AS Title 16, Chapter 40: Commercial Use of Fish and Game

Article 1. Buffalo, Musk Oxen, Elk, and Elephants. Chapter 40. Commercial Use of Fish and Game. Sec. 16.40.010. Disposition of surplus buffalo and musk oxen. Whenever it is determined by the department that a surplus exists in the herds of buffalo and musk oxen under its control, the department may, under regulations adopted by it, grant the surplus or portions of it to persons, groups, associations, partnerships, or corporations for the purpose of raising and breeding the animals as domestic stock for commercial purposes, or for scientific and educational purposes. A person, group, association, partnership, or corporation may receive animals only after proving to the satisfaction of the department (1) intent to raise and breed the animals; and (2) possession of facilities for maintaining the animals under positive control. Sec. 16.40.020. Sale of meat. The sale of buffalo or musk oxen meat resulting from the slaughter of animals obtained under AS 16.40.010 , or their offspring is authorized. Sec. 16.40.030. Information required. The recipient of animals obtained under AS 16.40.010 shall furnish the department the information the department requests regarding the status of the animals or their offspring. Sec. 16.40.050. Capture or release of elk. (a) [Repealed, § 5 ch 41 SLA 2000.] (b) [Repealed, § 5 ch 41 SLA 2000.] (c) A live elk may not be captured from the wild or released into the wild without an appropriate license or permit from the department. (d) [Repealed, § 5 ch 41 SLA 2000.] (e) [Repealed, § 5 ch 41 SLA 2000.] Sec. 16.40.060. Elephant permit. The commissioner may issue a permit, subject to reasonable conditions established by the commissioner, to possess, import, or export an elephant. A permit may be issued only to a person who proves to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the person (1) intends to exhibit the animal commercially; (2) possesses facilities to maintain the animal under positive control and humane conditions; and (3) maintains personal injury and property damage insurance in an amount established by the commissioner. Article 2. Aquatic Farming. Sec. 16.40.100. Aquatic farm and hatchery permits. (a) A person may not, without a permit from the commissioner, construct or operate (1) an aquatic farm; or (2) a hatchery for the purpose of supplying aquatic plants or shellfish to an aquatic farm. (b) A permit issued under this section authorizes the permittee, subject to the conditions of AS 16.40.100 — 16.40.199 and AS 17.20 , to (1) acquire, purchase, offer to purchase, transfer, possess, sell, and offer to sell stock and aquatic farm products that are used or reared at the hatchery or aquatic farm; and (2) except as provided in (f) of this section, harvest and, without further cultivation, sell an insignificant population that may be present at the aquatic farm site of a wild stock of a shellfish species intended to be cultured at the site. (c) The commissioner may attach conditions to a permit issued under this section that are necessary to protect natural fish and wildlife resources. (d) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, the commissioner may not issue a permit under this section for the farming of, or hatchery operations involving, Atlantic salmon. (e) Upon the expiration or termination of a permit issued under this section, a person who holds a permit for an aquatic farming site where wild stocks of shellfish indigenous to the site are cultured shall, as a condition of the permit, restore the wild stock of shellfish, as consistent with sustained yield management of the wild stock, to the population level that existed on the site when the permit for the site was initially issued by the commissioner. A permit holder is not required to restore that portion of the wild stock of shellfish that was removed from an aquatic farming site by a common property fishery conducted after the issuance of the permit for the aquatic farming site. (f) If the wild stock of a shellfish species to be cultured at an aquatic farm site exceeds the amount determined by the department to be an insignificant population and if the commissioner determines in writing that removal from the site of that portion of the stock that exceeds an insignificant population would benefit the public and that removal of the stock by a person other than the permittee would unreasonably interfere with the operation of the aquatic farm, the commissioner may authorize the permittee to remove and sell the excess amount of the wild stock from the site, if the permittee pays reasonable compensation, as defined by the department, to the department for the harvest and sale of the excess wild stock. The department shall deposit the money received under this subsection into the general fund. The legislature may appropriate the money received under this section to the department for shellfish management and enhancement. (g) The commissioner may not use the absence of wild geoduck stock within a management area described in AS 16.40.145 as the reason for denial of an aquatic farm permit under this section. If, under this section, the commissioner issues a permit for an aquatic farm to culture geoducks in a management area that does not have wild geoduck stocks when the permit is issued, the permit may not allow operations for that purpose in the intertidal habitat or environment. Sec. 16.40.105. Criteria for issuance of permits. The commissioner shall issue permits under AS 16.40.100 on the basis of the following criteria: (1) the physical and biological characteristics of the proposed farm or hatchery location must be suitable