2d SSHB 178: "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game, the Department of Fish and Game, and the Board of Game, to taking and use of certain game animals, and to consideration of the budget of the Department of Fish and Game by the legislature; and providing for an effective date."
00 2d SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 178 01 "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game, the 02 Department of Fish and Game, and the Board of Game, to taking and use of certain 03 game animals, and to consideration of the budget of the Department of Fish and Game 04 by the legislature; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 16.05.020 is amended to read: 07 Sec. 16.05.020. Functions of commissioner. The commissioner shall 08 (1) supervise and control the department, and may appoint and employ 09 division heads [, ENFORCEMENT AGENTS,] and the technical, clerical, and other 10 assistants necessary for the general administration of the department; 11 (2) manage, protect, maintain, improve, and extend the fish, game, and 12 aquatic plant resources of the state 13 (A) in the interest of the economy and general well-being of the 14 state; and
01 (B) to achieve an abundance of ungulate wildlife resources 02 sufficient to provide the maximum sustained yield of those resources; 03 (3) have necessary power to accomplish the foregoing including, but 04 not limited to, the power to delegate authority to subordinate officers and employees 05 of the department. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.050(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 07 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 08 and duties: 09 (1) to cooperate with and assist the Board of Fisheries, the Board of 10 Game, and the advisory committees established under AS 16.05.260 in allocating the 11 fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state to achieve abundance for maximum 12 sustained yield of those resources; 13 (2) through the appropriate state agency and under the provisions of 14 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code), to acquire by gift, purchase, lease, or other lawful 15 means land, buildings, water, rights-of-way, or other necessary or proper real or 16 personal property when the acquisition is in the interest of furthering an objective or 17 purpose of the department and the state; 18 (3) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 19 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish 20 and game resources of the state; 21 (4) to accept money from any person under conditions requiring the 22 use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection, 23 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 24 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 25 (5) to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data, and information 26 that, according to the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of 27 this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 28 (6) to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish, 29 game, or eggs, or to authorize a person as agent of the commissioner to take, capture, 30 propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish, game, or eggs, for propagating, 31 scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes;
01 (7) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities where 02 necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game; 03 (8) to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 04 (9) to assign the highest priority to the allocation of the fiscal, 05 personnel, and other resources of the division of game for implementation of the plans, 06 programs, and regulations adopted by the Board of Game under AS 16.05.255(e) - (g) 07 in a timely and effective manner; 08 (10) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, supervise, 09 and maintain vessels used by the department; 10 (11) to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under AS 16.43 to 11 engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery resource with a 12 vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under this chapter in 13 conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 14 Commission; 15 (12) not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 16 commissioner of revenue the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 17 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish species for 18 that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing commercial fish species 19 if, within a specified geographical region, 20 (A) the optimum yield from the harvest of the species has not 21 been reached; 22 (B) a substantial portion of the allowable harvest of the species 23 has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; or 24 (C) a commercial harvest of the fish species has recently 25 developed; 26 (13) to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to carry out 27 the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 28 (14) to implement an on-board observer program authorized by the 29 Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 30 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 31 and
01 (B) must make scheduling and scope of an observer's activities 02 as predictable as practicable; 03 (15) to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 04 operations; 05 (16) to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services provided 06 by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock and eggs 07 for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct services, and 08 reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; fees 09 established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 10 sport fishing access sites, and operation of state hatchery facilities by private 11 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 12 (17) to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a manner 13 that ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources and improves the 14 economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 15 (18) to operate state housing and facilities for employees, contractors, 16 and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge rent that is 17 consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements or, if a collective 18 bargaining agreement is not applicable, competitive with market conditions; rent 19 received from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 20 (19) to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, 21 unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under AS 16.05.251(g), to 22 establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 23 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 24 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 25 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be 26 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 27 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 28 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 29 yield management of the fishery. 30 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.080 is amended to read: 31 Sec. 16.05.080. Limitation of power. (a) Nothing in this chapter authorizes
