00 HOUSE BILL NO. 277 01 "An Act relating to a moratorium on entry into the directed demersal shelf 02 rockfish fishery in Southeast Alaska; relating to state management of fisheries in 03 offshore water adjacent to the state; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 06 (1) demersal shelf rockfish are subject to localized depletion and require 07 careful management because they are slow-growing, late-maturing fish that tend to remain in 08 a localized area and not to migrate; 09 (2) the directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery in Southeast Alaska has a high 10 socioeconomic importance to a fleet of small, local, shore-based longline fishing vessels; 11 (3) the directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery occurs only in the waters of 12 the State of Alaska and the United States exclusive economic zone in Southeast Alaska east 13 of 140 degrees West longitude; 14 (4) the federal Department of Commerce is currently considering a limited 01 entry system for all species of North Pacific groundfish, other than demersal shelf rockfish, 02 in the United States exclusive economic zone; if the federal groundfish limited entry system 03 is approved, the directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery will be the only open entry fishery 04 on species of groundfish in the United States exclusive economic zone off Alaska and will 05 attract additional participants to the directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery in state waters; 06 (5) establishment of limited entry into the demersal shelf rockfish fishery in 07 the United States exclusive economic zone would make the portion of the fishery in state 08 waters even more vulnerable to further expansion of fishing effort unless a comparable entry 09 limitation system is established for state waters; 10 (6) the Southeast Alaska directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery has already 11 reached a level of participation and fishing effort that may threaten the conservation of 12 demersal shelf rockfish resources, the economic health and stability of the fishery, and the 13 sustained yield management of the fishery; 14 (7) fishery managers have exhausted traditional fishery management tools in 15 the attempt to slow the directed harvest of demersal shelf rockfish and to maintain an orderly 16 fishery; 17 (8) the conventional limited entry system and moratorium process under 18 AS 16.43 cannot adequately protect the economic health and stability of the Southeast Alaska 19 directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery in the state or adequately promote the sustained yield 20 management of the Southeast Alaska directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery in the state; and 21 (9) establishment of a moratorium on the issuance of additional interim-use 22 permits for the Southeast Alaska directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery promotes the 23 purposes of art. VIII, sec. 15, Constitution of the State of Alaska, and AS 16.43 while 24 providing an opportunity to study and evaluate alternative limited entry systems, including the 25 feasibility of a uniform permanent limited entry system for demersal shelf rockfish in waters 26 of the State of Alaska and the United States exclusive economic zone. 27 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 28 Sec. 16.05.735. Management of offshore fisheries. In the absence of a 29 federal fishery management plan or in the event that a federal fishery management plan 30 delegates authority to manage the fishery in the United States exclusive economic 31 zone, the state may assume management of a fishery in offshore water adjacent to the 01 state. 02 * Sec. 3. AS 16.43 is amended by adding a new section to read: 03 Sec. 16.43.229. Southeast Alaska directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery. 04 (a) A person may not take demersal shelf rockfish in the Southeast Alaska directed 05 demersal shelf rockfish fishery without an interim-use permit issued by the 06 commission. The commission may not issue an interim-use permit for the Southeast 07 Alaska directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery unless the applicant presents proof 08 satisfactory to the commission that, at some time during January 1, 1995, through 09 March 14, 1995; November 16, 1995, through March 14, 1996; or November 16, 1996, 10 through March 14, 1997, the applicant commercially harvested demersal shelf rockfish 11 in Southeast Alaska in the directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery while holding a 12 Southeast Alaska demersal shelf rockfish interim-use permit. During the four years 13 that a moratorium established by this section is in effect, the commission shall 14 (1) issue interim-use permits for the directed demersal shelf rockfish 15 fishery to applicants who satisfy the qualifications established under this subsection 16 and who establish the present ability and intent to participate actively in the fishery; 17 (2) determine whether a maximum number of entry permits should be 18 established under AS 16.43.240 for the directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery by 19 (A) conducting research into conditions in the fishery; 20 (B) consulting with the Department of Fish and Game and the 21 Board of Fisheries; and 22 (C) consulting with participants in the fishery; and 23 (3) in cooperation with the Department of Fish and Game and other 24 appropriate agencies, conduct investigations to determine whether an alternative form 25 of limited entry system or other management system to control participation or fishing 26 effort in the fishery is appropriate. 27 (b) Notwithstanding AS 16.43.225, for the purposes of this chapter, 28 (1) an interim-use permit issued under this section shall be treated as 29 an interim-use permit issued under AS 16.43.225; 30 (2) a moratorium established under this section shall be treated as a 31 moratorium established under AS 16.43.225. 01 (c) The commission may not consider participation in the Southeast Alaska 02 directed demersal shelf rockfish fishery that occurs during the period of a moratorium 03 established under this section in determining eligibility for an entry permit that may 04 be issued for the fishery after termination of the moratorium. 05 (d) In this section, 06 (1) "demersal shelf rockfish" means one or more of the species of 07 demersal shelf rockfish, as defined by the Board of Fisheries; 08 (2) "Southeast Alaska" means the waters east of 140 degrees West 09 longitude that are subject to the fishery management jurisdiction of the State of Alaska. 10 * Sec. 4. AS 16.43.229(a), added by sec. 3 of this Act, is repealed July 1, 2001. 11 * Sec. 5. This Act takes effect July 1, 1997.