CS 3d SSHB 178(RES): "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game, the Department of Fish and Game, and the Board of Game, to taking and use of certain game animals, and to consideration of the budget of the Department of Fish and Game by the legislature; and providing for an effective date."
00 CS FOR 3d SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 178(RES) 01 "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game, the 02 Department of Fish and Game, and the Board of Game, to taking and use of certain 03 game animals, and to consideration of the budget of the Department of Fish and Game 04 by the legislature; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 * Section 1. AS 16.05.020 is amended to read: 07 Sec. 16.05.020. Functions of commissioner. The commissioner shall 08 (1) supervise and control the department, and may appoint and employ 09 division heads [, ENFORCEMENT AGENTS,] and the technical, clerical, and other 10 assistants necessary for the general administration of the department; 11 (2) manage, protect, maintain, improve, and extend the fish, game, and 12 aquatic plant resources of the state 13 (A) in the interest of the economy and general well-being of the 14 state; and
01 (B) to achieve an abundance of fish and wildlife resources 02 sufficient to provide the maximum beneficial use of those resources; 03 (3) have necessary power to accomplish the foregoing including, but 04 not limited to, the power to delegate authority to subordinate officers and employees 05 of the department. 06 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.050(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 08 and duties: 09 (1) to cooperate with and assist the Board of Fisheries, the Board of 10 Game, and the advisory committees established under AS 16.05.260 in allocating 11 the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state [UNITED STATES FISH 12 AND WILDLIFE SERVICE IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL LAWS AND 13 REGULATIONS PERTAINING TO FISH AND GAME]; 14 (2) through the appropriate state agency and under the provisions of 15 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code), to acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or other 16 lawful means, land, buildings, water, rights-of-way, or other necessary or proper real 17 or personal property when the acquisition is in the interest of furthering an objective or 18 purpose of the department and the state; 19 (3) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 20 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish 21 and game resources of the state; 22 (4) to accept money from any person under conditions requiring the 23 use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection, 24 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 25 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 26 (5) to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data, and information 27 that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of this title 28 except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 29 (6) to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish, 30 [OR] game, or eggs, or to authorize a person as agent of the commissioner to take, 31 capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish, game, or eggs, for
01 propagating, scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes; 02 (7) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities where 03 necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game[, AND TO ENTER INTO 04 COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH ANY PERSON TO EFFECT THEM]; 05 (8) to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 06 (9) to assign the highest priority to the allocation of the fiscal, 07 personnel, and other resources of the division of wildlife conservation for 08 implementation of the plans, programs, and regulations adopted by the Board of 09 Game under AS 16.05.255(e) - (g) in a timely and effective manner; 10 (10) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, supervise, 11 and maintain vessels used by the department; 12 (11) [(10)] to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under 13 AS 16.43 to engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery 14 resource with vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under 15 this chapter in conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial 16 Fisheries Entry Commission; 17 (12) [(11)] not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 18 commissioner of revenue the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 19 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish species for 20 that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing commercial fish species 21 if, within a specified geographical region, 22 (A) the optimum yield from the harvest of the species has not 23 been reached; 24 (B) a substantial portion of the allowable harvest of the species 25 has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; or 26 (C) a commercial harvest of the fish species has recently 27 developed; 28 (13) [(12)] to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to 29 carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 30 (14) [(13)] to enter into cooperative agreements with [AGENCIES OF 31 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, OR OTHER]
01 agencies or organizations, when in the best public interest, to carry out the purposes of 02 this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 03 (15) [(14)] to implement an on-board observer program authorized by 04 the Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 05 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 06 and 07 (B) must make scheduling and scope of observers' activities as 08 predictable as practicable; 09 (16) [(15)] to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 10 operations; 11 (17) [(16)] to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services 12 provided by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock 13 and eggs for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct 14 services, and reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; 15 fees established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 16 sport fishing access sites, and for operation of state hatchery facilities by private 17 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 18 (18) [(17)] to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a 19 manner that ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources and improves 20 the economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 21 (19) [(18)] to operate state housing and facilities for employees, 22 contractors, and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge 23 rent that is consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements, or, if a [NO] 24 collective bargaining agreement is not applicable, competitive with market conditions; 25 rent received from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 26 (20) [(19)] to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 27 Commission, unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under 28 AS 16.05.251(g), to establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 29 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 30 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 31 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be
01 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 02 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 03 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 04 yield management of the fishery. 05 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.080 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 06 (b) Before entering into a cooperative agreement with any entity for the 07 management of fish or game resources in the state, the department shall provide the 08 public with notice of the proposed agreement and a reasonable opportunity to 09 comment on the agreement. The department shall provide a copy of the proposed 10 agreement to the presiding officers of each house of the legislature. 11 (c) The department shall include a clearly defined description of its 12 administrative expenses for the fiscal year in the information compiled and submitted 13 under AS 37.07.050(a)(1) - (12). 14 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.090(a) is amended to read: 15 (a) The commissioner may, with the approval of the governor, establish a 16 departmental division of commercial fisheries, a departmental division of sport 17 fisheries, a departmental division of wildlife conservation [GAME], and other 18 departmental divisions as are necessary. 19 * Sec. 5. AS 16.05.130(d) is amended to read: 20 (d) Revenue from the sale of general hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses, 21 [AND] tags, and permits and from application fees for tags and permits together 22 with the federal matching funds from Pittman - Robertson, Dingell - Johnson/Wallop - 23 Breaux programs shall be allocated by the department to programs that [INTENDED 24 TO] directly benefit license purchasers of general hunting, trapping, and fishing 25 licenses. The department shall prepare an annual report by project of expenditures 26 from the fish and game fund that describes the anticipated results and benefits of 27 each project in regard to fish stock and game population abundance goals and 28 harvest goals set by the department and the boards and notify the legislature that 29 the report is available. 30 * Sec. 6. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 31 (a) The Board of Game, as it considers advisable to allocate, protect,
01 maintain, improve, and extend the game resources of the state to achieve 02 abundance for maximum beneficial use of game and for other purposes, may 03 adopt regulations [IT CONSIDERS ADVISABLE] in accordance with AS 44.62 04 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 05 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 06 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 07 of the legislature; 08 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 09 game; 10 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 11 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource 12 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be 13 employed by persons with physical disabilities; 14 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 15 limitations on the taking of game; 16 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur 17 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 18 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation 19 and competition among game in the state; 20 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 21 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game; 22 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 23 native or exotic game or their eggs; 24 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 25 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 26 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 27 (10) regulating [SPORT] hunting [AND SUBSISTENCE HUNTING 28 AS NEEDED FOR THE CONSERVATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND 29 UTILIZATION OF GAME]; 30 (11) taking game to ensure public safety. 31 * Sec. 7. AS 16.05.255(e) is amended to read:
01 (e) The Board of Game shall adopt regulations to provide for intensive 02 management programs to restore the abundance or productivity of identified big game 03 prey populations as necessary to achieve human consumptive use goals of the board in 04 an area where the board has limited the harvest of the population, with the 05 exception of musk ox populations, and has determined that 06 (1) consumptive use of the big game prey population is a preferred use; 07 (2) depletion of the big game prey population or reduction of the 08 productivity of the big game prey population has occurred and may result in a 09 significant reduction in the allowable human harvest of the population; and 10 (3) enhancement of abundance or productivity of the big game prey 11 population is feasibly achievable utilizing recognized and prudent active management 12 techniques. 13 * Sec. 8. AS 16.05.255(g) is amended to read: 14 (g) The Board of Game shall establish population goals based on the highest 15 possible population levels consistent with the estimated maximum carrying 16 capacity of the habitat for the population, high [AND] harvest goals to provide for 17 high levels of human harvest, and regulations, including seasons, bag limits, and 18 methods and means for intensive management of identified big game prey 19 populations to achieve a high level of human harvest. The board shall annually 20 review the effectiveness of intensive management programs established under (e) 21 of this section to determine whether planned progress toward established goals 22 has been achieved. The board shall adjust the intensive management programs 23 as necessary to achieve interim management goals. 24 * Sec. 9. AS 16.05.255(j)(2) is amended to read: 25 (2) "high level of human harvest" means the harvest of not less than 26 10 percent [ALLOCATION OF A SUFFICIENT PORTION] of the harvestable 27 surplus of an identified big [A] game population [TO ACHIEVE A HIGH 28 PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS FOR HUMAN HARVEST OF THE GAME 29 POPULATION BASED ON BIOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES OF THE 30 POPULATION AND CONSIDERING HUNTER DEMAND]; 31 * Sec. 10. AS 16.30 is amended by adding a new section to read:
01 Article 2. Nuisance and Other Game. 02 Sec. 16.30.050. Taking and use of certain game animals. The 03 commissioner of fish and game or the commissioner of public safety or a 04 representative of either commissioner may 05 (1) take or may authorize another person to take a game animal if the 06 animal poses a danger or a nuisance to a person, property, or the public and the taking 07 of the animal is consistent with sound game management principles; or 08 (2) authorize a person to use a game animal that is accidentally killed. 09 * Sec. 11. AS 16.43.210(c) is amended to read: 10 (c) To the extent that the commissioner of fish and game authorizes it under 11 AS 16.05.050(a)(11) [AS 16.05.050(a)(10)], the commission may grant an interim-use 12 permit to a person to engage in the commercial taking from a fishery on an 13 experimental basis. 14 * Sec. 12. AS 37.05.146(b)(4)(U) is amended to read: 15 (U) commercial fisheries test fishing operations 16 (AS 16.05.050(a)(16)) [(AS 16.05.050(a)(15))]; 17 * Sec. 13. AS 43.75.290(3) is amended to read: 18 (3) "developing commercial fish species" means those species of fish 19 and shellfish annually designated by the commissioner of fish and game under 20 AS 16.05.050(a)(12) [AS 16.05.050(a)(11)]; 21 * Sec. 14. AS 44.39 is amended by adding a new section to read: 22 Sec. 44.39.060. Budget. In reviewing the proposed annual operating budget 23 of the department and in making appropriations for the operations of the department, 24 the legislature shall consider increases and decreases in the resource abundance and 25 the human harvest of the fish and game resources of the state. 26 * Sec. 15. This Act takes effect July 1, 2002.