ELEC MONITOR TRAWL FISHERY/SET NET PERMIT, the official text

Enrolled HB 117 
 Relating to electronic monitoring of fishing vessels using trawl gear in a finfish fishery; 
 relating to administrative areas for regulation of certain commercial set net entry permits; and 
 providing for an effective date. 
 _______________ 
 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 
 to read: 
 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The Alaska State Legislature finds that it is in the public 
 interest to establish a new administrative area on the east side of Cook Inlet. 
 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.050(a) is amended to read: 
 (a) The commissioner has, but not by way of limitation, the following powers 
 and duties: 
 (1) through the appropriate state agency and under the provisions of 
 AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code), to acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or other 
 lawful means, land, buildings, water, rights-of-way, or other necessary or proper real

or personal property when the acquisition is in the interest of furthering an objective or 
 purpose of the department and the state; 
 (2) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to design and construct 
 hatcheries, pipelines, rearing ponds, fishways, and other projects beneficial for the fish 
 and game resources of the state; 
 (3) to accept money from any person under conditions requiring the 
 use of the money for specific purposes in the furtherance of the protection, 
 rehabilitation, propagation, preservation, or investigation of the fish and game 
 resources of the state or in settlement of claims for damages to fish or game resources; 
 (4) to collect, classify, and disseminate statistics, data and information 
 that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of this title 
 except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 
 (5) to take, capture, propagate, transport, buy, sell, or exchange fish or 
 game or eggs for propagating, scientific, public safety, or stocking purposes; 
 (6) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to provide public facilities where 
 necessary or proper to facilitate the taking of fish or game, and to enter into 
 cooperative agreements with any person to effect them; 
 (7) to exercise administrative, budgeting, and fiscal powers; 
 (8) under the provisions of AS 36.30, to construct, operate, supervise, 
 and maintain vessels used by the department; 
 (9) to authorize the holder of an interim-use permit under AS 16.43 to 
 engage on an experimental basis in commercial taking of a fishery resource with 
 vessel, gear, and techniques not presently qualifying for licensing under this chapter in 
 conformity with standards established by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry 
 Commission; 
 (10) not later than January 31 of each year, to provide to the 
 commissioner of revenue the names of those fish and shellfish species that the 
 commissioner of fish and game designates as developing commercial fish species for 
 that calendar year; a fish or shellfish species is a developing commercial fish species 
 if, within a specified geographical region, 
 (A) the optimum yield from the harvest of the species has not

been reached; 
 (B) a substantial portion of the allowable harvest of the species 
 has been allocated to fishing vessels of a foreign nation; or 
 (C) a commercial harvest of the fish species has recently 
 developed; 
 (11) to initiate or conduct research necessary or advisable to carry out 
 the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 
 (12) to enter into cooperative agreements with agencies of the federal 
 government, educational institutions, or other agencies or organizations, when in the 
 public interest, to carry out the purposes of this title except AS 16.51 and AS 16.52; 
 (13) to implement an on-board observer program authorized by the 
 Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251(a)(13); implementation 
 (A) must be as unintrusive to vessel operations as practicable; 
 and 
 (B) must make scheduling and scope of observers' activities as 
 predictable as practicable; 
 (14) to sell fish caught during commercial fisheries test fishing 
 operations; 
 (15) to establish and charge fees equal to the cost of services provided 
 by the department, including provision of public shooting ranges, broodstock and eggs 
 for private nonprofit hatcheries, department publications, and other direct services, and 
 reasonable fees for the use of state facilities managed by the department; fees 
 established under this paragraph for tours of hatchery facilities, commercial use of 
 sport fishing access sites, and for operation of state hatchery facilities by private 
 aquaculture associations are not subject to the cost limit under AS 37.10.050(a); 
 (16) to permit and regulate aquatic farming in the state in a manner 
 that ensures the protection of the state's fish and game resources and improves the 
 economy, health, and well-being of the citizens of the state; 
 (17) to operate state housing and facilities for employees, contractors, 
 and others in support of the department's responsibilities and to charge rent that is 
 consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreements, or, if no collective

bargaining agreement is applicable, competitive with market conditions; rent received 
 from tenants shall be deposited in the general fund; 
 (18) to petition the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, 
 unless the Board of Fisheries disapproves the petition under AS 16.05.251(g), to 
 establish a moratorium on new entrants into commercial fisheries 
 (A) that have experienced recent increases in fishing effort that 
 are beyond a low, sporadic level of effort; 
 (B) that have achieved a level of harvest that may be 
 approaching or exceeding the maximum sustainable level for the fishery; and 
 (C) for which there is insufficient biological and resource 
 management information necessary to promote the conservation and sustained 
 yield management of the fishery; 
 (19) to promote fishing, hunting, and trapping and preserve the 
 heritage of fishing, hunting, and trapping in the state; 
 (20) to require a vessel registered under AS 16.05.475 to 
 participate in an electronic monitoring program for a state commercial finfish 
 trawl fishery; however, before implementing an electronic monitoring program 
 in a finfish trawl fishery, the commissioner shall determine in writing that 
 (A) vessels active in the fishery already have electronic 
 monitoring systems onboard because the vessels also participate in a 
 federal fishery managed under 50 C.F.R. Part 679 in the Bering Sea, 
 Aleutian Islands, or the Gulf of Alaska that requires electronic 
 monitoring; 
 (B) implementation of an electronic monitoring program in 
 the fishery will not require a vessel owner to purchase or install electronic 
 monitoring equipment beyond what is already required for the vessel to 
 participate in the federally managed fishery; and 
 (C) electronic monitoring 
 (i) is a practical tool for data gathering or 
 enforcement in that fishery; 
 (ii) will not unduly disrupt the fishery;

