00               SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 218(FIN)                                                             
01 "An Act relating to cost recovery fisheries for private nonprofit hatchery facilities."                                 
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
03    * Section 1. AS 16.10 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
04            Sec. 16.10.455. Cost recovery fisheries. (a) A hatchery permit holder may                                  
05       harvest salmon for a facility in                                                                                  
06                 (1)  a special harvest area through agents, or employees of or persons                                  
07       under contract with the permit holder as provided under a permit from the department                              
08       or regulations of the Board of Fisheries; or                                                                      
09                 (2)  a terminal harvest area through the common property fishery under                                  
10       this section.                                                                                                     
11            (b)  A hatchery permit holder may, by a majority vote of the membership of                                   
12       the hatchery permit holder's board, elect to harvest surplus salmon produced at a                                 
13       facility in a terminal harvest area established for that facility through the common                              
14       property fishery. At the request of the hatchery permit holder and if the commissioner                            
15       of fish and game determines that there are no allocative issues involved, and after                               

01       reasonable consultation with affected commercial fishermen and the organizations of                               
02       affected commercial fishermen, the commissioner may adopt regulations governing                                   
03       the harvest of surplus salmon in a terminal harvest area when the hatchery permit                                 
04       holder elects to harvest surplus salmon produced at a facility through a common                                   
05       property fishery. The regulations must specify the terms, conditions, and rules under                             
06       which the common property fishery in the terminal harvest area shall be conducted,                                
07       including requirements for hold inspections and reporting of harvests and sales of                                
08       salmon taken in the terminal harvest area. Following adoption of regulations by the                               
09       department, each year before March 10, the hatchery permit holder's board, by a                                   
10       majority vote of the board's membership, may determine whether the hatchery will                                  
11       operate under the regulations adopted under this subsection during the current calendar                           
12       year, and shall notify the department if the hatchery intends to operate under the                                
13       regulations adopted under this subsection. The Board of Fisheries may adopt                                       
14       regulations under AS 16.05.251 regarding a fisheries management plan governing                                    
15       operations under this subsection in a terminal harvest area, including allocation plans.                          
16       Participation in the fishery must be open to all interim-use permit and entry permit                              
17       holders who hold permits to operate a type of gear that may be used in the fishing                                
18       district in which the terminal harvest area is located if that type of gear is authorized                         
19       by regulation to be used in the terminal harvest area. An interim-use permit holder or                            
20       an entry permit holder who takes salmon in a common property fishery in a terminal                                
21       harvest area may sell the salmon to any fish buyer or processor who is licensed to do                             
22       business in the state.                                                                                            
23            (c)  As a condition of participation in a common property salmon fishery in a                                
24       terminal harvest area under this section, a fisherman who participates in the fishery is                          
25       subject to the payment of the assessment levied under (d) of this section. The                                    
26       assessment is levied on the value of salmon that the fisherman takes in the terminal                              
27       harvest area and sells to a licensed buyer. The buyer of the salmon must be licensed                              
28       under AS 43.75, and the buyer shall collect the assessment on salmon taken in a                                   
29       terminal harvest area at the time of purchase and remit the assessment to the                                     
30       Department of Revenue in accordance with regulations adopted by the Department of                                 
31       Revenue.                                                                                                          

01            (d)  The Department of Revenue may, by regulation, annually, by March 1 of                                   
02       each year, set the rate of the assessment levied on salmon taken in a terminal harvest                            
03       area in consultation with the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic                                     
04       Development, the hatchery permit holder, and representatives of affected commercial                               
05       fishermen. The rate of the assessment shall provide sufficient revenue to cover debt                              
06       service to the state, reasonable operating expenses, reasonable maintenance expenses,                             
07       and development or maintenance of a reserve fund up to 100 percent of annual                                      
08       operating costs of the hatchery permit holder. In setting the rate of the assessment, the                         
09       department shall consider the estimated return and harvest of salmon in the terminal                              
10       harvest area, the projected price to be paid for salmon in the region, the amount of the                          
11       existing reserve held by the hatchery permit holder, and the amount by which the                                  
12       assessment collected in previous years exceeded or fell short of the amount anticipated                           
13       to be collected. The total rate of the assessment may not exceed 50 percent of the                                
14       value of the salmon.                                                                                              
15            (e)  The Department of Revenue shall deposit the assessments collected under                                 
16       this section in the general fund. The legislature may appropriate the funds collected                             
17       under this section to the hatchery permit holder who operates a facility in the terminal                          
18       harvest area in which the assessment was levied. A hatchery permit holder shall use                               
19       funds appropriated under this subsection for the purposes set out under                                           
20       AS 16.10.450(a). The legislature may also appropriate funds collected under this                                  
21       section to the Department of Revenue for costs incurred by the department under this                              
22       section.                                                                                                          
23            (f)  A person who violates a regulation adopted under (b) of this section is                                 
24       guilty of a violation under AS 16.05.722 or a misdemeanor under AS 16.05.723. A                                   
25       person who violates a regulation adopted by the Department of Revenue under (c) of                                
26       this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.                                                                  
27            (g)  In this section,                                                                                        
28                 (1)  "facility" means a hatchery or salmon rehabilitation project for                                   
29       which a permit is issued under AS 16.10.400 - 16.10.470;                                                          
30                 (2)  "special harvest area" means an area designated by the                                             
31       commissioner or the Board of Fisheries where salmon returning to a hatchery may be                                

01       harvested by the hatchery operators, and, in some situations, by the common property                              
02       fishery;                                                                                                          
03                 (3)  "terminal harvest area" means a harvest area, which may include a                                  
04       hatchery release site, established by the commissioner or the Board of Fisheries where                            
05       salmon returning to a hatchery may be harvested by the common property fishery;                                   
06                 (4)  "value" has the meaning given in AS 43.75.290.                                                     
07    * Sec. 2. AS 43.76.035 is amended to read:                                                                         
08            Sec. 43.76.035. Exemption. Except as provided under (b) of this section,                                 
09       AS 43.76.001 - 43.76.040 do not apply to salmon harvested under a special harvest                                 
10       area entry permit issued under AS 16.43.400.                                                                      
11    * Sec. 3. AS 43.76.035 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:                                              
12            (b)  Salmon harvested in a common property fishery conducted in a terminal                                   
13       harvest area under AS 16.10.455 are subject to a salmon enhancement tax levied under                              
14       AS 43.76.001 - 43.76.040.