Department of Law asks Alaska Board of Fisheries to add a final vote on rule text

Department of Law attorney Edward Lee on Wednesday urged the Alaska Board of Fisheries to add an end-of-session adoption meeting. Final rule text would go through a 30-day public comment period and then a second board vote. Lee said the current process complies with the Administrative Procedure Act, the state law on adopting regulations, but the added step would guard against legal challenges. The process committee took no vote. Lee said the full board will take it up at its Oct. 28-29 work session in Anchorage.

The committee first weighed how the public could comment on last-minute rewrites of proposals on Sept. 25. In July, Alaska lawmakers voted unanimously to audit the Board of Fisheries' process after the attorney general invalidated five Area M regulations over ethics violations. Rep. Louise Stutes requested the audit, which includes concerns about substitute language that altered proposals without public comment.

Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang pointed to a Board of Game lawsuit over Mulchatna caribou, filed after that board amended a proposal at the table.

Lee said the change would start with this winter's meetings: Lower Cook Inlet Finfish in Seward Dec. 1-4, Kodiak Finfish Jan. 5-8 and Upper Cook Inlet Finfish in Anchorage March 4-15.

Chair Marit Carlson-Van Dort said the final meeting should check the accuracy of rule text, not reopen contentious allocative decisions. Lee said significant changes at that stage might require another 30-day notice. Vincent-Lang said requests for new information on every proposal could add significant time and cost.

Carlson-Van Dort said the board wants to finish before June 1 despite two added 30-day periods, for public comment and lieutenant governor review. Lee noted that most salmon fisheries open in June, and the Copper River fishery can open as early as May 22.