HB 358: "An Act establishing a fisheries bycatch tax."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 358 01 "An Act establishing a fisheries bycatch tax." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 16.05.050(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 05 and duties: 06 (1) through the appropriate state agency and under the provisions of 07 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code), to acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or other 08 lawful means, land, buildings, water, rights-of-way, or other necessary or proper real 09 or personal property when the acquisition is in the interest of furthering an objective or 10 purpose of the department and the state; 11 (2) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 12 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish 13 and game resources of the state; 14 (3) to accept money from any person under conditions requiring the 15 use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection,
01 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 02 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 03 (4) to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data and information 04 that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of this title 05 except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 06 (5) to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish or 07 game or eggs for propagating, scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes; 08 (6) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities where 09 necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game, and to enter into 10 cooperative agreements with any person to effect them; 11 (7) to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 12 (8) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, supervise, 13 and maintain vessels used by the department; 14 (9) to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under AS 16.43 to 15 engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery resource with 16 vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under this chapter in 17 conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 18 Commission; 19 (10) not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 20 commissioner of revenue 21 (A) the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 22 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish 23 species for that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing 24 commercial fish species if, within a specified geographical region, 25 (i) [(A)] the optimum yield from the harvest of the 26 species has not been reached; 27 (ii) [(B)] a substantial portion of the allowable harvest 28 of the species has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; 29 or 30 (iii) [(C)] a commercial harvest of the fish species has 31 recently developed; and
01 (B) the monetary value of bycatch for purposes of the 02 fisheries bycatch tax imposed under AS 43.75.016; 03 (11) to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to carry out 04 the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 05 (12) to enter into cooperative agreements with agencies of the federal 06 government, educational institutions, or other agencies or organizations, when in the 07 public interest, to carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 08 (13) to implement an on-board observer program authorized by the 09 Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 10 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 11 and 12 (B) must make scheduling and scope of observers' activities as 13 predictable as practicable; 14 (14) to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 15 operations; 16 (15) to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services provided 17 by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock and eggs 18 for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct services, and 19 reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; fees 20 established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 21 sport fishing access sites, and for operation of state hatchery facilities by private 22 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 23 (16) to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a manner 24 that ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources and improves the 25 economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 26 (17) to operate state housing and facilities for employees, contractors, 27 and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge rent that is 28 consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements, or, if no collective 29 bargaining agreement is applicable, competitive with market conditions; rent received 30 from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 31 (18) to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission,
01 unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under AS 16.05.251(g), to 02 establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 03 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 04 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 05 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be 06 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 07 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 08 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 09 yield management of the fishery; 10 (19) to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and preserve the 11 heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 43.75 is amended by adding a new section to read: 13 Sec. 43.75.016. Fisheries bycatch tax. (a) A person engaged in a fisheries 14 business is liable for and shall pay a one percent tax on the value of bycatch the person 15 caught in the state during the year. 16 (b) A person engaged in a fisheries business in the state and who catches 17 bycatch that is not subject to the tax in (a) of this section, but that is brought into the 18 jurisdiction of, and first landed in, this state, is liable for and shall pay a landing tax on 19 the value of the bycatch. The amount of the landing tax is one percent on the value of 20 the bycatch landed during the year. 21 (c) A person is exempt from taxation under this section if the person is an 22 authorized distributor in a prohibited species donation program established by the 23 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 24 * Sec. 3. AS 43.75.290(7) is amended to read: 25 (7) "value" means 26 (A) the market value of the fishery resource as determined by 27 the prevailing price paid to fishermen for the unprocessed fishery resource of 28 the same kind and quality by fisheries businesses in the same region or market 29 area where the fishery resource was taken if 30 (i) the taking of the fishery resource is done in a boat 31 owned or leased by a person who holds a direct marketing fisheries
01 business license under AS 43.75.020(c); and 02 (ii) the fishery resource was sold to a buyer other than a 03 fishery business licensed under AS 43.75.020(a); 04 (B) for fisheries resources other than those described in (A), 05 (C), or (D) of this paragraph, the market value of the fishery resource if the 06 taking of the fishery resource is done in company-owned or company- 07 subsidized boats operated by employees of the company or in boats that are 08 operated under lease to or from the company or other arrangement with the 09 company and if the fishery resource is delivered to the company; in this 10 subparagraph, "company" means a fisheries business, a subsidiary of a 11 fisheries business, or a subsidiary of a parent company of a fisheries business; 12 "company" does not include a direct marketing fisheries business licensed 13 under AS 43.75.020(c); or 14 (C) for fishery resources other than those described in (A), 15 [OR] (B), or (D) of this paragraph, the actual price paid for the fishery 16 resource by the fisheries business to the fisherman, including indirect 17 consideration and bonus amounts paid for fuel, supplies, gear, ice, handling, 18 tender fees, or delivery, whether paid at the time of purchase of the fishery 19 resource or tendered as a deferred or delayed payment; in this subparagraph, 20 "delivery" means 21 (i) transportation of the fishery resource from the boat 22 or vessel on which the product was taken to a tender; or 23 (ii) if delivery was not to a tender, transportation of the 24 fishery resource from the boat or vessel on which the product was taken 25 to a shore-based facility in which delivery of the fishery resource is 26 normally accepted; 27 (D) for bycatch, the value established by the commissioner 28 of fish and game under AS 16.05.050(a)(10). 29 * Sec. 4. AS 43.75.290 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 30 (8) "bycatch" means chinook salmon and non-target halibut caught 31 with trawl or longline gear that are harvested in a fishery but are not sold or kept for
01 personal use.