HB 116 creates a narrow exemption from Alaska’s insurance code for certain cooperative arrangements among people engaged in commercial fishing. Under the bill, two or more commercial fishing participants may enter into an agreement to pool contributions for the purpose of paying specified claims or losses without those arrangements being treated as regulated insurance. The covered losses include liability claims against a commercial fishing business operated by a member of the pool, and loss of or damage to a vessel or machine used in a commercial fishing business that is owned or leased by a member of the pool.
The bill is aimed at allowing commercial fishing groups to self-organize risk-sharing pools for a limited set of fishing-related losses. It does not broadly deregulate insurance, but instead carves out a specific exception in AS 21.03.021 for these cooperative agreements. In practical terms, the measure gives fishing businesses more flexibility to manage risk and potentially reduce costs associated with liability and equipment damage coverage.
Impact
HB 116 amends Alaska Statute 21.03.021 by adding a new subsection exempting qualifying commercial fishing cooperative agreements from the application of Title 21, Alaska’s insurance laws. The change affects commercial fishing businesses, vessel owners or lessees, and other participants in pooled-loss arrangements by allowing them to share contributions for certain claims without being subject to insurance regulation. It leaves the rest of the insurance code intact and applies only to the specific fishing-related cooperative agreements described in the bill.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House 37-0 and the Senate 20-0, indicating unanimous support in both chambers. The lack of recorded committee transcript discussion suggests there was little public dispute or debate surrounding the measure.
Contention
No significant points of contention are evident in the available record. The bill’s narrow scope likely limited concerns about broader insurance-market effects, consumer protection, or regulatory oversight. Any potential policy question would center on whether these cooperative pools should be exempt from insurance regulation at all, but the unanimous votes suggest legislators generally accepted the exemption as a practical accommodation for the commercial fishing industry.
An act to amend Sections 7380, 7381, 7382, 8276.1, 8276.2, 8276.3, 8276.4, 8276.5, 8279.1, 8280.1, 8280.2, 8280.3, 8280.4, 8280.6, and 9002.5 of, to add Section 8286 to, and to add and repeal Section Sections 8276.6 and 8286 of, the Fish and Game Code, relating to fish.
Natural resources: fishing; allowable catch per species and percentage quota for commercial fishing; provide for. Amends, adds & repeals (See bill). TIE BAR WITH: HB 5802'26