HB 348: "An Act relating to the adoption of regulations by the Board of Fisheries and the Board of Game."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 348 01 "An Act relating to the adoption of regulations by the Board of Fisheries and the Board 02 of Game." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 16.05.251(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 06 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 07 (1) setting apart fish reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 08 waters of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval of the 09 legislature; 10 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 11 fish as a means to allocate the asset of fish; if consistent with resource conservation 12 and development goals, the board may adopt regulations establishing restricted 13 seasons and areas necessary for 14 (A) persons 60 years of age and older to participate in sport,
01 personal use, or subsistence fishing; or 02 (B) persons under 16 years of age to participate in sport 03 fishing; 04 (3) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex and size 05 limitations on the taking of fish as a means to allocate the asset of fish; 06 (4) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 07 capture, and transport of fish as a means to allocate the asset of fish; 08 (5) establishing marking and identification requirements for means 09 used in pursuit, capture, and transport of fish; 10 (6) classifying as commercial fish, sport fish, guided sport fish, 11 personal use fish, subsistence fish, or predators or other preferential categories 12 essential for regulatory purposes; 13 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 14 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of fish; 15 (8) investigating and determining the extent and effect of disease, 16 predation, and competition among fish in the state, exercising control measures 17 considered necessary to the resources of the state; 18 (9) prohibiting and regulating the live capture, possession, transport, or 19 release of native or exotic fish or their eggs; 20 (10) establishing seasons, areas, quotas, and methods of harvest for 21 aquatic plants; 22 (11) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of 23 fishing licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 24 between registration areas is allowed; however, this paragraph does not apply to 25 permits issued or transferred under AS 16.43; 26 (12) regulating commercial, sport, guided sport, subsistence, and 27 personal use fishing as needed for the conservation, development, and utilization of 28 fisheries; 29 (13) requiring, in a fishery, observers on board fishing vessels, as 30 defined in AS 16.05.475(d), that are registered under the laws of the state, as defined 31 in AS 16.05.475(c), after making a written determination that an on-board observer
01 program 02 (A) is the only practical data-gathering or enforcement 03 mechanism for that fishery; 04 (B) will not unduly disrupt the fishery; 05 (C) can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and 06 (D) can be coordinated with observer programs of other 07 agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific 08 Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut 09 Commission; 10 (14) establishing nonexclusive, exclusive, and superexclusive 11 registration and use areas for regulating commercial fishing; 12 (15) regulating resident or nonresident sport fishermen as needed for 13 the conservation, development, and utilization of fishery resources; 14 (16) requiring unlicensed fishing vessels present in or transiting the 15 waters of the state to report to the department the quantity, species, and origin of fish 16 on board; in this paragraph, "unlicensed fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel that is 17 not licensed under AS 16.05.490 - 16.05.530; 18 (17) promoting fishing and preserving the heritage of fishing in the 19 state. 20 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 21 (a) The Board of Game may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 22 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 23 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 24 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 25 of the legislature; 26 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 27 game as a means to allocate the asset of game; 28 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 29 capture, taking, and transport of game as a means to allocate the asset of game, 30 including regulations, consistent with resource conservation and development goals, 31 establishing means and methods that may be employed by persons with physical
01 disabilities; 02 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 03 limitations on the taking of game as a means to allocate the asset of game; 04 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur 05 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 06 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation 07 and competition among game assets in the state; 08 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 09 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game; 10 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 11 native or exotic game or their eggs; 12 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 13 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 14 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 15 (10) regulating sport hunting and subsistence hunting as needed for the 16 conservation, development, and preferential use [UTILIZATION] of game; 17 (11) taking game to ensure public safety; 18 (12) regulating the activities of persons licensed to control nuisance 19 wild birds and nuisance wild small mammals; 20 (13) promoting hunting and trapping and preserving the heritage of 21 hunting and trapping in the state.