Juneau — The Alaska House Resources Committee opened public testimony on House Bill 125 on May 2, 2025, a bill that would change the composition of the Alaska Board of Fisheries by adding designated seats for specific user groups, and heard a mix of support, opposition and amendment requests from tribal organizations, user groups and industry representatives.

The bill’s sponsor framed HB125 as an effort to create “balance” on the Board of Fisheries by ensuring seats for commercial, sport, subsistence and scientific expertise. Testimony in the hearing room and online reflected differing priorities over which user groups should be guaranteed seats. Chuck Derrick of the Chitina Dipnetters Association urged the committee to give personal‑use dip netters a designated seat, saying the association represents roughly 40,000 Alaskans who use the fishery and that omission of personal use in the draft bill should be corrected. “If this bill is to be passed out of this committee, it is high time it is amended to afford personal use representation on the Board of Fish,” Derrick said.

Tribal and regional organizations spoke in favor of the bill as written but with caveats. Karen Linnell, executive director of the Ahtna Intertribal Resource Commission, said the commission supports HB125 because “the in‑river folks have been sorely underrepresented on the Board of Fish for many, many years” and urged subsistence representation. Native Peoples Action endorsed the bill with recommendations that tribal representation and traditional ecological knowledge be explicitly considered in appointment decisions.

Other commenters urged changes to strengthen scientific capacity and ecosystem management on the board. Nancy Hillstrand, owner of Pioneer Alaskan Fisheries, told the committee that board decisions are too allocation‑focused and urged a stronger “ecological manager” or scientific seat that could bring life‑history and ecosystem expertise into deliberations. Rod Arno of the Alaska Outdoor Council urged adoption of amendments that would create personal‑use seats and remove domicile requirements that have limited some appointees.

Several speakers warned that designated seats could become politicized; Mark Richards of Resident Hunters of Alaska argued designated seats “won’t fix the problems” and recommended changes that make both the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game adhere strictly to Article VIII of the Alaska Constitution (the public‑trust and conservation provisions) and to prioritize sustained resources and Alaskans’ access.

Former ADF&G subsistence regional supervisor Jim Simon and other witnesses pressed for two subsistence‑designated seats to ensure in‑river subsistence concerns are represented, while some commenters said the existing structure already allows personal‑use interests to be represented within sport‑fish allocations. The committee received five amendments before the hearing deadline; given time limits the sponsor and chairs agreed to set HB125 aside and consider amendments at the committee’s next meeting on Monday, May 5.

No amendments were adopted at the May 2 hearing; the record shows an amendment deadline had been set for noon May 2 and the committee intends to take up amendments at its next scheduled meeting.