HB 26: "An Act relating to short-term commercial fishing crewmember licenses; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 26 01 "An Act relating to short-term commercial fishing crewmember licenses; and providing 02 for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 16.05.480(g) is amended to read: 05 (g) A [FOR A CREWMEMBER FISHING LICENSE ISSUED FOR 06 CALENDAR YEAR 2002 AND FOLLOWING YEARS, A] resident engaged in 07 commercial fishing who is 11 years of age or older and who does not hold an entry 08 permit or an interim-use permit shall pay a [AN ANNUAL] fee of $60 for an annual 09 crewmember fishing license. A [. FOR A CREWMEMBER FISHING LICENSE 10 ISSUED FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2002 AND FOLLOWING YEARS, A] resident 11 engaged in commercial fishing who is less than 11 years of age and who does not hold 12 an entry permit or an interim-use permit shall pay an annual fee of $5. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.480(h) is amended to read: 14 (h) A [FOR A CREWMEMBER FISHING LICENSE ISSUED FOR
01 CALENDAR YEAR 2002 AND FOLLOWING YEARS, A] nonresident engaged in 02 commercial fishing who is 11 years of age or older and who does not hold an entry 03 permit or an interim-use permit shall pay a [AN ANNUAL] base fee of $60 for an 04 annual crewmember fishing license, plus an amount, established by the department 05 by regulation, that is as close as is practicable to the maximum allowed by law. A 06 [FOR A CREWMEMBER FISHING LICENSE ISSUED FOR CALENDAR YEAR 07 2002 AND FOLLOWING YEARS, A] nonresident engaged in commercial fishing 08 who is less than 11 years of age and who does not hold an entry permit or an interim- 09 use permit shall pay an annual base fee of $5 plus an amount, established by the 10 department by regulation, that is as close as is practicable to the maximum allowed by 11 law. 12 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.480 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 13 (j) Notwithstanding (g) and (h) of this section, a resident or nonresident 14 engaged in commercial fishing who does not hold an entry permit or an interim-use 15 permit may obtain 16 (1) a one-day crewmember fishing license for a fee of $30; or 17 (2) a three-day crewmember fishing license for a fee of $50. 18 * Sec. 4. AS 16.10.310(a) is amended to read: 19 (a) The department may 20 (1) make loans 21 (A) to individual commercial fishermen who have been state 22 residents for a continuous period of two years immediately preceding the date 23 of application for a loan under AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370, who have had an 24 annual [A] crewmember or commercial fishing license under AS 16.05.480 or 25 a permit under AS 16.43 for the year immediately preceding the date of 26 application and any other two of the past five years, and who actively 27 participated in the fishery during those periods 28 (i) for the purchase of entry permits; or 29 (ii) to upgrade existing vessels and gear for the purpose 30 of improving the quality of Alaska seafood products; 31 (B) to an individual for the repair, restoration, or upgrading of
01 existing vessels and gear, for the purchase of entry permits and gear, and for 02 the construction and purchase of vessels, if the individual has been a state 03 resident for a continuous period of two years immediately preceding the date 04 of application for a loan under AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370, and either 05 (i) because of lack of training or lack of employment 06 opportunities in the area of residence, does not have occupational 07 opportunities available other than commercial fishing; or 08 (ii) is economically dependent on commercial fishing 09 for a livelihood and for whom commercial fishing has been a traditional 10 way of life in Alaska; 11 (C) for the purchase of quota shares for fisheries in or off the 12 state by individual commercial fishermen who 13 (i) have been state residents for a continuous period of 14 two years immediately preceding the date of application for a loan 15 under AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370; 16 (ii) for any two of the past five years, possessed an 17 annual [A] crewmember or commercial fishing license under 18 AS 16.05.480 or a permit under AS 16.43 and actively participated in a 19 fishery for which the license or permit was issued; 20 (iii) qualify as transferees for quota shares under 21 applicable law; and 22 (iv) are not eligible for financing from other recognized 23 commercial lending institutions to purchase quota shares; 24 (D) to an individual commercial fisherman to satisfy past due 25 federal tax obligations, if the fisherman has been a state resident for a 26 continuous period of two years immediately preceding the date of application 27 for the loan, has filed past and current federal tax returns with the federal 28 government, has executed an agreement with the federal government for 29 repayment of past due federal tax obligations, and either 30 (i) has had an annual [A] crewmember or commercial 31 fishing license under AS 16.05.480 or a permit under AS 16.43 for the
01 year immediately preceding the date of application and any other two 02 of the past five years, and has actively participated in the fishery during 03 those periods; 04 (ii) because of lack of training or lack of employment 05 opportunities in the area of residence, does not have occupational 06 opportunities available other than commercial fishing; or 07 (iii) is economically dependent on commercial fishing 08 for a livelihood and for whom commercial fishing has been a traditional 09 way of life in Alaska; 10 (E) for the purchase of fishing quota shares by a community 11 quota entity eligible under federal statute or regulation to purchase the fishing 12 quota shares if the community quota entity is not eligible or qualified for 13 financing from other recognized commercial lending institutions to purchase 14 the fishing quota shares; 15 (2) designate agents and delegate its powers to them as necessary; 16 (3) adopt regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of 17 AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370, including regulations to establish reasonable fees for 18 services provided; 19 (4) establish amortization plans for repayment of loans, which may 20 include extensions for poor fishing seasons or for adverse market conditions for 21 Alaska products; 22 (5) enter into agreements with private lending institutions, other state 23 agencies, or agencies of the federal government to carry out the purposes of 24 AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370; 25 (6) enter into agreements with other agencies or organizations to create 26 an outreach program to make loans under AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370 in rural areas of 27 the state; 28 (7) allow an assumption of a loan if 29 (A) the applicant has been a state resident for a continuous 30 period of two years immediately preceding the date of the request for an 31 assumption; and
01 (B) approval of the assumption would be consistent with the 02 purposes of AS 16.10.300; an applicant for a loan assumption may not be 03 disqualified because the applicant does not meet the loan eligibility 04 requirements of (1) of this subsection; 05 (8) prequalify loan applicants for a limited entry permit loan or a quota 06 shares loan and charge a fee not to exceed $200 for prequalification; 07 (9) charge and collect the fees established under this subsection; 08 (10) refinance a debt obligation incurred by a borrower or borrowers 09 under this section if the borrower or borrowers otherwise qualify for a loan under 10 AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370; 11 (11) refinance debt obligations, not to exceed $300,000, incurred by a 12 borrower or borrowers for the purchase of a commercial fishing vessel or gear if the 13 borrower or borrowers otherwise qualify for a loan under AS 16.10.300 - 16.10.370; 14 the department may collect a refinancing loan origination charge as provided by 15 regulation. 16 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 17 read: 18 TEMPORARY SURCHARGE ON ISSUANCE OF SHORT-TERM COMMERCIAL 19 FISHING CREWMEMBER LICENSES. The Department of Fish and Game may collect an 20 additional administrative fee of $3 for each one-day or three-day crewmember fishing license 21 issued under AS 16.05.480(j), added by sec. 3 of this Act, through December 31, 2005. 22 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect July 1, 2005.