HB 216: "An Act relating to the emergency order authority of the commissioner of fish and game and to meetings of the Board of Fisheries."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 216 01 "An Act relating to the emergency order authority of the commissioner of fish and game 02 and to meetings of the Board of Fisheries." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature to 07 (1) clarify the roles of the Board of Fisheries and the commissioner of fish and 08 game and to recognize that the commissioner is better able to respond quickly to changing 09 conditions on the fishing grounds by authorizing the commissioner to supersede a regulation 10 or fishery management plan adopted by the board as necessary to assure that fishery resources 11 are managed for sustained yield; 12 (2) formalize the procedures for setting the agenda for meetings of the Board 13 of Fisheries in order to provide adequate notice and to avoid surprises and inconvenience to 14 the public that is affected by the decisions of the board;
01 (3) maintain the customary practice by which the Board of Fisheries may 02 change its meeting agenda to correct errors in regulations, to address unforeseen 03 consequences of regulations, and to address fishery conservation issues, but to further require 04 that an agenda change to address a fishery conservation issue be subject to the determination 05 by the commissioner of fish and game that a conservation issue does exist and that the issue 06 cannot be resolved under current regulations. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.060 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 08 (d) The commissioner, as necessary to manage fishery resources for sustained 09 yield, may exercise authority under this section to supersede a regulation or fishery 10 management plan adopted by the Board of Fisheries. 11 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.300 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 12 (c) The Board of Fisheries shall adopt regulations establishing procedures for 13 proposing, adopting, and amending the agenda for meetings of the board. The board 14 may amend an adopted agenda in response to a request to consider a matter that is not 15 on the adopted agenda in order to (1) address a fishery conservation issue if the 16 commissioner concurs in the determination of the board that a fishery conservation 17 issue exists and that the issue cannot be resolved under current regulations, (2) correct 18 an error in a regulation adopted by the board, or (3) address an unforeseen 19 consequence on a fishery of a regulation adopted by the board. The board may not 20 consider a request for an amendment of an adopted agenda unless the request for the 21 amendment is accompanied by substantial evidence that the request complies with this 22 subsection and the regulations adopted by the board.