(iii) can be conducted at a reasonable cost; and 
 (iv) can be coordinated with electronic monitoring 
 programs of the federal National Marine Fisheries Service and 
 other state and federal agencies. 
 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.050 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 
 (c) The commissioner may not levy an assessment or other charge on 
 participating commercial fishers to fund the costs of implementing or operating an 
 electronic monitoring program in a fishery under (a)(20) of this section. 
 * Sec. 4. AS 16.43.200 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 
 (c) Notwithstanding (a) and (b) of this section, for the purposes of issuing 
 entry permits and controlling entry into the commercial set net fishery on the east side 
 of Cook Inlet, the commission shall establish the area administered on December 31, 
 2024, and identified by the Department of Fish and Game as of January 1, 2024, as 
 statistical areas 244-21, 244-22, 244-31, 244-32, 244-41, and 244-42 of the Upper 
 Subdistrict of the Cook Inlet Central District as a distinct administrative area separate 
 from the Cook Inlet administrative area. 
 (d) An entry permit that entitled a person to set net commercially in the area 
 that was administered on December 31, 2024, by the commission as the Cook Inlet 
 administrative area does not entitle that person to set net commercially in the 
 administrative area established under (c) of this section unless the commission 
 reassigns the permit to that administrative area. 
 * Sec. 5. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 
 read: 
 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Fish and Game may adopt 
 regulations necessary to implement the changes made by secs. 2 and 3 of this Act. The 
 regulations take effect under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the 
 effective date of the law implemented by the regulation. 
 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 
 read: 
 TRANSITION: REASSIGNMENT OF CERTAIN COOK INLET AREA SET NET 
 ENTRY PERMITS. (a) On January 1, 2027, an individual holding an entry permit that entitles

the individual to commercially set net in the Cook Inlet administrative area may have the 
 individual's entry permit renewed as an entry permit for the Cook Inlet set net administrative 
 area under AS 16.43.150(c), consistent with the boundaries of that administrative area 
 established under AS 16.43.200, as amended by sec. 4 of this Act, unless the individual 
 provides proof satisfactory to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission of the 
 individual's participation, or, if the individual acquired the individual's entry permit from an 
 immediate family member, of the immediate family member's participation, in the fishery in 
 the areas identified by the Department of Fish and Game as of January 1, 2024, as statistical 
 areas 244-21, 244-22, 244-31, 244-32, 244-41, and 244-42 of the Upper Subdistrict of the 
 Cook Inlet Central District within the five years preceding December 31, 2024. Proof 
 satisfactory of participation under this subsection may include a shore fisheries lease, an area 
 registration, a buoy tag, or previous submission of fishing statistics for the area. 
 (b) An individual who provides proof satisfactory to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries 
 Entry Commission of the individual's participation in the fishery in the areas identified by the 
 Department of Fish and Game as of January 1, 2024, as statistical areas 244-21, 244-22, 244- 
 31, 244-32, 244-41, and 244-42 of the Upper Subdistrict of the Cook Inlet Central District 
 under (a) of this section shall be reassigned an entry permit on January 1, 2027, for the new 
 administrative area established under AS 16.43.200(c), enacted by sec. 4 of this Act. 
 (c) In this section, "immediate family member" means 
 (1) the spouse of an individual; 
 (2) another individual cohabiting with an individual in a conjugal relationship 
 that is not a legal marriage; 
 (3) a child, including a stepchild or an adopted child, of an individual; 
 (4) a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, or uncle of an individual; and 
 (5) a parent or sibling of an individual's spouse. 
 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 
 read: 
 TRANSITION: APPEAL OF COMMISSION DECISION NOT TO ASSIGN AN 
 APPLICANT'S PERMIT TO NEW ADMINISTRATIVE AREA. (a) An individual may 
 appeal a decision by the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to renew the entry 
 permit held by the individual that allows the individual to commercially fish in the Cook Inlet

administrative area, as the area's boundaries are amended by AS 16.43.200(c), enacted by sec. 
 4 of this Act, instead of issuing the individual an entry permit for the administrative area 
 established by AS 16.43.200(c), enacted by sec. 4 of this Act. An appeal under this section 
 must be made to the superior court on or before March 1, 2027. 
 (b) The commission shall provide to an individual who is appealing a decision of the 
 commission under this section a provisional entry permit for the administrative area 
 established by AS 16.43.200(c), enacted by sec. 4 of this Act. 
 * Sec. 8. Section 5 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 
 * Sec. 9. Except as provided in sec. 8 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2027.