SCS CSHB 107(RES): "An Act relating to commercial fisheries limited entry permits."
00SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 107(RES) 01 "An Act relating to commercial fisheries limited entry permits." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 04 (1) limited entry is an important state management tool to promote 05 conservation and sustained yield management of fisheries resources of the state and to 06 preserve and sustain the benefits of fisheries development for Alaska; 07 (2) there is a need for effective access restrictions; however, in some fisheries 08 access restrictions alone do not adequately control post-limitation increases in fishing capacity 09 and effort; 10 (3) restricting the fishing capacity associated with entry permits for a particular 11 fishery would make a portion of the entry permits for that fishery more affordable for entry 12 level fishermen; 13 (4) this Act allows the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to 14 "grandfather" participants into newly limited fisheries at levels of fishing capacity that reflect
01 each participant's historic level of participation before limitation; and 02 (5) this Act does not alter or limit the powers of the Board of Fisheries to 03 impose additional restrictions on fishing capacity. 04 * Sec. 2. AS 16.43.140(c) is amended to read: 05 (c) A person may hold more than one interim-use or entry permit issued or 06 transferred under this chapter only for the following purposes: 07 (1) fishing more than one type of gear; 08 (2) fishing in more than one administrative area; 09 (3) harvesting particular species for which separate interim-use or entry 10 permits are issued; 11 (4) if authorized by regulations of the commission, fishing an entire 12 unit of gear in a fishery in which the commission has issued entry permits for less 13 than a unit of gear under AS 16.43.270(d); under this paragraph, a person may 14 hold two or more entry permits for a fishery, however, the person may not 15 (A) fish more than one unit of gear in the fishery; or 16 (B) acquire an additional entry permit for the fishery after 17 the person has acquired entry permits that cumulatively authorize the use 18 of one or more units of gear in the fishery. 19 * Sec. 3. AS 16.43.150(a) is amended to read: 20 (a) Except as may be otherwise provided under AS 16.43.270(d), an 21 [EACH] entry permit authorizes the permittee to operate a unit of gear within a 22 specified fishery. 23 * Sec. 4. AS 16.43.270 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 24 (d) The commission may restrict the fishing capacity employed under an entry 25 permit if, before the initial issuance of entry permits for a fishery, the commission 26 determines that the fishing capacity in the fishery must be limited to achieve the 27 purposes of this chapter, establishes criteria for determining the fishing capacity that 28 is allowed under an entry permit, and establishes how fishing capacity will be 29 measured. The maximum fishing capacity allowed under an entry permit must be 30 based upon past participation in the fishery by the initial recipient of the entry permit 31 during a period, specified by the commission, preceding the qualification date
01 established under AS 16.43.260. The commission may define fishing capacity in terms 02 of quantity of fishing gear, a proportion of the maximum amount of gear that can be 03 utilized in the fishery under regulations of the Board of Fisheries, fishing vessel size 04 or other characteristics, or other factors determined by the commission to affect the 05 amount of fishing effort in the fishery. The recipient or transferee of an entry permit 06 issued subject to this subsection may not exceed the fishing capacity allowed under the 07 entry permit. 08 * Sec. 5. AS 16.43.990(9) is amended to read: 09 (9) "unit of gear" means the maximum amount of a specific type of 10 gear that [WHICH] can be fished by a person under [A SINGLE GEAR LICENSE 11 SUBJECT TO] regulations established by the Board of Fisheries defining the legal 12 requirements for that type of gear.