Title 16 — Fish and Game
15 chapters · 520 sections in this title.
AS 16.43.010 Purpose and findings of fact.
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(a) It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the conservation and the sustained yield management of Alaska's fishery resource and the economic health and stability of commercial fishing in Alaska by regulating and controlling entry of participants into the commercial fisherie…
AS 16.43.020 Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.
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(a) There is established the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission as a regulatory and quasi-judicial agency of the state. The commission consists of two members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature in joint session. (b) The governor shall designate o…
AS 16.43.030 Term of office; vacancy and removal.
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(a) The members of the commission shall be appointed for terms of four years. (b) A vacancy on the commission shall be filled by appointment by the governor and the appointment shall be confirmed by the legislature in joint session. Except as provided in AS 39.05.080(4), a member…
AS 16.43.040 Quorum.
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Unless there is a vacancy on the commission, two members of the commission constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, for the performance of a duty, or for the exercise of a power of the commission.
AS 16.43.050 Qualifications.
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The commission shall consist of two members with a broad range of professional experience, neither of whom has a vested economic interest in an interim-use permit, entry permit, commercial fishing vessel or gear, or in any fishery resource processing or marketing business.
AS 16.43.060 Compensation.
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Members of the commission are in the exempt service and are entitled to a monthly salary equal to a step in Range 25 of the salary schedule in AS 39.27.011.
AS 16.43.070 Legal counsel.
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The attorney general is the legal counsel for the commission. The attorney general shall advise the commission in legal matters arising in the discharge of its duties and represent the commission in suits to which it is a party. However, the commission may retain additional legal…
AS 16.43.080 Employment of personnel.
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(a) The commission may employ those persons necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. Employees of the commission are in the exempt service under AS 39.25.110. (b) In addition to its staff of regular employees, the commission may contract for and engage the services of…
AS 16.43.100 Duties and general powers.
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(a) To accomplish the purposes set out in AS 16.43.010, the commission shall (1) regulate entry into the commercial fisheries for all fishery resources in the state; (2) establish priorities for the application of the provisions of this chapter to the various commercial fisheries…
AS 16.43.105 Accounting and disposition of fees. [Repealed, § 28 ch 90 SLA 1991. For current law, see AS 37.05.142 — 37.05.144.]
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[Repealed or reserved.]
AS 16.43.110 Regulations and hearing procedures.
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(a) The commission may adopt regulations, consistent with law, necessary or proper in the exercise of its powers or for the performance of its duties under this chapter. (b) The commission shall adopt regulations, consistent with due process of law, that govern practice and proce…
AS 16.43.120 Application of Administrative Procedure Act.
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Article 2. Entry Permit System. (a) The administrative adjudication procedures of AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) do not apply to adjudicatory proceedings of the commission except that final administrative determinations by the commission are subject to judicial review as…
AS 16.43.140 Permit required.
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(a) A person may not operate gear in the commercial taking of fishery resources without a valid entry permit or a valid interim-use permit issued by the commission. (b) A permit is not required of a crewmember or other person assisting in the operation of a unit of gear engaged i…
AS 16.43.150 Terms and conditions of entry permit; annual renewal.
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(a) Except as may be otherwise provided under AS 16.43.270(d), an entry permit authorizes the permittee to operate a unit of gear within a specified fishery. (b) The holder of an entry permit shall have the permit in possession at all times when engaged in the operation of gear f…
AS 16.43.160 Fees.
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(a) Except as specifically provided in this section, the commission shall establish annual fees for the issuance and annual renewal of entry permits or interim-use permits. (b) The commission may charge interest at a rate not to exceed the legal rate of interest established in AS…
AS 16.43.170 Transfer of entry permits.
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(a) Except as provided in AS 16.10.333 — 16.10.338 and in AS 44.81.231 — 44.81.250, entry permits and interim-use permits are transferable only through the commission as provided in this section and AS 16.43.180 and under regulations adopted by the commission. An involuntary tran…
AS 16.43.180 Emergency transfers.
