A bill aimed at improving odds for commercial fish harvesters to get business insurance was on the Alaska state Senate agenda for May 16, after clearing both the House and two Senate committees.
House Bill 116, sponsored by the House Special Committee on Fisheries, had its second reading on May 14 on the Senate floor and was then scheduled for a third reading and vote two days later.
The legislation, put forth on the request of the Joint Legislative Task Force Evaluating Alaska’s Seafood Industry, would allow fishermen to form their own insurance cooperatives and lower costs of those premiums.
Even with the robust 2025 commercial salmon forecast issued on May 13, overall costs of fishing — from insurance to fuel and more — have become a barrier to operating in the commercial fishing industry.
Insurance providers have become increasingly reluctant with providing insurance for older vessels. Insurance pools are seen as an option for insuring fishing vessels and at a lower cost without having to be regulated under Title 21 of the state’s insurance code.
Lori Wing-Heier, director of the Division of Insurance for the state of Alaska, told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on May 12 that she expects the governing board of such a cooperative could police itself.
“We have looked very closely at what has been happening with the PWS purse seiners and it has been successful,” Wing-Heier said. “We expect that whomever forms this cooperative — that they will do their due diligence and arrive at what they can insure and what they cannot and charge the correct rates so that the pool is solvent.”
Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.