HB 341: "An Act relating to aquatic farming and to payment made to the Department of Fish and Game for the removal of wild stock of a shellfish species that exceeds an insignificant amount; and providing for an effective date."
00 HOUSE BILL NO. 341 01 "An Act relating to aquatic farming and to payment made to the Department of Fish 02 and Game for the removal of wild stock of a shellfish species that exceeds an 03 insignificant amount; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 16.05.050(a) is amended to read: 06 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 07 and duties: 08 (1) 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) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 14 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish
01 and game resources of the state; 02 (3) to accept money from any person under conditions requiring the 03 use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection, 04 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 05 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 06 (4) to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data and information 07 that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of this title 08 except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 09 (5) to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish or 10 game or eggs for propagating, scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes; 11 (6) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities where 12 necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game, and to enter into 13 cooperative agreements with any person to effect them; 14 (7) to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 15 (8) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, supervise, 16 and maintain vessels used by the department; 17 (9) to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under AS 16.43 to 18 engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery resource with 19 vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under this chapter in 20 conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 21 Commission; 22 (10) not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 23 commissioner of revenue the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 24 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish species for 25 that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing commercial fish species 26 if, within a specified geographical region, 27 (A) the optimum yield from the harvest of the species has not 28 been reached; 29 (B) a substantial portion of the allowable harvest of the species 30 has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; or 31 (C) a commercial harvest of the fish species has recently
01 developed; 02 (11) to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to carry out 03 the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 04 (12) to enter into cooperative agreements with agencies of the federal 05 government, educational institutions, or other agencies or organizations, when in the 06 public interest, to carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 07 (13) to implement an on-board observer program authorized by the 08 Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 09 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 10 and 11 (B) must make scheduling and scope of observers' activities as 12 predictable as practicable; 13 (14) to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 14 operations; 15 (15) to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services provided 16 by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock and eggs 17 for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct services, and 18 reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; fees 19 established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 20 sport fishing access sites, and for operation of state hatchery facilities by private 21 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 22 (16) to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a manner 23 that promotes the economic health and sustainability of the aquatic farming 24 industry, ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources, and improves 25 the economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 26 (17) to operate state housing and facilities for employees, contractors, 27 and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge rent that is 28 consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements, or, if no collective 29 bargaining agreement is applicable, competitive with market conditions; rent received 30 from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 31 (18) to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission,
01 unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under AS 16.05.251(g), to 02 establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 03 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 04 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 05 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be 06 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 07 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 08 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 09 yield management of the fishery; 10 (19) to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and preserve the 11 heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state. 12 * Sec. 2. AS 16.40.100(f) is amended to read: 13 (f) If the wild stock of a shellfish species to be cultured at an aquatic farm site 14 exceeds the amount determined by the department to be an insignificant population 15 and if the commissioner determines in writing that removal from the site of that 16 portion of the stock that exceeds an insignificant population would benefit the public 17 and that removal of the stock by a person other than the permittee would unreasonably 18 interfere with the operation of the aquatic farm, the commissioner may authorize the 19 permittee to remove and sell the excess amount of the wild stock from the site, if, in 20 addition to the fisheries business tax imposed under AS 43.75.015, the permittee 21 pays [REASONABLE COMPENSATION, AS DEFINED BY THE 22 DEPARTMENT,] to the department compensation in the amount of 10 percent of 23 the ex-vessel value of the excess amount of the wild stock in the case of a live 24 product and three percent of the ex-vessel value of the excess amount of the wild 25 stock in the case of a processed product for the harvest and sale of the excess wild 26 stock. The department shall deposit the money received under this subsection into the 27 general fund. The legislature may appropriate the money received under this section to 28 the department for shellfish management and enhancement. 29 * Sec. 3. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).