Minutes Board Meeting October 16-17, 2013 Seattle, WA

Transcription

1 Minutes Board Meeting October 16-17, 2013 Seattle, WA Wednesday October 16, 2013 President Heyano called the meeting to order at 8:50 am. President Heyano noted the all board members were present, except Fritz Johnson who had earlier notified the President he would be unable to attend and was excused. Heyano asked for approval of the minutes. MOTION: Moved by Luck with a second from LaRussa to approve the minutes of the June 8, meeting. The motion passed unanimously and the minutes were approved. The President asked for approval of the agenda. MOTION: Marinkovich moved, seconded by Carscallen, to approve the agenda as drafted. After discussion, the motion passed unanimously. President Heyano noted visitors in attendance: Mark Buckley, Peter Most, Johannes Schonberg, Franz Schonberg, Dave Hansen and Buck Gibbons. BBRSDA contractors in attendance were Ben Blakey, Beth Poole, and Scott Coughlin. Executive Director Update: Waldrop presented an update on recent activities of the Association, including the following: Financials: The Association is on solid financial footing. At September month-end the BB-RSDA had $3.8 million in current assets including a bit over $2M in a Budget Reserve. It being very early in the fiscal year, expenses are relatively low at $105,000. The annual audit is now underway and on-track for November completion. The Association was notified in early October that they will receive a $400,000 grant to help support our sustainability programs for an 18-month period through March 2015, most of which are currently Pebble related. Pebble: EPA s final Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment report is scheduled to be complete in December of this year. That science-based report is 1

2 expected to confirm that mining the Pebble deposit can be expected to present a serious risk to BB salmon runs and thereby to the commercial fishery. Once that scientific foundation is in place, attention will shift to seeking early use of section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act. Such use would deny or severely restrict all dredge and fill activities associated with the Pebble mine. The BB-RSDA will continue to be actively involved through the 404(c) process. Waldrop introduced Ben Blakey to the board as the Pebble Coordinator for the BB-RSDA. Ben gave additional update to the board centering mainly on the value of the economic study commissioned by the BB-RSDA and conducted by the University of Alaska. Japanese Nuclear Accident: There is strong concern around the world over the potential for nuclear contamination to spread into the seafood chain, including salmon rearing areas in the north Pacific. At this point, scientists are watching and measuring but are not expressing any alarm. Salmon Sustainability Certification: With the growth of the FAObased certification system many older certification programs, such as MSC, are seeing sharp reduction in salmon clients. PSVOA is currently the only major MSC client for Alaska salmon. The FAO-based Global Trust system now has certified 67 processors and distributors of Alaska salmon qualified under their chain of custody requirements. Copper River Seafoods recently left the MSC program when the PWS pink fishery was de-listed by MSC. Genetically Engineered Salmon: FDA is widely expected to approve sales of genetically modified salmon. With that, GE salmon opponents are turning their attention to convincing retailers not to sell GE salmon and to convincing states to enact labeling laws. Such labeling efforts are being fiercely opposed by large retailers and industrial food vendors such as Monsanto. Twenty-six states considered GMO labeling laws last year, none passed. Many such efforts are expected in Pacific Marine Expo: The BBRSDA has four events planned for PME; two booths (an association booth and a separate one to highlight the No-Pebble campaign) and two public presentations. Public presentations will address marketing, recent BBRSDA-funded research, ADF&G eastside management issues, new BB videos and a Pebble update. MOTION: Marinkovich moved, seconded by Fairbanks to approve the Executive Director s report. The motion passed unanimously. 2

