In a Saturday session, the Senate Resource Committee felt the weight of dozens of coastal fishermen and businesses opposing Senate Bill 113A: “an act relating to the entry into and management of Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries.” Opponents properly identified the bill as a resource reallocation measure. It would shift the catch toward the large boat trawl fleet and its corporate backers, away from the local fixed gear (pot and jig) fleet who exercise greater care and whom produce higher-quality products.

Many opponents pointed out that passage might also lead to a court challenge about how it violates the Alaska Constitution and is in conflict with limited-entry law. Moreover, passage would mean the state Legislature endorses lower-quality products over local jobs and value-added revenue growth.

Dumping more second-class products on world markets hardly seems fitting to the reputation of Alaska’s seafood. That argument alone should stop this misguided bill, here and now. But it appears that the Ben Stevens-sponsored bill is poised to slide through committee to the Senate floor — possibly this week.

The surest indication of this came when a Kodiak fixed gear permit holder — who had flown to the capitol to protect his economic future — introduced a three-year summary of public disclosure (AL-0117) filings by Ben Stevens. The disclosures illuminate that much of Ben’s consulting income came from proponents of earlier federal rationalization schemes for crab, such as $215,000 from Adak Fisheries processors (who readers should note just received a record civil fine of $3.44 million by NOAA Fisheries for violating crab cap provisions of the American Seafood Act).

The fisherman then asked the question of whether or not there were additional, yet undisclosed incomes from fishery associations whose leadership are known to oddly support this bill’s passage. The committee reacted strongly. And in accusing the permit holder of disrespecting the Senate leader’s reputation, then ordered the issue and evidence to be struck from the record altogether.

This clearly violated the First Amendment right to freedom of expression in these United States. And it could serve to hide a serious contextual concern about conflicts of interest from the rest of the Alaska Senate — who may soon be asked to grease the final political tracks of this runaway bill. This event comes on the heels of Friday’s introduction of two new ethics bills, SB 186 and 187, in the Legislature, about the conflicts inherent regarding public employees investments in corporations involved in Alaska industries. As Sen. Hollis French said in Sunday’s Juneau Empire, “We live in an open society.”

On Monday, April 25, the Resource Committee did not manage to address nor retract its contemptuous suppression of guaranteed civil rights, and Ben Stevens was the only one they let speak. It was all over in a blink! So, now the bill has rolled through to the Finance Committee, and from there it could go on to Ben Stevens’ controlled Senate floor.

Even more surprising, an over-the-weekend legal memorandum on the issue of constitutionality was rushed from the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to Resources in time for Ben to slap it in the faces of those trying unsuccessfully to prevent the bill from moving on.

It is time for citizens and fishermen statewide to immediately phone in to all state representatives their own arguments against this bill, and to slow it down if not simply stop it, “dead-fish cold!”

If that does not occur at Finance, it will be up to the full floor to question the very sponsorship of the bill and who is truly behind it. If it were to then roll further down the tracks into the House, the fixed-gear fleet had best be prepared to change the bill’s final language to ensure protections for all of Kodiak.

Stephen Taufen is a former Alaska resident and has worked for processors in financial and operational capacities for over 22 seasons in Alaska coastal fisheries. He is also a writer for the Fishermen’s News and other publications.