To avoid high insurance costs, some groups of commercial fishers in Alaska have formed cooperatives to collectively pay liability and damage claims themselves.
A bill passed April 25 by the Alaska House of Representatives would exempt these cooperatives from regulation under the state’s insurance laws.
The House voted 37-0 to pass House Bill 116, which now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The bill was carried on the House floor by Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, but came from the ideas of a legislative task force assigned to study the commercial fishing industry, she told the House.
The three insurance cooperatives already operating in the state are organized under Washington state law, she said, and cover about 840 vessels. The legal change would allow Alaska fishers to organize other pools locally.
“This bill comes at no cost to the state and supports our fishing industry by simply allowing Alaska-based commercial fishing insurance cooperatives to form,” she said. “Rising premiums and availability of insurance serve as a barrier to operating for Alaska’s aging commercial fishing fleet. Underwriters have been raising premiums on individual vessels and have become increasingly selective of which vessels they choose to ensure.”
Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, said that insurance is now required in order to enter Homer’s small boat harbor, and she’s heard from fishers in other communities who now wonder whether they can afford to fish.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity to allow a free market,” she said. “They take the risk, but it just says, hey, we want to no longer restrict you if this is something that you want to take on and be able to form a group for yourself.”