CFEC Public Meeting Minutes

September 2, 2026

Meeting begins – 10:30 am

Presiding:                    Commissioner Rick Green

In Attendance:            Commissioner Tracy Welch;

Krisia Messing, Acting Executive Director;

Jennifer Findley, Law Specialist;

Reid Johnson, Research Lead;

Sally Kohlhase, Research Section;

Madison Bargas, Research Section;

Suzanne Rumfelt, Licensing Supervisor;

Kevin Messing; Acting Hearing Officer;

Ryan Meacham, Paralegal;

Josh Sanders, IT;

Dan Strong, IT

Authorities:                 1.         16.43.040 – Quorum

2.         16.43.110(a) – Authority to adopt regulations consistent with law

3.         16.43.100(a)(13) – Establish & administer the collection of annual fees

4.         16.43.160 – Fees

5.         20 AAC 05.425(c) (Interim Use/Open Access permits) & 20 AAC 05.560(d) (Limited Entry permits)

6.         44.62.210 – Administrative Procedures Act

Ethics disclosures:

Commissioner Rick Green – no conflicts

Commissioner Tracy Welch – family member holds halibut IFQ and will recuse herself from the vote on fees in this fishery

Agenda Items:

1. Proposed Regulation Change – Creation of East Side Set Net Administrative Area
   1. Motion to adopt the regulation creating a new salmon administrative area, titled East Side Set Net Area and designated Area “I”. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green
      1. Discussion
         1. Notation of review of public comments by the commissioners and publication of those comments to the Alaska Online Public Notice system. – Comm. Welch
         2. Notation that there were some questions that, while not relevant to the vote, are important and that the commission will be reviewing them with the Department of Law in order to provide clear answers. – Comm. Welch
         3. Recognition of the hard work of staff in streamlining the process. – Comm. Green
         4. Notation that this is a new process and a hope that if this situation were to occur in the future, that the process will be smoother. – Comm. Green
         5. Creation of the new administrative area is mandated by legislative changes to AS 16.43.200
         6. Reading of pertinent portions of House Bill (HB) 117Z as passed by the state legislature, – Jennifer
      2. Call the question
      3. Vote
         1. Comm. Green – Yes
         2. Comm. Welch – Yes
      4. Motion passed
      5. Reading of Application Information Letter that was emailed and mailed via certified mail to all S04H permit holders. - Jennifer
2. 2027 CFEC permit fees presentation - Reid
   1. Overview of fee calculations
   2. Review reasons that fees may change
   3. Review budget projections
   4. Setting of specific fees that fall outside of the normal regulatory fee calculation process
      1. Halibut and Sablefish fees; explanation of low quota fees
         1. Official recusal by Comm. Welch
         2. Motion to adopt the fees set forth in Table 2 of the presentation. – Comm. Green; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:08 am
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
            4. Motion passed
      2. Fish capacity fee adjustments
         1. Motion to adopt the fees set forth in Table 1 of the presentation. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:13 am
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch - yes
            4. Motion passed
      3. Kodiak herring food & bait fees (otter trawl)
         1. Motion to set fees for H7HK, H7CK, and HDK permits at $75. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:17 am
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch - yes
            4. Motion passed
      4. Southern Southeast equal quota shares – sablefish
         1. Motion to set fees for C61C and C91C permits at $1575. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:20 am
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch - yes
            4. Motion passed
      5. New permit types
         1. Motion to set fees for S04I, LA28B, and LA13B permits at $75. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:23 am
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch - yes
            4. Motion passed
      6. Southeast king & tanner crab fees
         1. Motion to reduce 2027 fees by $300 for K29A, K49A and K69A, but only if the fisheries are closed by the Dept of Fish & Game. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:28 am
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch - yes
            4. Motion passed
      7. Herring market fee adjustments (Norton Sound and Prince Willliam Sound)
         1. Motion to set fees for G02Z & G34E permits at $75 and to waive the 2026 fees for G02Z & G34Z permits. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green @ 11:33 am
            1. Discussion
               1. Request by Law Specialist to split the vote into 2 parts – one for 2027 fees and one for 2026 fees.
            2. MOTION TO AMEND: Motion to amend original motion by bifurcating into two votes based on request. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green
               1. Call the question
               2. VOTE ON AMENDMENT ONLY
                  1. Comm. Green – yes
                  2. Comm. Welch – yes
               3. ORIGINAL MOTION AMENDED –bifurcated
         2. Amended Motion part 1 - Motion to set 2027 fees for G02Z & G34E permits at $75. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green
            1. Discussion
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch – yes
            4. Motion passed as amended.
         3. Amended Motion part 2 - Motion to waive 2026 fees for G02Z & G34Z permits where the permit holder did not participate in Norton Sound fishery. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green
            1. Discussion
               1. Clarification by Research Lead that this is for non-participants only.
            2. Call the question
            3. Vote
               1. Comm. Green – yes
               2. Comm. Welch – yes
            4. Motion passed as amended.
   5. Memos
      1. Maximum fee caps
      2. Inactive permit types
3. Optimum Number presentation for the Prince William Sound Salmon Drift Gill Net Fishery – Reid
4. Motion to Adjourn meeting. – Comm. Welch; 2^nd Comm. Green
   1. Vote
      1. Comm. Green – yes
      2. Comm. Welch – yes

Meeting Adjourned – 12:06 pm