House Finance subcommittee advances FY26 Fish and Game budget, trims test-fishery cost recovery

The House Finance Subcommittee on the Department of Fish and Game on March 4, 2025, voted to move its fiscal year 2026 operating budget recommendation out of committee after accepting most of the governor's proposals while making several targeted funding adjustments.

The subcommittee adopted most items in the governor's budget but altered funding for specific regions and programs, approved intent language directing a department report on public fees, and passed an amendment reducing test-fishery cost recovery by $500,000. Committee staff summarized the changes before roll call and the panel formally moved the package to the full committee.

Keaton Miller, staff to Chair Jimmy, told members the subcommittee “accepted most of the budget proposal submitted by the office of the governor” and listed the specific changes reflected in the budget action report. The report kept items 3, 6–13, 15, 16, 18–20 and 22–31 as proposed while altering others to address regional needs and legal considerations.

Key budget changes the subcommittee approved include converting a one-time $300,000 unrestricted general fund increment for Southeast Region fisheries management into a temporary increment spanning fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to stabilize groundfish assessment funding amid declining test-fishery revenue; adding a one-time $90,000 unrestricted general fund increment for the AYK (Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim) region to purchase an additional sonar unit; adding $100,000 in unrestricted general funds for extended seasonal Kuskokwim River sonar monitoring into the August coho season; and replacing $65,000 in unrestricted general funds for the Anchorage and Fairbanks hatcheries with $65,000 in federal funding to leverage in-kind construction match for federal Dingle-Johnson receipts.

The subcommittee denied two governor requests because of ongoing litigation over legislation identified in the meeting as SB 189. Members denied a $112,300 unrestricted general fund request for wildlife conservation (item 17) and a $14,400 unrestricted general fund request for the boards of fisheries and game (item 21) because SB 189 “remains under legal challenge,” the staff summary said.

The panel also adopted intent language asking the department to prepare “a detailed report of all public fees past and present that shows their date of inception and historical increases,” including annual revenues and expenditures for each fee and fund source for the past 10 years. The report is to be submitted to the finance committee co-chairs and Legislative Finance by Dec. 20, 2025, the language says.

On a separate amendment, Representative Stutes moved to reduce test-fishery receipts for the Western Region by $500,000, arguing that closures and limited openings in fisheries make cost-recovery test fishing inappropriate in declining or closed fisheries. “It is not the right thing to do for the department to be fishing against our fishermen and particularly in a declining situation,” Representative Stutes said when she described the amendment and referenced the Bristol Bay crab closure and reduced quotas.

The amendment to reduce test-fishery cost recovery passed on the subcommittee roll call by a 6–1 tally (six yes, one no). The meeting transcript records that members debated the amendment briefly before the roll call; individual member votes beyond the tally were not specified in the summary.

Representative Vance moved a second amendment to expand an existing genetic-testing program—originally described as testing coho in the Cook Inlet—to include sockeye and to authorize contracting a test boat to support in-season management. Department staff and legislative staff told members that genetic testing for sockeye in Cook Inlet already occurs and that any formal expansion would require additional funding and a properly drafted fiscal amendment. Facing those drafting and funding issues, Representative Vance withdrew the amendment at the hearing.

After final questions and no additional objections, the subcommittee moved the FY26 Department of Fish and Game operating budget recommendation out of committee with the attached legislative financial reports, agency transaction comparisons, and subcommittee amendments in the form of the VA report. The committee directed Legislative Finance staff to make technical or confirming changes before the package advances.

Committee Chair Jimmy closed the meeting and thanked Legislative Finance staff and Department of Fish and Game staff, including Commissioner Doug Vinsling and Administrative Services Director Bonnie Jensen; the subcommittee adjourned at 10:20 a.m.

Ending: The subcommittee's action sends the adjusted FY26 operating recommendation — including the $500,000 reduction in test-fishery cost recovery, regional sonar and monitoring increments, federal fund swaps for hatchery construction match, and intent language on public fees — to the full committee for further consideration.