FAQ’s

    • Processors and direct marketers pay an assessment to support ASMI, but in 2004 Alaska enacted legislation that removed the tax individual fishermen were paying from unprocessed fish to ASMI. Furthermore, ASMI is restricted from marketing region-specific fish.‍ ‍The legislation that exempted individual fishermen from an assessment to support ASMI also provides for the formation of Regional Seafood Development Associations (RSDAs) by commercial fishermen as a means to enhance the value of their fisheries.

    • That’s why we believe that a Regional Seafood Development Association (RSDA) structure marketing program led by trollers is the best way to get us better prices and increased profitability. This is what Copper River has successfully done and we can too.

  • Promote Southeast Alaska troll caught salmon as the highest quality, sustainably harvested salmon on the market by:

    • Partnering with high-end restaurants and retailers to position it as the world’s premier wild salmon

    • Funding social media campaigns to advertise and inform consumers

    • Create point-of-sale materials to tell the fishery’s story

    • Advertise in print, TV, or other media

    • Provide the fleet with information about market conditions or quality improvements

    • Fund or support critical research efforts that benefit the fishermen

    • A RSDA can also be a vehicle for better representation in salmon resource battles. If necessary and approved, the organization can fund research to examine what is happening with the biomass and push back on false claims made by organizations seeking to shutdown or undermine our fishery. Additionally, having an organization like SEARSMA in place allows the fishery to be proactive in responding to challenges before they become larger problems

    • RSDAs are self-funded by the fisheries that approve, and thus benefit from, a self-assessed tax on their ex-vessel for the fishery. Both Copper River and Bristol Bay’s driftnet fleets have approved a 1% assessment for their fisheries

    • For the Southeast troll fishery collectively, a 1% self-assessment would cost each active skipper approximately $425 per year (based on prior 5-year average S15B permit earnings) and yield about $260,000 per year in funding

    • RSDAs can also be a vehicle for receiving grant funding

    • For fisherman selling to a registered buyer or processor, the 1% assessment would be accounted for at the time of the fish ticket; in the same manner the Salmon Enhancement Tax is collected

    • For Direct-Marketers, the assessment would be collected when filing with the Alaska Department of Revenue; in the same manner Salmon Enhancement Tax is collected

    • A vote on whether to levy an assessment to support the work of the RSDA occurs after extensive outreach to permit holders is conducted. This could take a year or more. The most important thing to ensure before the vote is that permit holders understand what the RSDA is, how it benefits them and what the vote is about

    • Elections are conducted by the RSDA with oversight by the State. The RSDA is responsible for paying costs such as postage expenses and $500 per election to the State of Alaska for ballot counting and election certification

    • Ballots are sent to every permit holder. A minimum of 30% of the permit holders must return ballots and a simple majority is needed for the vote to pass

    • If the vote passes, a formal board of permit holders would be elected by its members (permit holders) who would then hire an Executive Director for SEARSMA

    • The board sets priorities, such as raising ex-vessel prices by developing a premium brand. Relevant projects are proposed for review and approval by both the board and director

    • Fishermen can vote to terminate an existing RSDA in a similar fashion

    • Each permit group would need to vote to join the RSDA. The voting of a permit group happens when permit holders are interested in funding the program for that specific fishery

    • Each election is per gear group and they cannot be combined. For example, the outcome for a power troll permit holder election will have no relation to an outcome of a hand troll permit holder election or gillnet permit holder (or any other state managed fishery), since they are conducted separately

  • RSDA’s are not permitted to perform the following activities:

    • Political lobbying - The RSDA is not the political arm of the fishery, but RSDA’s CAN work to defend the value of their fishery. For example, the Bristol Bay RSDA helped educate lawmakers and agencies about potential impacts the proposed Pebble Mine could have on the value and sustainability of Bristol Bay’s sockeye fishery

    • Operating infrastructure

    • Buy and sell fish

    • Get involved in allocation decisions

    • Negotiate prices with processors

  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of inflation based on the average cost of living across the entire US.

    The red line in the chart on the WHY page shows the CPI applied to coho ex vessel prices (what the processors pay fisherman). This red line adjusts the coho prices for inflation - meaning it calculates what past coho prices would be in today’s dollars. As you can see, over the last 50 years, prices for coho when adjusted for inflation have trended downward. A large portion of the fiberglass and steel trollers in our fleet were built during the mid 70’s to mid 80’s due to trolling being a much more viable occupation compared to today.

    Additionally, because of the very high overhead and risks, running a fishing business is often much more costly and prone to impacts from inflation than other types of businesses. We all know that our expenses in fishing gear, equipment, moorage, insurance, groceries etc. have increased over the years, yet our dock prices have not kept pace.