HB 275: "An Act relating to fishery management plans adopted by the Board of Fisheries."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 275 01 "An Act relating to fishery management plans adopted by the Board of 02 Fisheries." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 16.05.251(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 06 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 07 (1) setting apart fish reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 08 waters of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval of the 09 legislature; 10 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 11 fish; if consistent with resource conservation and development goals, the board may 12 adopt regulations establishing restricted seasons and areas necessary for persons 60 13 years of age and older to participate in sport, personal use, or subsistence fishing; 14 (3) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex and size
01 limitations on the taking of fish; 02 (4) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 03 capture, and transport of fish; 04 (5) establishing marking and identification requirements for means used 05 in pursuit, capture, and transport of fish; 06 (6) classifying as commercial fish, sport fish, guided sport fish, 07 personal use fish, subsistence fish, or predators or other categories essential for 08 regulatory purposes; 09 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, conservation, 10 protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of fish; 11 (8) investigating and determining the extent and effect of disease, 12 predation, and competition among fish in the state, exercising control measures 13 considered necessary to the resources of the state; 14 (9) prohibiting and regulating the live capture, possession, transport, or 15 release of native or exotic fish or their eggs; 16 (10) establishing seasons, areas, quotas, and methods of harvest for 17 aquatic plants; 18 (11) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of 19 fishing licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 20 between registration areas is allowed; however, this paragraph does not apply to 21 permits issued or transferred under AS 16.43; 22 (12) managing and regulating commercial, sport, guided sport, 23 subsistence, and personal use fishing as needed for the conservation, development, and 24 utilization of fisheries, including the adoption of management plans setting out the 25 goals of management and regulation of fishing and the management measures to 26 achieve those goals; if the board adopts a management plan, the board shall 27 regularly review the plan and shall revise the plan as necessary to address a 28 significant change in competition among or within fisheries taking the fishery 29 resource, in productivity of the fishery resource or its habitat, in social, economic, 30 or environmental factors affecting the fishery, or in other factors the board 31 considers relevant to the management and regulation of the fishery;
01 (13) requiring, in a fishery, observers on board fishing vessels, as 02 defined in AS 16.05.475(d), that are registered under the laws of the state, as defined 03 in AS 16.05.475(c), after making a written determination that an on-board observer 04 program 05 (A) is the only practical data-gathering or enforcement 06 mechanism for that fishery; 07 (B) will not unduly disrupt the fishery; 08 (C) can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and 09 (D) can be coordinated with observer programs of other 10 agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific 11 Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut 12 Commission; 13 (14) establishing nonexclusive, exclusive, and superexclusive 14 registration and use areas for regulating commercial fishing; 15 (15) regulating resident or nonresident sport fishermen as needed for 16 the conservation, development, and utilization of fishery resources.