00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 75(FIN) 01 "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game, Board 02 of Fisheries, and Board of Game in promoting and preserving fishing, hunting, and 03 trapping in the state." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 06 to read: 07 LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the Alaska State Legislature that the 08 commissioner of fish and game, the Board of Fisheries, and the Board of Game implement 09 their authority to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and to preserve the heritage of 10 fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state in a manner consistent with scientific fish and 11 wildlife management principles and the Alaska constitutional principles of common use and 12 sustained yield. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.050(a) is amended to read: 14 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 01 and duties: 02 (1) to assist the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the 03 enforcement of federal laws and regulations pertaining to fish and game; 04 (2) through the appropriate state agency and under the provisions of 05 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code), to acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or other 06 lawful means, land, buildings, water, rights-of-way, or other necessary or proper real 07 or personal property when the acquisition is in the interest of furthering an objective or 08 purpose of the department and the state; 09 (3) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 10 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish 11 and game resources of the state; 12 (4) to accept money from any person under conditions requiring the 13 use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection, 14 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 15 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 16 (5) to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data and information 17 that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of this title 18 except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 19 (6) to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish or 20 game or eggs for propagating, scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes; 21 (7) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities where 22 necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game, and to enter into 23 cooperative agreements with any person to effect them; 24 (8) to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 25 (9) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, supervise, 26 and maintain vessels used by the department; 27 (10) to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under AS 16.43 to 28 engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery resource with 29 vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under this chapter in 30 conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 31 Commission; 01 (11) not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 02 commissioner of revenue the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 03 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish species for 04 that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing commercial fish species 05 if, within a specified geographical region, 06 (A) the optimum yield from the harvest of the species has not 07 been reached; 08 (B) a substantial portion of the allowable harvest of the species 09 has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; or 10 (C) a commercial harvest of the fish species has recently 11 developed; 12 (12) to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to carry out 13 the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 14 (13) to enter into cooperative agreements with agencies of the federal 15 government, educational institutions, or other agencies or organizations, when in the 16 public interest, to carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 17 (14) to implement an on-board observer program authorized by the 18 Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 19 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 20 and 21 (B) must make scheduling and scope of observers' activities as 22 predictable as practicable; 23 (15) to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 24 operations; 25 (16) to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services provided 26 by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock and eggs 27 for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct services, and 28 reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; fees 29 established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 30 sport fishing access sites, and for operation of state hatchery facilities by private 31 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 01 (17) to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a manner 02 that ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources and improves the 03 economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 04 (18) to operate state housing and facilities for employees, contractors, 05 and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge rent that is 06 consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements, or, if no collective 07 bargaining agreement is applicable, competitive with market conditions; rent received 08 from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 09 (19) to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, 10 unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under AS 16.05.251(g), to 11 establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 12 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 13 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 14 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be 15 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 16 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 17 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 18 yield management of the fishery; 19 (20) to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and preserve the 20 heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state. 21 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.251(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 23 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 24 (1) setting apart fish reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 25 waters of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval of the 26 legislature; 27 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 28 fish; if consistent with resource conservation and development goals, the board may 29 adopt regulations establishing restricted seasons and areas necessary for 30 (A) persons 60 years of age and older to participate in sport, 31 personal use, or subsistence fishing; or 01 (B) persons under 16 years of age to participate in sport 02 fishing; 03 (3) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex and size 04 limitations on the taking of fish; 05 (4) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 06 capture, and transport of fish; 07 (5) establishing marking and identification requirements for means 08 used in pursuit, capture, and transport of fish; 09 (6) classifying as commercial fish, sport fish, guided sport fish, 10 personal use fish, subsistence fish, or predators or other categories essential for 11 regulatory purposes; 12 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 13 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of fish; 14 (8) investigating and determining the extent and effect of disease, 15 predation, and competition among fish in the state, exercising control measures 16 considered necessary to the resources of the state; 17 (9) prohibiting and regulating the live capture, possession, transport, or 18 release of native or exotic fish or their eggs; 19 (10) establishing seasons, areas, quotas, and methods of harvest for 20 aquatic plants; 21 (11) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of 22 fishing licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 23 between registration areas is allowed; however, this paragraph does not apply to 24 permits issued or transferred under AS 16.43; 25 (12) regulating commercial, sport, guided sport, subsistence, and 26 personal use fishing as needed for the conservation, development, and utilization of 27 fisheries; 28 (13) requiring, in a fishery, observers on board fishing vessels, as 29 defined in AS 16.05.475(d), that are registered under the laws of the state, as defined 30 in AS 16.05.475(c), after making a written determination that an on-board observer 31 program 01 (A) is the only practical data-gathering or enforcement 02 mechanism for that fishery; 03 (B) will not unduly disrupt the fishery; 04 (C) can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and 05 (D) can be coordinated with observer programs of other 06 agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific 07 Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut 08 Commission; 09 (14) establishing nonexclusive, exclusive, and superexclusive 10 registration and use areas for regulating commercial fishing; 11 (15) regulating resident or nonresident sport fishermen as needed for 12 the conservation, development, and utilization of fishery resources; 13 (16) requiring unlicensed fishing vessels present in or transiting the 14 waters of the state to report to the department the quantity, species, and origin of fish 15 on board; in this paragraph, "unlicensed fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel that is 16 not licensed under AS 16.05.490 - 16.05.530; 17 (17) promoting fishing and preserving the heritage of fishing in the 18 state. 19 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 20 (a) The Board of Game may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 21 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 22 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 23 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 24 of the legislature; 25 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 26 game; 27 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 28 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource 29 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be 30 employed by persons with physical disabilities; 31 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 01 limitations on the taking of game; 02 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur 03 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 04 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation 05 and competition among game in the state; 06 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 07 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game; 08 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 09 native or exotic game or their eggs; 10 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 11 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 12 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 13 (10) regulating sport hunting and subsistence hunting as needed for the 14 conservation, development, and utilization of game; 15 (11) taking game to ensure public safety; 16 (12) regulating the activities of persons licensed to control nuisance 17 wild birds and nuisance wild small mammals; 18 (13) promoting hunting and trapping and preserving the heritage 19 of hunting and trapping in the state.