SB 153: "An Act relating to the exchange of certain fish for seafood products, custom processing of certain fish, and use of certain fish for charitable purposes."
00SENATE BILL NO. 153 01 "An Act relating to the exchange of certain fish for seafood products, custom 02 processing of certain fish, and use of certain fish for charitable purposes." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. AS 03.05.011(a) is amended to read: 05 (a) To carry out the requirements of this title, the commissioner of 06 environmental conservation may issue orders, regulations, permits, quarantines, and 07 embargoes relating to 08 (1) examination and inspection of premises containing products, 09 articles, and commodities carrying pests; 10 (2) establishment of quarantines for eradication of pests; 11 (3) establishment of standards and labeling requirements pertaining to 12 the sale of meat, fish, and poultry; 13 (4) tests and analyses which may be made and hearings which may be 14 held to determine whether the commissioner will issue a stop order or quarantine;
01 (5) cooperation with federal and other state agencies; 02 (6) regulation of fur farming; for purposes of this paragraph, "fur 03 farming" means the raising of and caring for animals for the purpose of marketing 04 their fur, or animals themselves for breeding stock; 05 (7) examination and inspection of meat, fish, and poultry advertised for 06 sale or sold to the public; 07 (8) enforcement of quality assurance plans developed in cooperation 08 with appropriate industry representatives; 09 (9) establishment of standards and conditions for the operation and 10 siting of aquatic farms and related hatcheries, including 11 (A) restrictions on the use of chemicals; and 12 (B) requirements to protect the public from contaminated 13 aquatic farm products that pose a risk to health; 14 (10) monitoring of aquatic farms and aquatic farm products to ensure 15 compliance with this chapter and with the requirements of the national shellfish 16 sanitation program manual of operations published by the Food and Drug 17 Administration; 18 (11) monitoring of persons engaged in exchanging seafood products 19 for raw fish under AS 16.05.833 or in custom processing of fish to ensure 20 compliance with this chapter and to protect the public health. 21 * Sec. 2. AS 03.05.020(a) is amended to read: 22 (a) The commissioner shall 23 (1) require routine inspection of food animals, fish, poultry, and 24 derivative food products, to protect the public against fraud, disease, and spoilage, and 25 in this connection adopt uniform regulations establishing standards of identity and 26 composition of these food products and minimum standards of sanitation and handling 27 methods as to all phases of slaughtering, processing, storing, transporting, displaying, 28 and selling of these food products; 29 (2) issue orders or cause the orders to be issued by an authorized 30 veterinarian prohibiting transportation and sale of food products intended for human 31 consumption that do not meet the minimum requirements established under (1) of this
01 subsection, and limiting their use and disposal in conformity with protection of the 02 public; 03 (3) adopt a schedule of fees or charges, and credit provisions, for 04 services rendered by state veterinarians to farmers and others at their request in caring 05 for livestock and poultry, and all the fees shall be transmitted to the commissioner for 06 deposit in the state treasury; 07 (4) designate points of entry for admission of livestock or poultry into 08 the state, and arrange inspection at those points with or without collaboration and 09 assistance of the federal government, and bar entry of stock or poultry not shipped 10 under a valid permit or not free from contagious or infectious disease; 11 (5) adopt, repeal, and amend regulations consistent with existing law 12 for 13 (A) the labeling and grading of milk and milk products and 14 standards of cleanliness and sanitation, to at least the minimum of current 15 recommendations of the United States Public Health Service, for the operation 16 of dairies selling, or offering for sale, milk or milk products; 17 (B) the production and sale of ice cream and allied frozen 18 desserts; 19 (C) the production and sale of imitation milk and imitation milk 20 products; 21 (6) establish a field-kill inspection program for reindeer that is available 22 at state expense and provides for voluntary participation on the part of reindeer herders 23 and processors who wish to have the inspected reindeer used in federally inspected 24 meat products; 25 (7) determine the yield of seafood products derived from species of 26 fish taken in sport and personal use fisheries that are processed by customary 27 processing methods and provide this information to persons engaged in the 28 business of custom processing of fish who exchange raw fish for seafood products 29 under AS 16.05.833; 30 (8) establish procedures for the disposal of unused, excess, or 31 abandoned custom processed fish or stocks of seafood products maintained for
01 exchange under AS 16.05.833 to ensure that these products do not enter 02 commerce; the procedures may provide for distribution of these products to 03 indigent persons. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 03.05.100 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 05 (4) "custom processing" has the meaning given in AS 16.05.833. 06 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05 is amended by adding a new section to read: 07 Sec. 16.05.833. EXCHANGE OF RAW FISH FOR SEAFOOD PRODUCTS 08 AND CUSTOM PROCESSING OF FISH. (a) A person who takes a fish in a sport 09 or personal use fishery may as provided in this section exchange the raw fish for 10 seafood products with a person authorized under (b) of this section to exchange 11 seafood products for raw fish. 12 (b) A person who is engaged in the business of custom processing of fish 13 taken in a sport or personal use fishery may exchange seafood products for raw fish 14 taken in a sport or personal use fishery and may charge a fee for services rendered in 15 preparing and manufacturing the seafood product for exchange. 16 (c) Under this section, a person may not exchange a raw fish taken in a sport 17 or personal use fishery for a seafood product derived from a species of fish other than 18 the species of the raw fish offered for exchange. A person may not exchange fish 19 taken in a sport or personal use fishery for seafood products except as provided in this 20 section or as otherwise provided by law. 21 (d) Seafood products offered in exchange for raw fish under this section may 22 be manufactured from fish taken in a commercial, sport, or personal use fishery. 23 Seafood products offered in exchange for raw fish under this section, and raw fish to 24 be manufactured into seafood products under this section, shall be labeled prominently 25 "NOT FOR SALE" and may not be sold or bartered. A person who receives raw fish 26 taken in a sport or personal use fishery in exchange for seafood products shall process 27 the raw fish into seafood products for subsequent exchange for other raw fish. 28 (e) A person who receives raw fish for custom processing or in exchange for 29 seafood products or who maintains stocks of seafood products available for exchange 30 under this section shall at all times maintain these fish and seafood products separate 31 from fish and seafood products available for sale or barter.
