"An Act relating to commercial fishing permit and vessel license fees; and providing for an effective date. "

House Bill 174 would bring the state into compliance with recent rulings in the Carlson v. State of Alaska case by charging the nonresident fee differential on a "per person" rather than a "per permit" basis.

Nonresidents who qualify for a reduced permit fee by meeting low income standards will be charged the full allowable nonresident differential.

The bill would raise the annual permit renewal fee from the current $300 cap to $3000. By statute, the base fee must "reasonably reflect the different rates of economic return for different fisheries." Currently fisheries with high economic returns pay disproportionately low permit fees because of the $300 cap. Under HB 174, CFEC in concert with full public hearings would be able to assign fees tied to the true value of a fishery.

The existing 6 vessel length categories would be increased by that have not been changed for the past ten years would be raised by 20 percent.

This legislation would authorize CFEC to charge reasonable fees for initial issuance and replacement of the number plates issued to vessels for displaying the vessel's ADF&G number and annual vessel license renewal stickers.

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