00               SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 218(RES)                                                             
01 "An Act relating to cost recovery fisheries for private nonprofit hatchery facilities."                                 
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 16.10 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
04            Sec. 16.10.455. Cost recovery fisheries. (a) A hatchery permit holder may                                  
05       harvest salmon for a facility in                                                                                  
06                 (1)  a special harvest area through agents, or employees of or persons                                  
07       under contract with the permit holder as provided under a permit from the department                              
08       or regulations of the Board of Fisheries; or                                                                      
09                 (2)  a terminal harvest area through the common property fishery under                                  
10       this section.                                                                                                     
11            (b)  A hatchery permit holder may annually elect to harvest surplus salmon                                   
12       produced at a facility in a terminal harvest area established for that facility through the                       
13       common property fishery. At the request of the hatchery permit holder and if the                                  
14       commissioner of fish and game determines that there are no allocative issues involved,                            
15       and after reasonable consultation with affected commercial fishermen and the                                      

01       organizations of affected commercial fishermen, the commissioner may adopt                                        
02       regulations governing the harvest of surplus salmon in a terminal harvest area when                               
03       the hatchery permit holder elects to harvest surplus salmon produced at a facility                                
04       through a common property fishery. The regulations must specify the terms,                                        
05       conditions, and rules under which the common property fishery in the terminal harvest                             
06       area shall be conducted, including requirements for hold inspections and reporting of                             
07       harvests and sales of salmon taken in the terminal harvest area. The Board of Fisheries                           
08       may adopt regulations under AS 16.05.251 regarding a fisheries management plan                                    
09       governing operations under this subsection in a terminal harvest area, including                                  
10       allocation plans. Participation in the fishery must be open to all interim-use permit and                         
11       entry permit holders who hold permits to operate a type of gear that may be used in the                           
12       fishing district in which the terminal harvest area is located if that type of gear is                            
13       authorized by regulation to be used in the terminal harvest area. An interim-use permit                           
14       holder or an entry permit holder who takes salmon in a common property fishery in a                               
15       terminal harvest area may sell the salmon to any fish buyer or processor who is                                   
16       licensed to do business in the state.                                                                             
17            (c)  As a condition of participation in a common property salmon fishery in a                                
18       terminal harvest area under this section, a fisherman who participates in the fishery is                          
19       subject to the payment of the assessment levied under (d) of this section. The                                    
20       assessment is levied on the value of salmon that the fisherman takes in the terminal                              
21       harvest area and sells to a licensed buyer. The buyer of the salmon must be licensed                              
22       under AS 43.75, and the buyer shall collect the assessment on salmon taken in a                                   
23       terminal harvest area at the time of purchase and remit the assessment to the                                     
24       Department of Revenue in accordance with regulations adopted by the Department of                                 
25       Revenue.                                                                                                          
26            (d)  The Department of Revenue may, by regulation, annually, by March 1 of                                   
27       each year, set the rate of the assessment levied on salmon taken in a terminal harvest                            
28       area in consultation with the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic                                     
29       Development, the hatchery permit holder, and representatives of affected commercial                               
30       fishermen. The rate of the assessment shall provide sufficient revenue to cover debt                              
31       service to the state, reasonable operating expenses, reasonable maintenance expenses,                             

01       and development or maintenance of a reserve fund up to 100 percent of annual                                      
02       operating costs of the hatchery permit holder. In setting the rate of the assessment, the                         
03       department shall consider the estimated return and harvest of salmon in the terminal                              
04       harvest area, the projected price to be paid for salmon in the region, the amount of the                          
05       existing reserve held by the hatchery permit holder, and the amount by which the                                  
06       assessment collected in previous years exceeded or fell short of the amount anticipated                           
07       to be collected. The total rate of the assessment may not exceed 50 percent of the                                
08       value of the salmon.                                                                                              
09            (e)  The Department of Revenue shall deposit the assessments collected under                                 
10       this section in the general fund. The legislature may appropriate the funds collected                             
11       under this section to the hatchery permit holder who operates a facility in the terminal                          
12       harvest area in which the assessment was levied. A hatchery permit holder shall use                               
13       funds appropriated under this subsection for the purposes set out under                                           
14       AS 16.10.450(a). The legislature may also appropriate funds collected under this                                  
15       section to the Department of Revenue for costs incurred by the department under this                              
16       section.                                                                                                          
17            (f)  A person who violates a regulation adopted under (b) of this section is                                 
18       guilty of a violation under AS 16.05.722 or a misdemeanor under AS 16.05.723. A                                   
19       person who violates a regulation adopted by the Department of Revenue under (c) of                                
20       this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.                                                                  
21            (g)  In this section,                                                                                        
22                 (1)  "facility" means a hatchery or salmon rehabilitation project for                                   
23       which a permit is issued under AS 16.10.400 - 16.10.470;                                                          
24                 (2)  "special harvest area" means an area designated by the                                             
25       commissioner or the Board of Fisheries where salmon returning to a hatchery may be                                
26       harvested by the hatchery operators, and, in some situations, by the common property                              
27       fishery;                                                                                                          
28                 (3)  "terminal harvest area" means a harvest area, which may include a                                  
29       hatchery release site, established by the commissioner or the Board of Fisheries where                            
30       salmon returning to a hatchery may be harvested by the common property fishery;                                   
31                 (4)  "value" has the meaning given in AS 43.75.290.                                                     

01    * Sec. 2. AS 43.76.035 is amended to read:                                                                         
02            Sec. 43.76.035. Exemption. Except as provided under (b) of this section,                                 
03       AS 43.76.001 - 43.76.040 do not apply to salmon harvested under a special harvest                                 
04       area entry permit issued under AS 16.43.400.                                                                      
05    * Sec. 3. AS 43.76.035 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                              
06            (b)  Salmon harvested in a common property fishery conducted in a terminal                                   
07       harvest area under AS 16.10.455 are subject to a salmon enhancement tax levied under                              
08       AS 43.76.001 - 43.76.040.