House Bill 363 renames the existing Wholesale Price Report (WPR, also referred to as AWPR or WCPR) to become the Alaska Salmon Price Report (ASPR) by updating it to include all salmon product types. This report will capture the bulk of Alaska's commercial salmon trade in a timely and accurate manner.

Currently AS 43.80.050 requires processors who sell 240,000 pounds or more of thermally processed salmon in a calendar year to report three times each year, the volume and price of cans sold. The ASPR will reflect the changing times in this industry, which has evolved to include all salmon products, thermally processed plus fresh, frozen, and roe products.

HB 363 encompasses ex-vessel value, production, and wholesale price reporting to the state. In order to track the production of the state's resource, the ASPR adds a section that requires processors to report the quantity of each salmon product form and species, by area of production, along with the wholesale prices of product sold.

The tax revenue realized from the salmon fishery is generated from the ex-vessel price. Fishery business taxes, raw fish tax, landing tax, ASMI tax and aquaculture assessments are all based on the ex-vessel values of Alaska salmon products. The ASPR information is important for anyone planning income streams derived from the sale of salmon products. For example, legislators projecting revenue to the state or regional aquaculture associations planning production and marketing strategies. The ASPR's accurate and timely information may be used by the university system and by data collectors for up-to-date reporting. It will provide real-time wholesale inventories and values for the public, their decision-makers, and the commercial industry to the benefit of all.

History

This issue has been debated for a long time and in numerous forums. In 1984 the Department of Commerce and Economic Development published a report on the possible development of a program to determine wholesale price averages for salmon products. The arguments that were detailed in that report in 1984 are the same today.

When mediators suggest that the harvesters and the processors get together to come up with a compromise and find a way to share price information, the processors say that the information is proprietary and the harvesters say that they need a timely point of reference to begin dialogue about markets and how it can be shared. The ASPR is attempting to provide that platform that would supply accurate information without compromising confidentiality.

Introduction of this bill is the direct outcome of recommendations made in recent in-depth forums:

• In the Governor's Alaska Salmon Forum '99, a focus group, made up of state agencies, processors and fishermen, came to mutually agreed-upon goals. Among the most important items to be addressed were
  
  
  1. for the processors to "include fishermen in discussions on short and long-term marketing strategies", and
     
     
  2. to "expand timely collection of salmon wholesale value and harvest information including, at a minimum, one more COAR report."

COAR (ADF&G's Commercial Operators Annual Report)

Currently, Alaska's fresh and frozen salmon information is published in ADF&G's COAR report, which is made available one time per year, approximately 12 months after the previous fishing season. Since there is no definition of FOB (freight on board) Alaska nor enforcement mechanism within ADF&G to substantiate the figures, the belated data therein is not reliable nor is it auditable. The only fresh & frozen salmon data that is available in the year 2000 is from the 1998 fishing season.

ADF&G's COAR report contains information from all processors in Alaska, for all fish species and shellfish, detailed by individual product codes and gear types, and from every commercial fishery management area. Out of the 600-700 processors with an intent-to-operate license, 154 are salmon. This is specific information valuable for ADF&G's uses. With the new ASPR, the cost to the state will be less, compared to the cost of compiling and maintaining the COAR database. The ASPR would require 51 salmon processors to report, those producing over 240,000 pounds in a calendar year (which constitutes 99.1% of the products). These reports would be in aggregate product forms, i.e. all roe products, all fillet products, etc., and the production areas will be consolidated.

WPR (Dept. of Revenue's Wholesale Price Report)

AWPR (Alaska Wholesale Price Report)

The appropriate vehicle for reporting price information on Alaska's salmon fisheries is the Alaska Salmon Price Report through the Department of Revenue. The new ASPR would publish first wholesale price averages from all processors within large geographical production areas based on reported fishery business taxes. This average price would be an aggregate of product forms and the reports would be published 3-6 months after the fish is caught, thus protecting the confidentiality issues raised by the processors. By requiring one annual report on production, released on March 15, processors' proprietary inventory information will be protected, but the information will be published in time for the coming fishing season negotiations. and will provide the harvesters and others with the information that is required.

Finally, the information provided through the ASPR will give the State of Alaska accurate information regarding the fish taxes coming to the state for general fund use.

Passage of HB 363 should help fishermen and others in their pursuit of better information. As industry contracts become the norm, sophistication involving product form and marketing partnerships will become more and more dependent on the state's collection of wholesale data. This process, in turn, should gradually bring a rise to ex-vessel prices, thus benefiting the communities and, in turn, by raising revenue, benefiting the state.