Haines Borough income from the state’s raw fish tax has hit a 25-year high – $438,390. That’s about twice last year’s fish tax income of $172,511 and $93,000 more than the $345,000 projected.
The borough’s big bump owes largely to a record pink salmon harvest in 2013, including more than 20 million pounds of pinks processed at the Ocean Beauty Seafoods plant at Excursion Inlet. Pinks represented about 60 percent of the 36 million pounds of fish that went through the plant that year, said Mike Forbush, the company’s Southeast regional manager.
“We had a good pink (salmon) price on the largest pink run ever. The combination of a big run and a good price made it (happen),” Forbush said this week.
Most raw fish tax revenues to the Haines Borough derive from Excursion Inlet, located along Icy Strait on the municipality’s south end. The tax is on the value of fish landed, so markets impact how much money the borough brings in.
Raw fish tax revenues go to the borough’s areawide general fund, an account that has a positive fund balance of $2.37 million.
In the current year’s budget, the borough appropriated $43,000 of fish tax to support operations at the small boat harbor in the form of an operating transfer from the general fund to the harbor, said Jila Stuart, the borough’s chief fiscal officer.
The current proposed budget amendment would add an additional amount for purchase of dumpsters for use at the harbor, a cost of $4,500.
Gillnetter and former state legislator Bill Thomas said he’d like to see fishermen start getting a bigger share of raw fish tax, in the form of harbor improvements.
“We’ve paid into the community for years. It would be good to get some of that back. Or sales tax. We’re an economic development factor in the community,” Thomas said.
“My concern is how much goes to marketing and economic development. Some of it should go into the harbor. I’m not saying we should get all of it. But we have 20-30 tourists down there (using the harbor) per week,” Thomas said.
Fisherman and harbor committee chair Norman Hughes said the committee “is going to definitely look at that” additional money coming into the borough. “The committee has already expressed interest in using raw fish tax on harbor infrastructure to supplement our enterprise fund in the harbor. Other communities use revenues from raw fish tax for harbor infrastructure.”
Most pinks are brought in by the seine fleet, but Ocean Beauty’s Forbush said gillnet-caught chum and pinks also contributed to the giant 2013 harvest. The plant employed 405 workers that season, Forbush said.
After a marked decline in harvest during the past summer, the pink catch is expected to shoot up again in 2015.
“This year we’re gearing up for another year like 2013. We’re expecting that amount, if not more,” Forbush said. He said the company isn’t expecting as high a price for pinks as in 2013, but is hoping to maintain 2014 levels.
The market for pink salmon flesh is steady, but depressed currencies in places like Japan and the Ukraine are souring the outlook for pink roe, said Forbush. “Our major roe buyers are struggling economically.”
During the summer of 2014, Excursion Inlet processed 16 million pounds of fish, including 7.3 million pounds of pinks, 7.6 million pounds of chum salmon, and one million pounds of sockeye. Of the chum harvest, 5 million pounds were hatchery-raised by Douglas Island Pink and Chum (DIPAC), Forbush said.
According to the Haines Borough, during the past 25 years, the previous years of highest fish tax revenues were from catches in 2011 ($326,813), 1994 ($318,181), 2008 ($278,744), 1993 ($255,514) and 1995 ($246,576).
Fisherman Thomas said the average boat in the local fleet pays about $1,500 in fish tax to the borough.