00                            HOUSE BILL NO. 203                                                                          
01 "An Act relating to the use of certain trawl or dredge fishing gear in state water; and                                 
02 providing for an effective date."                                                                                       
03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                                
04    * Section 1. AS 16.10 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                  
05 Sec. 16.10.135. Use of trawl or dredge fishing gear. A person may not use,                                            
06 employ, or operate any trawl or dredge fishing gear that makes substantial bottom                                       
07 contact with the seafloor while in use, as determined by the department, in the water of                                
08       the state.                                                                                                        
09    * Sec. 2. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to                          
10 read:                                                                                                                   
11 STUDY AND REPORT ON THE EFFECTS OF BOTTOM TRAWLING AND ON                                                               
12 THE CONDITION OF THE SEAFLOOR. The Department of Fish and Game shall conduct a                                          
13 comprehensive study of the health of seafloor ecosystems and fish habitat in state water. The                           
14 department shall submit a report on the results of the department's study under this section to                         

01 the senate secretary and the chief clerk of the house of representatives on or before January 1,                        
02 2027, and notify the legislature that the report is available. The report must include                                  
03            (1)  information as to how the state's fishery resource and seafloor marine                                  
04 ecosystems have been, and may continue to be, affected by the use of trawl or dredge fishing                            
05 gear that makes substantial bottom contact with the seafloor while in use;                                              
06 (2)  to the extent available, the quantities of fishery resources taken as bycatch                                      
07 by fishers using trawl or dredge fishing gear that makes substantial bottom contact with the                            
08 seafloor while in use, including the number of fish of each species, taken over the last 10                             
09 years; and                                                                                                              
10            (3)  recommendations as to whether the use of trawl or dredge fishing gear that                              
11 makes substantial bottom contact with the seafloor while in use should be prohibited or                                 
12 otherwise limited for                                                                                                   
13                 (A)  the maximum benefit of the state's people; and                                                     
14                 (B)  the sustained yield of the state's fishery resource.                                               
15    * Sec. 3. Section 1 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2028.                                                      
16    * Sec. 4. Except as provided in sec. 3 of this Act, this Act takes effect immediately under                        
17 AS 01.10.070(c).