon markets. As a consequence, the price posting for each species was usually at an absolute minimum until wholesale market prices could be determined with some certainty. The practical effect then was that the laws only established minimum prices from which fishermen have to negotiate up from. They also raised a legal question about the contractual nature of fish tickets and whether both parties could be bound to the prices recorded.

Despite the good intentions when these laws were first enacted, they have actually worsened the problem for many fishermen. For most processors, price posting is problematic and burdensome. I believe SB 115 corrects a development that was neither contemplated nor desired for everyone's benefit.