3 Pending Alaska Legislation HB 77: Carscallen gave a short summary of a bill, HB 77, currently in the Alaska state legislature. The bill authorizes sweeping changes to ( streamlining ) the state s resource extraction permitting process. Generally, the legislation reduces public participation in government decisions and increases the autonomy of the Commissioner of Natural Resources. Among other provisions in the legislation are 1) the elimination of certain public comment periods, 2) a narrowing of who can challenge government-issued permits, and 3) the removal of a permitting process that currently allows individuals and organizations to apply for water rights to protect salmon streams. After discussion, the board directed the Executive Director to describe various actions the Association might take on this legislation and the political and legal risks associated with each of those actions. Grant Solicitation and Review Process: The Executive Director described the grant solicitation/review process used in 2013 and asked the board if they would like to see any changes to that process in the coming solicitation cycle. After lengthy discussion the board directed the Executive Director to follow the same process as in 2013 but with an expanded solicitation effort and an earlier date for completion of the process. The following timelines were adopted for the solicitation/review process: November 2013: December 16: Issue call for proposals (projects and concepts) Deadline for submission of grant and concept proposals January 10-11: Board reviews the Long-list of projects. Up to 20 proposals accepted (short list) for deeper scrutiny. February 21-22: Board reviews expanded proposals (short list) of projects/concepts and appropriates funds for successful applications. BBRSDA Marketing Plan: The Executive Director introduced Beth Poole, the Association s new Marketing Coordinator, and informed the board that a draft of the marketing plan had been reviewed by the Marketing Committee. Poole 3

4 then presented a short update on the summer s marketing activities, the 2014 marketing plan, and responded to board questions and comments. The marketing conversation morphed into a discussion about direct marketing and the need to enroll setnet fishermen into the BBRSDA. In the end, the board directed the Executive Director to create a FAQ sheet addressing likely setnet issues about joining the BB-RSDA. He was further directed to invite setnet representatives to the November 22, 2013 board meeting. MOTION: Moved by Luck, with a second from Fairbanks, to approve and adopt the marketing plan as presented. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting recessed at 4:50 pm until 8:30 am the following day, October 17, Thursday October 17, 2013: President Heyano called the meeting back to order at 8:44 am. All members, except Johnson, were present. The Executive Director gave a short report on the current status of the Association s activities regarding permit buyback. He reported on a poll of members that was conducted, at the board s request, in May. Questions and their responses to the poll were: 1. Based on what you already know about permit buyback programs, do you think a buyback program is a good idea for BB driftnet fishery? 408 responses: 79% yes / 21% no 2. Do you believe that the BB-RSDA should investigate the options available for a buyback program including but not limited to cost, social and economic impacts to the entire fleet plus a potential timeline and general feasibility? 418 responses: 82% yes / 18% no The Executive Director then presented legal advice from the Association s tax attorney. That letter cautioned against the Association advocating for or against a buyback effort. Rather, the Association would be on firmer legal footing if it supplied objective information to its members to enable them to make an informed decision on whether or not to support a buyback program. Based on that and following board discussion, the Executive Director asked the board to suggest questions members might ask. Those questions might then inform the compilation of objective buyback information to be made available to BB-RSDA members. 4

5 MOTION: After lengthy discussion and the development of many questions, Luck moved, with a second from LaRussa, to create an ad hoc committee regarding the investigation of buyback program issues in the Bristol Bay salmon drift fillnet fishery. After discussion, the motion passed unanimously. The charges to that committee are to; Work with an independent contractor to frame appropriate questions, develop economic data and provide information regarding broad social and economic issues and impacts related to a permit buyback program. The goal is to inform BB-RSDA members on making a decision about their preference to support or not support a referendum regarding a permit buyback program for Bristol Bay salmon drift gillnet fishery. Further, the committee will advise the BB-RSDA board members on the available options and associated costs of federal and state programs available to achieve buyback. The committee will consist of two BB-RSDA board members and two outside members to be appointed by the BB-RSDA chairman. Subject to their acceptance, President Heyano appointed Norm van Vactor, Buck Gibbons, Matt Luck, and Katherine Carscallen to serve on that committee. Based on the board s conversation, the board asked the Executive Director to generate a starting list of likely buyback questions and to organize a meeting between the committee and a suitable research group to refine those questions for review by the full board. Executive Session: MOTION: LaRussa moved, seconded by Carscallen, to enter Executive Session to discuss personnel matters. The motion passed unanimously and the board entered Executive Session at 12:25 pm. The board exited Executive Session at 1:15 pm. No action was taken. MOTION: Marinkovich move, seconded by Carscallen, to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 1:25p XXX 5