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(a) The commission shall adopt regulations providing for the temporary emergency transfer of entry permits and interim-use permits when illness, disability, death, required military or government service, or other unavoidable hardship prevents the permit holder from participating…
AS 16.43.182 Entry permit deductible as business expense. [Repealed, § 36 ch 14 SLA 1987.]
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Article 3. Initial Issuance of Entry Permits.
AS 16.43.200 Administrative areas.
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(a) The commission shall establish administrative areas suitable for regulating and controlling entry into the commercial fisheries. The commission shall make the administrative areas reasonably compatible with the geographic areas for which specific commercial fishing regulation…
AS 16.43.210 Interim-use permit; qualifications.
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(a) For each fishery that is not subject to a maximum number of entry permits under AS 16.43.240 and not subject to a moratorium under AS 16.43.225, the commission shall issue interim-use permits under regulations adopted by the commission to all applicants who can establish thei…
AS 16.43.220 Terms and conditions of interim-use permits.
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(a) The commission shall adopt regulations specifying the dates and places of application, the procedures to be followed in renewal of the interim-use permit including the time, place of its renewal, and for any other purpose incident to the administration of interim-use permits …
AS 16.43.225 Moratorium on new entrants into certain fisheries.
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(a) Subject to (b) of this section, the commission may establish a moratorium on new entrants into a fishery (1) that has experienced recent increases in fishing effort that are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; (2) that has achieved a level of harvest that may be approachi…
AS 16.43.227 Southeast Alaska Dungeness crab fishery.
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(a) The commission may establish a moratorium on new entrants into the southeast Alaska Dungeness crab fishery for a continuous period of up to four years without complying with AS 16.43.225(a) — (c). While the moratorium is in effect, the commission shall (1) conduct the investi…
AS 16.43.228 Southeast Alaska dive fisheries.
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(a) [Repealed, § 4 ch 125 SLA 1996.] (b) [Repealed, § 4 ch 125 SLA 1996.] (c) [Repealed, § 4 ch 125 SLA 1996.] (d) [Repealed, § 4 ch 125 SLA 1996.] (e) [Repealed, § 22 ch 9 SLA 2014.] (f) Notwithstanding AS 16.43.225, for the purposes of this chapter, (1) an interim-use permit is…
AS 16.43.230 Designation of distressed fisheries.
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Pending the determination of maximum numbers of entry permits under AS 16.43.240 and before the initial issue of entry permits under AS 16.43.270, the commission shall designate as distressed fisheries those for which it estimates that the optimum number of entry permits will be …
AS 16.43.240 Determination of the maximum number of entry permits for initial issue.
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(a) Except as provided in AS 16.43.270(a), the maximum number of entry permits for a distressed fishery designated under AS 16.43.230 shall be the highest number of units of gear fished in that fishery during any one of the four years immediately preceding January 1, 1973. (b) Wh…
AS 16.43.250 Standards for initial issue of entry permits.
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(a) Following the establishment of the maximum number of units of gear for a particular fishery under AS 16.43.240, the commission shall adopt regulations establishing qualifications for ranking applicants for entry permits according to the degree of hardship that they would suff…
AS 16.43.260 Application for initial issue of entry permits.
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(a) The commission shall accept applications for entry permits only from applicants who have harvested fishery resources commercially while participating in the fishery as holders of gear licenses issued under former AS 16.05.536 — 16.05.670 or interim-use permits under AS 16.43.…
AS 16.43.270 Initial issuance of entry permits.
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(a) The commission shall issue entry permits, for each fishery, first to all qualified applicants in the priority classifications designated under AS 16.43.250(b) and then to qualified applicants in order of descending priority classification, until the number of entry permits is…
AS 16.43.275 Secs. 16.43.275 — 16.43.285. [Renumbered as AS 16.43.340 — 16.43.390.]
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Article 4. Reduction to Optimum Number of Entry Permits.
AS 16.43.290 Optimum number of entry permits.
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Following the issuance of entry permits under AS 16.43.270, the commission shall establish the optimum number of entry permits for each fishery based upon a reasonable balance of the following general standards: (1) the number of entry permits sufficient to maintain an economical…
AS 16.43.300 Revisions of optimum number of entry permits.
