00SENATE BILL NO. 41                                                                                                      
01 "An Act relating to reports by fishing vessels that are not registered under the                                        
02 laws of the state."                                                                                                     
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)  regulating commercial, sport, guided sport, subsistence, and                                                   
23 personal use fishing as needed for the conservation, development, and utilization of                                    
24 fisheries;                                                                                                              
25   (13)  requiring, in a fishery, observers on board fishing vessels, as                                                
26 defined in AS 16.05.475(d), that are registered under the laws of the state, as defined                                 
27 in AS 16.05.475(c), after making a written determination that an on-board observer                                      
28 program                                                                                                                 
29   (A)  is the only practical data-gathering or enforcement                                                            
30 mechanism for that fishery;                                                                                             
31   (B)  will not unduly disrupt the fishery;                                                                           

01   (C)  can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and                                                                     
02   (D)  can be coordinated with observer programs of other                                                             
03 agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific                                                
04 Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut                                                       
05 Commission;                                                                                                             
06   (14)  establishing nonexclusive, exclusive, and superexclusive                                                       
07 registration and use areas for regulating commercial fishing;                                                           
08   (15)  regulating resident or nonresident sport fishermen as needed for                                               
09 the conservation, development, and utilization of fishery resources;                                                   
10   (16)  requiring foreign fishing vessels present in or transiting the                                                 
11 waters of the state to report to the department the quantity, species, and origin                                       
12 of fish on board; in this paragraph, "foreign fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel                                    
13 that is not registered under the laws of the state.                                                                    
14    * Sec. 2.  Before May 1996, the Board of Fisheries shall consider for adoption, and adopt                            
15 as the board considers appropriate, regulations under AS 16.05.251(a)(16) to require a foreign                          
16 fishing vessel present in or transiting the waters of the state in Southeast Alaska to report in                        
17 a timely manner to the Department of Fish and Game the quantity, species, and origin of fish                            
18 on board the vessel.