HB 98: "An Act relating to sport fishing seasons and areas for persons under 16 years of age."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 98 01 "An Act relating to sport fishing seasons and areas for persons under 16 years of age." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 16.05.251(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 05 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 06 (1) setting apart fish reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 07 waters of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval of the 08 legislature; 09 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 10 fish; if consistent with resource conservation and development goals, the board may 11 adopt regulations establishing restricted seasons and areas necessary for 12 (A) persons 60 years of age and older to participate in sport, 13 personal use, or subsistence fishing; or 14 (B) persons under 16 years of age to participate in sport 15 fishing;
01 (3) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex and size 02 limitations on the taking of fish; 03 (4) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 04 capture, and transport of fish; 05 (5) establishing marking and identification requirements for means 06 used in pursuit, capture, and transport of fish; 07 (6) classifying as commercial fish, sport fish, guided sport fish, 08 personal use fish, subsistence fish, or predators or other categories essential for 09 regulatory purposes; 10 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 11 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of fish; 12 (8) investigating and determining the extent and effect of disease, 13 predation, and competition among fish in the state, exercising control measures 14 considered necessary to the resources of the state; 15 (9) prohibiting and regulating the live capture, possession, transport, or 16 release of native or exotic fish or their eggs; 17 (10) establishing seasons, areas, quotas, and methods of harvest for 18 aquatic plants; 19 (11) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of 20 fishing licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 21 between registration areas is allowed; however, this paragraph does not apply to 22 permits issued or transferred under AS 16.43; 23 (12) regulating commercial, sport, guided sport, subsistence, and 24 personal use fishing as needed for the conservation, development, and utilization of 25 fisheries; 26 (13) requiring, in a fishery, observers on board fishing vessels, as 27 defined in AS 16.05.475(d), that are registered under the laws of the state, as defined 28 in AS 16.05.475(c), after making a written determination that an on-board observer 29 program 30 (A) is the only practical data-gathering or enforcement 31 mechanism for that fishery;
01 (B) will not unduly disrupt the fishery; 02 (C) can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and 03 (D) can be coordinated with observer programs of other 04 agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific 05 Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut 06 Commission; 07 (14) establishing nonexclusive, exclusive, and superexclusive 08 registration and use areas for regulating commercial fishing; 09 (15) regulating resident or nonresident sport fishermen as needed for 10 the conservation, development, and utilization of fishery resources; 11 (16) requiring unlicensed fishing vessels present in or transiting the 12 waters of the state to report to the department the quantity, species, and origin of fish 13 on board; in this paragraph, "unlicensed fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel that is 14 not licensed under AS 16.05.490 - 16.05.530.