5 AAC 34 — King Crab Fishery (Article 1 to 14)

(a) Repealed 11/6/96. (b) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.031(e), in waters subject to the jurisdiction of the state, following the closure of Registration Area O to the taking of a specified species of king crab, a king crab vessel validly registered for Registration Area O may not hav…

(a) King crab may not be taken from the waters of Unalaska Bay enclosed by a line from Cape Cheerful (54º N. lat., 166º 40.33' W. long.) to Priest Rock (54º N. lat., 166º 22.50' W. long.) by vessels over 50 feet, U.S. Coast Guard registered length or 58 feet overall length. (b) I…

Registration Area T has as its northern boundary the latitude of Cape Newenham (58º 39' N. lat.), as its southern boundary the latitude of Cape Sarichef (54º 36' N. lat.), and as its western boundary 168º W. long., and includes all waters of Bristol Bay. Notes 5 AAC 34.800 In eff…

(a) Registration Area T is an exclusive registration area. (b) For the red king crab fishery, the preseason vessel registration deadline for the registration year is 5:00 p.m. September 24. Before a vessel may be preseason registered under this subsection, the vessel operator mus…

(a) Male red king crab may be taken only from 12:00 noon October 15 through 11:59 p.m. January 15. (b) Male golden king crab may be taken from January 1 through December 31 only under conditions of a permit issued by the commissioner. Notes 5 AAC 34.810 In effect before 1983; am …

(a) In accordance with 5 AAC 34.080, the Bristol Bay red king crab fishery shall be managed based on the following harvest strategy: (1) the threshold level of abundance is 8,400,000 mature female red king crab and 14,500,000 pounds of effective spawning biomass; the Bristol Bay …

(a) Male red king crab six and one-half inches or greater in width of shell may be taken or possessed. (b) Repealed 8/24/2002. (c) Only male golden king crab five and one-half inches or greater in width of shell may be taken or possessed. Notes 5 AAC 34.820 In effect before 1981;…

(a) King crab may be taken only with king crab pots. King crab taken by other means must be returned to the water without further harm. (b) Each king crab pot must have at least one-third of one vertical surface of the pot composed of not less than nine-inch stretched mesh webbin…

(a) In addition to the provisions of 5 AAC 34.052, in Registration Area T, king crab pots may be stored in waters north of 57º N. lat., south of 58º N. lat., east of 166º W. long., and west of 164º W. long. during the closed commercial king crab season. (b) Repealed 8/14/2005. (c…

(a) Registration Area T inspection points are located at Dutch Harbor or at other locations specified by the department. (b) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.030, in Registration Area T within 30 hours before a season opening or at any time during the open season before taking or process…

(a) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.031(e) (3), following the closure of Registration Area T to the taking of a specified species of king crab, a vessel validly registered for that area may not have that species of king crab on board the vessel in waters subject to the jurisdiction of t…

If requested by the department, the operator of a vessel registered to take king crab in Registration Area T may report up to every 12 hours to a local representative of the department information that the department has determined is useful for the purpose of managing the harves…

Registration Area Q has as its southern boundary a line from 54° 36' N. lat., 168° W. long., to 54° 36' N. lat., 171° W. long., to 55° 30' N. lat., 171° W. long., to 55° 30' N. lat., 173° 30' E. long., as its northern boundary the latitude of Point Hope (68° 21' N. lat.), as its …

(a) Repealed 6/14/80. (b) Pribilof District: waters of Registration Area Q south of the latitude of Cape Newenham (58º 39' N. lat.). (c) Northern District: waters of Registration Area Q north of the latitude of Cape Newenham (58º 39' N. lat.). (1) Norton Sound Section: waters, no…

(a) Registration Area Q is a nonexclusive registration area, except that the Norton Sound Section of the Northern District is a superexclusive registration area. (b) In the Pribil of District and the St. Matthew Island Section of the Northern District, (1) for the red and blue ki…

(a) After an opening time and date for taking king crab set forth in (b) - (d) of this section, no person may possess or transport aboard any registered king crab vessel or any tender, any species of king crab until the vessel has complied with the inspection provisions of 5 AAC …

(a)The department shall manage the summer and winter commercial seasons of the Norton Sound Section red king crab fishery in accordance with 5 AAC 34.080 and 5 AAC 34.910, as follows: (1) the threshold level of abundance of legal male red king crab biomass is 1.25 million pounds;…

(a) In the Saint Matthew Island Section, the conunissioner may, by emergency order, open the blue king crab fishery only if the department's preseason survey estimate of mature male blue king crab equals at least 50 percent of the 1978 - 2012 average survey estimate of mature mal…

(a) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.910(b) (1), in the Pribilof District, the commercial blue king crab fishery will open only if the department's analysis of preseason survey data indicates that the population of blue king crab (1) contains an estimated spawning biomass of at least 13.…

(a) In the Pribilof District, only male red and blue king crab six and one-half inches or greater, and male golden king crab five and one-half inches or greater, in width of shell, may be taken or possessed. (b) In the Saint Matthew Island Section, only male blue and golden king …

(a) King crab may be taken only with king crab pots, except that during the winter season for king crab in the Norton Sound Section, king crab may be taken through the ice with jigging gear as described in 5 AAC 02.010(a)(2). Jigging gear must be marked as described in 5 AAC 02.0…

(a) Except during the winter through-the-ice commercial king crab season described in 5 AAC 34.910(d)(2), in Registration Area Q, the main buoy or trailer buoy must display one current identification tag and no other tags issued under 5 AAC 34.051. (b) In Registration Area Q, exc…

(a) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.052, in the Norton Sound Section of Registration Area Q, rectangular king crab pots with all bait and bait containers removed and all doors secured fully open, and cone or pyramid king crab pots with all bait and bait containers removed and all doors …

(a) Except as provided in 5 AAC 34.915(a)(6), all waters of the Norton Sound Section enclosed by a line from 64° 24.00' N. lat., 166° 15.00' W. long., to 64° 15.00' N. lat., 166° 15.00' W. long., to 64° 15.00' N. lat., 163° 30.00' W. long., to 64° 10.00' N. lat., 163° 30.00' W. l…

(a) Registration Area Q inspection points are located at Dutch Harbor, or at other locations specified by the department. (b) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.030, for the Saint Matthew Island Section of Registration Area Q, a registered king crab vessel must, when required by the depart…

(a) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 34.031(e), following the closure of any district in Registration Area Q to the taking of a specified species of king crab, a vessel validly registered for that district may not have that species of king crab on board the vessel in waters subject to the j…

(a) Vessel and gear registered for Registration Area Q must also be registered for the Northern District before fishing in that district. Vessels and gear registered for the Northern District may not be used to fish in any other district. The registration district shall be indica…

(a) From November 15 through May 15, the following regulations in this chapter do not apply in the Norton Sound and Kotzebue Sound Sections: (1)5 AAC 34.020; (2)5 AAC 34.030; (3)5 AAC 34.031; (4)5 AAC 34.033; (5)5 AAC 34.040(b) and (c); (6)5 AAC 34.052; (7)5 AAC 34.910(a); (8)5 A…