01 the department or a board to change the amount of fees or licenses or to expend, 02 transfer, or reallocate funds appropriated to the department unless the 03 expenditure, transfer, or reallocation is consistent with legislative intent 04 underlying the appropriation. 05 (b) Before entering into a cooperative agreement with any entity for the 06 management of fish or game resources in the state, the department shall provide 07 the public with notice of the proposed agreement and a reasonable opportunity to 08 comment on the agreement. The department shall provide a copy of the 09 proposed agreement to the presiding officers of each house of the legislature. 10 (c) The department may not expend more than 10 percent of the money 11 appropriated to the department from any source for administration and 12 administrative services expenses of the department and its agencies in a fiscal 13 year. 14 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.130(d) is amended to read: 15 (d) Revenue from the sale of general hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses, 16 [AND] tags, and permits and from application fees for tags and permits together 17 with the federal matching funds from Pittman - Robertson, Dingell - Johnson/Wallop - 18 Breaux programs shall be allocated by the department to programs that [INTENDED 19 TO] directly benefit license purchasers of general hunting, trapping, and fishing 20 licenses. The department shall prepare an annual report by project of expenditures 21 from the fish and game fund that describes the anticipated results and benefits of 22 each project in regard to fish stock and game population abundance goals and 23 harvest goals set by the department and the boards and notify the legislature that 24 the report is available. 25 * Sec. 5. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 26 (a) The Board of Game, as it considers necessary to manage, protect, 27 maintain, improve, and extend the game resources of the state to achieve 28 abundance for maximum sustained yield of game and for other purposes, may 29 adopt regulations [IT CONSIDERS ADVISABLE] in accordance with AS 44.62 30 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 31 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the
01 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 02 of the legislature; 03 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 04 game; 05 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 06 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource 07 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be 08 employed by persons with physical disabilities; 09 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 10 limitations on the taking of game; 11 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur 12 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 13 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation 14 and competition among game in the state; 15 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 16 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game; 17 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 18 native or exotic game or their eggs; 19 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 20 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 21 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 22 (10) regulating [SPORT] hunting [AND SUBSISTENCE HUNTING 23 AS NEEDED FOR THE CONSERVATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND 24 UTILIZATION OF GAME]; 25 (11) taking game to ensure public safety. 26 * Sec. 6. AS 16.05.255(e) is amended to read: 27 (e) The Board of Game shall adopt regulations to provide for intensive 28 management programs to restore the abundance or productivity of identified big game 29 prey populations as necessary to achieve human consumptive use goals of the board in 30 an area where the board has limited the harvest of the population to persons who 31 receive a drawing permit and has determined that
01 (1) consumptive use of the big game prey population is a preferred use; 02 (2) depletion of the big game prey population or reduction of the 03 productivity of the big game prey population has occurred and may result in a 04 significant reduction in the allowable human harvest of the population; and 05 (3) enhancement of abundance or productivity of the big game prey 06 population is feasibly achievable utilizing recognized and prudent active management 07 techniques. 08 * Sec. 7. AS 16.05.255(f) is amended to read: 09 (f) The Board of Game may not significantly reduce the taking of an identified 10 big game prey population by adopting regulations relating to restrictions on harvest or 11 access to the population, or to management of the population by customary 12 adjustments in seasons, bag limits, open and closed areas, methods and means, or by 13 other customary means authorized under (a) of this section, unless the board has 14 determined that the human harvest of the population is the primary factor 15 contributing to the depletion of the population and has adopted regulations [, OR 16 HAS SCHEDULED FOR ADOPTION AT THE NEXT REGULARLY 17 SCHEDULED MEETING OF THE BOARD REGULATIONS,] that provide for 18 intensive management to increase the take of the population for human harvest 19 consistent with (e) of this section. This subsection does not apply if the board 20 (1) determines that intensive management would be 21 (A) ineffective, based on scientific information; 22 (B) inappropriate due to land ownership patterns; or 23 (C) against the best interest of subsistence uses; or 24 (2) declares that a biological emergency exists and takes immediate 25 action to protect or maintain the big game prey population in conjunction with the 26 scheduling for adoption of those regulations that are necessary to implement (e) of this 27 section. 28 * Sec. 8. AS 16.05.255(g) is amended to read: 29 (g) The Board of Game shall establish population goals based on estimated 30 historic high population levels consistent with the estimated maximum carrying 31 capacity of the habitat of the population, high [AND] harvest goals to provide for
01 high levels of human harvest, and regulations, including seasons and methods and 02 means for intensive management of identified big game prey populations to achieve a 03 high level of human harvest. The board shall annually review the effectiveness of 04 intensive management programs established under (e) of this section to 05 determine whether planned progress toward established goals has been achieved. 06 The board shall adjust the intensive management programs as necessary to 07 achieve interim management goals. 08 * Sec. 9. AS 16.05.255(j)(2) is amended to read: 09 (2) "high level of human harvest" means the harvest of at least 15 10 percent but not more than 33 percent, based on human demand [ALLOCATION 11 OF A SUFFICIENT PORTION] of the harvestable surplus of an identified [A] big 12 game prey population over a five-year period [TO ACHIEVE A HIGH 13 PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS FOR HUMAN HARVEST OF THE GAME 14 POPULATION BASED ON BIOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES OF THE 15 POPULATION AND CONSIDERING HUNTER DEMAND]; 16 * Sec. 10. AS 16.05.940 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 17 (37) "maximum sustained yield" means the highest number of a 18 population that can be removed for human use without reducing the ability of the 19 population to replenish its numbers. 20 * Sec. 11. AS 16.30 is amended by adding a new section to read: 21 Article 2. Nuisance and Other Game. 22 Sec. 16.30.050. Taking and use of certain game animals. The 23 commissioner of fish and game or the commissioner of public safety or a 24 representative of either commissioner may 25 (1) take or may authorize another person to take a game animal if the 26 animal poses a danger or a nuisance to a person, property, or the public and the taking 27 of the animal is consistent with sound game management principles; or 28 (2) authorize a person to use a game animal that is accidentally killed. 29 * Sec. 12. AS 16.43.210(c) is amended to read: 30 (c) To the extent that the commissioner of fish and game authorizes it under 31 AS 16.05.050(a)(11) [AS 16.05.050(a)(10)], the commission may grant an interim-use
01 permit to a person to engage in the commercial taking from a fishery on an 02 experimental basis. 03 * Sec. 13. AS 43.75.290(3) is amended to read: 04 (3) "developing commercial fish species" means those species of fish 05 and shellfish annually designated by the commissioner of fish and game under 06 AS 16.05.050(a)(12) [AS 16.05.050(a)(11)]; 07 * Sec. 14. AS 44.39 is amended by adding a new section to read: 08 Sec. 44.39.060. Budget. In reviewing the proposed annual operating budget 09 of the department and in making appropriations for the operations of the department, 10 the legislature shall consider increases and decreases in the abundance and the human 11 harvest of the fish and game resources of the state. 12 * Sec. 15. This Act takes effect July 1, 2002.