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(a) The commission may increase or decrease the optimum number of entry permits for a fishery when one or more of the following conditions makes a change desirable considering the purposes of this chapter: (1) an established long-term change in the biological condition of the fis…
AS 16.43.310 Establishment of buy-back funds and permit buy-back assessments.
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(a) When the optimum number of entry permits is less than the number of entry permits outstanding in a fishery, the commission may establish a buy-back program, a buy-back plan, and a buy-back fund for that fishery. (b) The commission may establish by regulation a permit buy-back…
AS 16.43.320 Administration of the buy-back program.
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The commission shall adopt regulations providing for the purchase of transferable entry permits with money in the buy-back fund for each fishery. The commission shall cease purchases of entry permits in a fishery when the number of entry permits in the fishery has been reduced to…
AS 16.43.330 Issuance of new entry permits; appropriations related to fleet reduction.
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(a) When the number of outstanding entry permits for a fishery is less than the optimum number established under AS 16.43.290, the commission shall issue new entry permits to applicants who are presently able to engage actively in the fishery until the optimum number is reached. …
AS 16.43.335 Secs. 16.43.335 — 16.43.339. [Renumbered as AS 16.43.400 — 16.43.420.]
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Article 5. Educational Entry Permits.
AS 16.43.340 Educational entry permits.
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(a) In addition to entry permits and interim-use permits, the commission may issue educational entry permits to public, private, or denominational educational institutions accredited by the Department of Education and Early Development or accredited institutions, career, or vocat…
AS 16.43.341 Secs. 16.43.341 — 16.43.343. [Renumbered as AS 16.43.430 — 16.43.440.]
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[Repealed or reserved.]
AS 16.43.350 [Renumbered as AS 16.43.950.]
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[Repealed or reserved.]
AS 16.43.351 Term and conditions of educational entry permit.
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(a) Educational entry permits may be applied for on an annual basis and shall be issued for a term of one year. The permits are nontransferable. (b) A recipient may be issued an educational entry permit valid for designated fisheries in the administrative area the commission dete…
AS 16.43.355 Secs. 16.43.355 — 16.43.360. [Renumbered as AS 16.43.960 — 16.43.970.]
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[Repealed or reserved.]
AS 16.43.361 Disposition of fish.
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Fish caught under the authority of an educational entry permit are the property of the recipient of the permit. The recipient may sell the fish and use the proceeds to pay for the costs of the training program. Revenues generated from the sale of fish harvested under an education…
AS 16.43.370 [Renumbered as AS 16.43.980.]
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[Repealed or reserved.]
AS 16.43.371 Accounting of harvest.
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The recipient of an educational entry permit shall report to the commission costs and earnings, amount of harvest, and other information the commission requires to monitor training programs of recipients of educational entry permits.
AS 16.43.380 [Renumbered as AS 16.43.990.]
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[Repealed or reserved.]
AS 16.43.381 Adoption of regulations.
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(a) Use privileges granted under AS 16.43.340 — 16.43.390 are subject to the regulations of the Board of Fisheries, which may adopt regulations exclusively applicable to the use of educational entry permits. (b) The commission shall adopt regulations relating to the issuance of e…
AS 16.43.390 Definition of “recipient”.
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Article 6. Special Harvest Area Entry Permits. In AS 16.43.340 — 16.43.390, “recipient” means the entity to which an educational entry permit is issued.
AS 16.43.400 Special harvest area entry permits.
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(a) In addition to entry permits, interim-use permits, and educational permits, the commission may issue special harvest area entry permits to (1) holders of private, nonprofit hatchery permits issued by the Department of Fish and Game under AS 16.10.400 — 16.10.475 for salmon; a…
AS 16.43.410 Term and conditions of special harvest area entry permits.
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(a) Special harvest area entry permits may be applied for on an annual basis and shall be issued for a term of one year. A permit is nontransferable. (b) A special harvest area entry permit may only be issued for the applicable area designated by the Department of Fish and Game a…
AS 16.43.420 Disposition of fish.
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Fish caught under the authority of a special harvest area entry permit are the property of the permit holder. The permit holder may sell the fish if the proceeds are used in the manner described in AS 16.10.450.