01 (f) Only wholesome fish may be accepted for custom processing or in 02 exchange for seafood products under this section. The amount of seafood products 03 provided in exchange for raw fish shall be approximately equal to the amount of 04 seafood product derived from raw fish as the result of the processing method utilized 05 to manufacture the seafood product, as determined by the Department of 06 Environmental Conservation under AS 03.05.020. The quality of seafood products 07 provided in exchange for raw fish shall be approximately equivalent to the quality of 08 seafood products manufactured from raw fish of the same quality as the raw fish 09 actually presented for exchange. 10 (g) A person who engages in custom processing of fish or who maintains 11 stocks of or manufactures seafood products for exchange for raw fish under this 12 section shall keep, and retain for two calendar years, records of each custom 13 processing or exchange transaction, including the name and fishing license number of 14 the person providing the fish for processing or exchange and the quantity of each 15 species of fish received for custom processing or in exchange for seafood products; the 16 quantity of each type of seafood products manufactured for exchange under this 17 section; and the quantity of each type of seafood product exchanged for raw fish under 18 this section. The records shall be available for inspection on any business day during 19 usual business hours by an employee of the Department of Environmental 20 Conservation, Department of Fish and Game, or the Department of Public Safety. 21 (h) The Board of Fisheries, after consultation with the Department of 22 Environmental Conservation if appropriate, may adopt regulations necessary to 23 implement this section. 24 (i) The receipt under this section of raw fish taken in a sport or personal use 25 fishery, the exchange of raw fish for seafood products under this section, and the 26 manufacturing of raw fish into seafood products for exchange for raw fish under this 27 section 28 (1) are not activities subject to AS 16.10.265 - 16.10.296 or AS 43.75; 29 (2) do not constitute sale or barter of fish. 30 (j) A person may not contribute, collect, or distribute more than 1,500 pounds 31 of custom processed fish taken in a sport or personal use fishery or fishery products
01 manufactured from raw fish taken in a sport or personal use fishery under this section 02 for charitable purposes during a calendar year unless the department has issued a 03 permit to the person to contribute, collect, or distribute custom processed fish and 04 fishery products manufactured from fish taken in a sport or personal use fishery under 05 this section. The department may issue a permit under this subsection, after 06 consultation with the Department of Environmental Conservation, if the department 07 finds that 08 (1) use of the fish or fishery products do not pose a risk to the 09 consumer of the fish or fishery products; 10 (2) a bona fide and immediate charitable purpose is served; 11 (3) alternative sources of fish or fishery products are not readily 12 available to achieve the charitable purpose; and 13 (4) issuance of the permit will not pose a risk to a fishery resource. 14 (k) In this section, 15 (1) "custom processing" means the small scale manufacture of seafood 16 products from raw fish for personal use at the request of and to the specifications of 17 the person who caught the fish; "custom processing" does not include heading, gutting, 18 gilling, bleeding, filleting, freezing, or packaging for shipment performed by a charter 19 operator, operator of a fishing lodge, or fishing guide who is employed by the person 20 who took the fish; 21 (2) "raw fish" means unprocessed fish, except that acts necessary to 22 avoid spoilage or decomposition of fish including heading, gutting, gilling, and 23 bleeding do not constitute processing; 24 (3) "seafood product" means a finfish, shellfish, amphibian, or other 25 aquatic animal or part or byproduct of a finfish, shellfish, amphibian, or other aquatic 26 animal that has been prepared for human consumption by butchering, canning, cooking, 27 dehydrating, freezing, pickling, salting, shucking, or smoking, or other food 28 preservation method approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation.