SCS CSHB 75(RES): "An Act relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game, Board of Fisheries, and Board of Game in promoting and preserving fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state; and repealing the power and duty of the commissioner of fish and game to assist the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the enforcement of federal laws regarding fish and game."
00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 75(RES) 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; and repealing the power and duty of the commissioner of fish and 04 game to assist the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in the enforcement of federal 05 laws regarding fish and game." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 08 to read: 09 LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the Alaska State Legislature that the 10 commissioner of fish and game, the Board of Fisheries, and the Board of Game implement 11 their authority to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and to preserve the heritage of 12 fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state in a manner consistent with scientific fish and 13 wildlife management principles and the Alaska constitutional principles of common use and
01 sustained yield. 02 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.050(a) is amended to read: 03 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 04 and duties: 05 (1) [TO ASSIST THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE 06 SERVICE IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS 07 PERTAINING TO FISH AND GAME; 08 (2)] through the appropriate state agency and under the provisions of 09 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code), to acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or other 10 lawful means, land, buildings, water, rights-of-way, or other necessary or proper real 11 or personal property when the acquisition is in the interest of furthering an objective or 12 purpose of the department and the state; 13 (2) [(3)] under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 14 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish 15 and game resources of the state; 16 (3) [(4)] to accept money from any person under conditions requiring 17 the use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection, 18 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 19 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 20 (4) [(5)] to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data and 21 information that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes 22 of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 23 (5) [(6)] to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange 24 fish or game or eggs for propagating, scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes; 25 (6) [(7)] under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities 26 where necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game, and to enter into 27 cooperative agreements with any person to effect them; 28 (7) [(8)] to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 29 (8) [(9)] under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, 30 supervise, and maintain vessels used by the department; 31 (9) [(10)] to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under
01 AS 16.43 to engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery 02 resource with vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under 03 this chapter in conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial 04 Fisheries Entry Commission; 05 (10) [(11)] not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 06 commissioner of revenue the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 07 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish species for 08 that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing commercial fish species 09 if, within a specified geographical region, 10 (A) the optimum yield from the harvest of the species has not 11 been reached; 12 (B) a substantial portion of the allowable harvest of the species 13 has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; or 14 (C) a commercial harvest of the fish species has recently 15 developed; 16 (11) [(12)] to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to 17 carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 18 (12) [(13)] to enter into cooperative agreements with agencies of the 19 federal government, educational institutions, or other agencies or organizations, when 20 in the public interest, to carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and 21 AS 16.52; 22 (13) [(14)] to implement an on-board observer program authorized by 23 the Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 24 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 25 and 26 (B) must make scheduling and scope of observers' activities as 27 predictable as practicable; 28 (14) [(15)] to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 29 operations; 30 (15) [(16)] to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services 31 provided by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock
01 and eggs for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct 02 services, and reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; 03 fees established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 04 sport fishing access sites, and for operation of state hatchery facilities by private 05 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 06 (16) [(17)] to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a 07 manner that ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources and improves 08 the economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 09 (17) [(18)] to operate state housing and facilities for employees, 10 contractors, and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge 11 rent that is consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements, or, if no 12 collective bargaining agreement is applicable, competitive with market conditions; 13 rent received from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 14 (18) [(19)] to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 15 Commission, unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under 16 AS 16.05.251(g), to establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 17 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 18 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 19 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be 20 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 21 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 22 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 23 yield management of the fishery; 24 (19) to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and preserve the 25 heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state. 26 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.251(a) is amended to read: 27 (a) The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 28 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 29 (1) setting apart fish reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 30 waters of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval of the 31 legislature;
01 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 02 fish; if consistent with resource conservation and development goals, the board may 03 adopt regulations establishing restricted seasons and areas necessary for 04 (A) persons 60 years of age and older to participate in sport, 05 personal use, or subsistence fishing; or 06 (B) persons under 16 years of age to participate in sport 07 fishing; 08 (3) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex and size 09 limitations on the taking of fish; 10 (4) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 11 capture, and transport of fish; 12 (5) establishing marking and identification requirements for means 13 used in pursuit, capture, and transport of fish; 14 (6) classifying as commercial fish, sport fish, guided sport fish, 15 personal use fish, subsistence fish, or predators or other categories essential for 16 regulatory purposes; 17 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 18 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of fish; 19 (8) investigating and determining the extent and effect of disease, 20 predation, and competition among fish in the state, exercising control measures 21 considered necessary to the resources of the state; 22 (9) prohibiting and regulating the live capture, possession, transport, or 23 release of native or exotic fish or their eggs; 24 (10) establishing seasons, areas, quotas, and methods of harvest for 25 aquatic plants; 26 (11) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of 27 fishing licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 28 between registration areas is allowed; however, this paragraph does not apply to 29 permits issued or transferred under AS 16.43; 30 (12) regulating commercial, sport, guided sport, subsistence, and 31 personal use fishing as needed for the conservation, development, and utilization of
01 fisheries; 02 (13) requiring, in a fishery, observers on board fishing vessels, as 03 defined in AS 16.05.475(d), that are registered under the laws of the state, as defined 04 in AS 16.05.475(c), after making a written determination that an on-board observer 05 program 06 (A) is the only practical data-gathering or enforcement 07 mechanism for that fishery; 08 (B) will not unduly disrupt the fishery; 09 (C) can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and 10 (D) can be coordinated with observer programs of other 11 agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, North Pacific 12 Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut 13 Commission; 14 (14) establishing nonexclusive, exclusive, and superexclusive 15 registration and use areas for regulating commercial fishing; 16 (15) regulating resident or nonresident sport fishermen as needed for 17 the conservation, development, and utilization of fishery resources; 18 (16) requiring unlicensed fishing vessels present in or transiting the 19 waters of the state to report to the department the quantity, species, and origin of fish 20 on board; in this paragraph, "unlicensed fishing vessel" means a fishing vessel that is 21 not licensed under AS 16.05.490 - 16.05.530; 22 (17) promoting fishing and preserving the heritage of fishing in the 23 state. 24 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.255(a) is amended to read: 25 (a) The Board of Game may adopt regulations it considers advisable in 26 accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) for 27 (1) setting apart game reserve areas, refuges, and sanctuaries in the 28 water or on the land of the state over which it has jurisdiction, subject to the approval 29 of the legislature; 30 (2) establishing open and closed seasons and areas for the taking of 31 game;
01 (3) establishing the means and methods employed in the pursuit, 02 capture, taking, and transport of game, including regulations, consistent with resource 03 conservation and development goals, establishing means and methods that may be 04 employed by persons with physical disabilities; 05 (4) setting quotas, bag limits, harvest levels, and sex, age, and size 06 limitations on the taking of game; 07 (5) classifying game as game birds, song birds, big game animals, fur 08 bearing animals, predators, or other categories; 09 (6) methods, means, and harvest levels necessary to control predation 10 and competition among game in the state; 11 (7) watershed and habitat improvement, and management, 12 conservation, protection, use, disposal, propagation, and stocking of game; 13 (8) prohibiting the live capture, possession, transport, or release of 14 native or exotic game or their eggs; 15 (9) establishing the times and dates during which the issuance of game 16 licenses, permits, and registrations and the transfer of permits and registrations 17 between registration areas and game management units or subunits is allowed; 18 (10) regulating sport hunting and subsistence hunting as needed for the 19 conservation, development, and utilization of game; 20 (11) taking game to ensure public safety; 21 (12) regulating the activities of persons licensed to control nuisance 22 wild birds and nuisance wild small mammals; 23 (13) promoting hunting and trapping and preserving the heritage 24 of hunting and trapping in the state. 25 * Sec. 5. AS 16.43.210(c) is amended to read: 26 (c) To the extent that the commissioner of fish and game authorizes it under 27 AS 16.05.050(a)(9) [AS 16.05.050(a)(10)], the commission may grant an interim-use 28 permit to a person to engage in the commercial taking from a fishery on an 29 experimental basis. 30 * Sec. 6. AS 37.05.146(c)(21) is amended to read: 31 (21) commercial fisheries test fishing operations
01 (AS 16.05.050(a)(14)) [(AS 16.05.050(a)(15))]; 02 * Sec. 7. AS 43.75.290(1) is amended to read: 03 (1) "developing commercial fish species" means those species of fish 04 and shellfish annually designated by the commissioner of fish and game under 05 AS 16.05.050(a)(10) [AS 16.05.050(a)(11)];