00 HOUSE BILL NO. 141 01 "An Act relating to a vessel permit moratorium for the Alaska weathervane 02 scallop fishery; relating to management of the scallop fisheries; and providing for 03 an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. (a) The legislature finds that 06 (1) the scallop fishing fleet in Alaska is overcapitalized; 07 (2) fishing effort in the Alaska weathervane scallop fishery has reached levels 08 that may threaten the sustained yield management of the fishery; 09 (3) weathervane scallops are long-lived animals with few natural predators; 10 these attributes are common to species that are the most susceptible to overfishing; 11 (4) the status of many Alaska weathervane scallop stocks is largely unknown, 12 and the stocks are susceptible to localized depletion and general overfishing; 13 (5) scallop fisheries around the world have collapsed after relatively short 14 periods of intense fishing; 01 (6) scallop dredges may adversely affect important bottom-dwelling species, 02 such as king crab and Tanner crab, and without careful management may threaten the 03 conservation of these other fishery resources; 04 (7) the conventional limited entry and moratorium system under AS 16.43 05 cannot adequately protect the economic health and stability of the Alaska weathervane scallop 06 fishery or adequately promote the sustained yield management of the Alaska weathervane 07 scallop fishery; 08 (8) the United States Department of Commerce has taken action to restrict 09 access to the Alaska weathervane scallop fishery in the waters of the United States exclusive 10 economic zone adjacent to Alaska; 11 (9) state management of the entire Alaska weathervane scallop fishery will 12 provide a uniform and comprehensive management regime for the fishery, protect the 13 economic health and stability of the fishery, and promote sustained yield management of the 14 fishery; 15 (10) establishment of a moratorium on the issuance of vessel permits to new 16 vessels seeking to enter the Alaska weathervane scallop fishery promotes the purposes of art. 17 VIII, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska, and AS 16.43 while providing an 18 opportunity to study and evaluate the feasibility of a permanent vessel permit limited entry 19 system for the Alaska weathervane scallop fishery. 20 (b) It is the intent of the legislature that the Board of Fisheries maintain 100 percent 21 observer coverage for all vessels engaged in the Alaska weathervane scallop fishery. 22 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05 is amended by adding a new section to article 5 to read: 23 Sec. 16.05.735. Management of offshore fisheries. The state may assume 24 management of the scallop fisheries in offshore water adjacent to the state in the 25 absence of a federal fishing management plan for scallops or in the event that a federal 26 fishery management plan for scallops delegates authority to the state to manage scallop 27 fisheries in the United States exclusive economic zone. 28 * Sec. 3. AS 16.43 is amended by adding a new section to read: 29 Sec. 16.43.906. Vessel permits for weathervane scallop fishery. (a) The 30 commission shall issue annual vessel permits for commercial fishing vessels used in 31 the weathervane scallop fishery. The commission shall issue vessel permits to the 01 vessel upon application by the vessel owner. The commission shall issue separate 02 vessel permits for each registration area. The weathervane scallop fishery registration 03 areas are the statewide Alaska weathervane scallop fishery registration area and the 04 area H weathervane scallop fishery registration area. 05 (b) A vessel permit is a use privilege authorizing the vessel to take 06 weathervane scallops in the registration area for which the vessel permit is issued. The 07 use privilege conveyed by a vessel permit may be modified or revoked by the 08 legislature without compensation. 09 (c) On or after July 1, 1997, a commercial fishing vessel may not be used to 10 take weathervane scallops in a registration area unless a vessel permit for that 11 registration area has been issued under this section for the vessel. 12 (d) The commission may not issue a vessel permit under this section to a 13 commercial fishing vessel for the statewide Alaska weathervane scallop fishery 14 registration area for the period from July 1, 1997, through June 30, 2001, inclusive, 15 unless the vessel has landed in the state at least 1,000 pounds of weathervane scallops 16 that were legally taken in the statewide Alaska weathervane scallop fishery registration 17 area, 18 (1) during calendar year 1995 or 1996; and 19 (2) during each of at least four calendar years between 1984 and 1996, 20 inclusive. 21 (e) The commission may not issue a vessel permit under this section to a 22 commercial fishing vessel for the area H weathervane scallop fishery registration area 23 for the period from July 1, 1997, through June 30, 2001, inclusive, unless the vessel 24 has landed in the state at least 1,000 pounds of weathervane scallops that were legally 25 taken in the area H weathervane scallop fishery registration area during calendar year 26 1995 or 1996. 27 (f) Use of a vessel in a weathervane scallop fishery on or after July 1, 1997, 28 may not be used to establish eligibility for a vessel permit for a weathervane scallop 29 fishery that may be issued after June 30, 2001. 30 (g) Subsections (d) - (f) of this section may be superseded by regulations 31 adopted by the commission under subsequent legislation enacted by the legislature 01 authorizing 02 (1) a permanent vessel permit limited entry system for the weathervane 03 scallop fishery; or 04 (2) termination of the temporary moratorium on issuance of new vessel 05 permits established by this subsection. 06 (h) An application for a vessel permit under this section must contain the name 07 of each permit holder authorized to operate the vessel in the weathervane scallop 08 fishery and other information the commission may require to implement this section. 09 The owner of a vessel for which a vessel permit is issued shall notify the commission 10 in writing of a change in the permit holders who are authorized to operate the vessel 11 in the weathervane scallop fishery. In this subsection, "permit holder" means a person 12 who holds an entry permit or interim-use permit issued under this chapter for the 13 weathervane scallop fishery. 14 (i) If a commercial fishing vessel that qualifies for a vessel permit under this 15 section is sunk, destroyed, or damaged to the extent that the vessel is inoperable for 16 a weathervane scallop fishing season, the commission may, upon the request of the 17 owner of the vessel, reissue the vessel permit for that fishing season to another 18 commercial fishing vessel with an overall length and horsepower rating that does not 19 exceed the overall length and horsepower rating of the vessel that was sunk, destroyed, 20 or damaged. 21 (j) The fee for the annual vessel permit is $1,000. A vessel permit is valid for 22 the 12-month period beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30, inclusive, that is 23 inscribed on the license. 24 (k) The commission may adopt regulations that the commission considers 25 necessary to implement this section. 26 (l) In this section, 27 (1) "area H weathervane scallop fishery registration area" means the 28 marine waters of Cook Inlet north of the latitude of Cape Douglas (58 degrees 52 29 minutes North latitude) and west of the longitude of Cape Fairfield (148 degrees 50 30 minutes West longitude); 31 (2) "landed" includes catching or catching and processing of 01 weathervane scallops taken in state waters or the adjacent United States exclusive 02 economic zone for sale as evidenced by a Department of Fish and Game fish ticket; 03 (3) "statewide Alaska weathervane scallop fishery registration area" 04 means the marine waters of Alaska, outside of the area H weathervane scallop fishery 05 registration area. 06 * Sec. 4. AS 16.43.911(c) is amended to read: 07 (c) Notwithstanding AS 16.05.815 and AS 16.43.975, the commission may 08 release to the owner of a vessel information on the vessel's history of harvests in a 09 [THE KOREAN HAIR CRAB] fishery that is necessary to apply for a vessel permit 10 under AS 16.43.901 - 16.43.906. 11 * Sec. 5. Section 5, ch. 126, SLA 1996, is amended to read: 12 Sec. 5. AS 16.43.901 [AND 16.43.911], added by sec. 3 of this Act, is [ARE] 13 repealed July 1, 2000. 14 * Sec. 6. AS 16.43.906, added by sec. 3 of this Act, and AS 16.43.911 are repealed July 1, 15 2001. 16 * Sec. 7. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).