for the farming or the shellfish or aquatic plant proposed; (2) the proposed farm or hatchery may not require significant alterations in traditional fisheries or other existing uses of fish and wildlife resources; (3) the proposed farm or hatchery may not significantly affect fisheries, wildlife, or their habitats in an adverse manner; (4) the proposed farm or hatchery plans and staffing plans must demonstrate technical and operational feasibility; and (5) the proposed farm site may not include more than an insignificant population of a wild stock, on the site, of a shellfish species intended to be cultured. Sec. 16.40.110. Permit application, renewal, and transfer. (a) An applicant for an aquatic farming or hatchery permit required under AS 16.40.100 shall apply on a form prescribed by the commissioner. An application for a permit must include a plan for the development and operation of the aquatic farm or hatchery, which must be approved by the commissioner before the permit is issued. (b) An application for renewal or transfer of a permit must be accompanied by fees required by the commissioner, a report of the disease history of the farm or hatchery covered by the permit, and evidence that satisfies the commissioner that the applicant has complied with the development plan required under (a) of this section. The commissioner may require a health inspection of the farm or hatchery as a condition of renewal. The department may conduct the inspection or contract with a disease diagnostician to conduct the inspection. (c) A person to whom a permit is transferred may use the permit only for the purposes for which the permit was authorized to be used by the transferor, and subject to the same conditions and limitations. Sec. 16.40.120. Aquatic stock acquisition permits. (a) A person may not acquire aquatic plants or shellfish from wild stock in the state for the purpose of supplying stock to an aquatic farm or hatchery required to have a permit under AS 16.40.100 unless the person holds an acquisition permit from the commissioner. (b) An acquisition permit authorizes the permit holder to acquire the species and quantities of wild stock in the state specified in the permit for the purposes of supplying stock to (1) an aquatic farm or hatchery required to have a permit under AS 16.40.100 ; (2) the department. (c) The commissioner shall specify the expiration date of an acquisition permit and may attach conditions to an acquisition permit, including conditions relating to the time, place, and manner of harvest. Size, gear, place, time, licensing, and other limitations applicable to sport, commercial, or subsistence harvest of aquatic plants and shellfish do not apply to a harvest with a permit issued under this section. The commissioner of fish and game shall issue or deny a permit within 30 days after receiving an application. (d) The commissioner shall deny or restrict a permit under this section upon finding that the proposed harvest will impair sustained yield of the species or will unreasonably disrupt established uses of the resources by commercial, sport, personal use, or subsistence users. The commissioner shall inform the Board of Fisheries of any action taken on permit applications for species that support commercial fisheries subject to limited entry under AS 16.43 and of any permits denied because of unreasonable disruption of an established use. A denial of the permit by the commissioner must contain the factual basis for the findings. (e) The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations for the conservation, maintenance, and management of species for which an acquisition permit is required. (f) Except as provided in (d) of this section or in a regulation adopted under (e) of this section, the commissioner shall issue a permit if (1) wild stock is necessary to meet the initial needs of farm or hatchery stock; (2) there are technological limitations on the propagation of culture stock for the species sought; (3) wild stock sought is not fully utilized by commercial, sport, personal use, or subsistence fisheries; or (4) wild stock is needed to maintain the gene pool of a hatchery or aquatic farm. (g) Aquatic plants and shellfish acquired under a permit issued under this section become the property of the permit holder and are no longer a public or common resource. Sec. 16.40.130. Importation of aquatic plants or shellfish for stock. A person may not import into the state an aquatic plant or shellfish for the purpose of supplying stock to an aquatic farm or hatchery unless authorized by a regulation of the Board of Fisheries. Sec. 16.40.140. Limitation on sale, transfer of stock, and products. (a) A private hatchery required to have a permit under AS 16.40.100 may sell or transfer stock from the hatchery only to an aquatic farm or other hatchery that has a permit issued under AS 16.40.100 , except that shellfish stock may also be sold or offered for sale to an aquatic farm or related hatchery outside of the state. (b) Stock may not be transferred to or from an aquatic farm or hatchery required to have a permit under AS 16.40.100 without prior notice of the transfer to the commissioner. A notice of transfer shall be submitted at least 45 days before the proposed date of transfer. (c) A notice of transfer must be accompanied by a report of a health inspection of the stock. The department shall conduct the inspection or contract with a disease diagnostician to conduct the inspection. The cost of inspection shall be borne by the department. (d) The department may restrict or disapprove a transfer of stock if it finds that the transfer would present a risk of spreading disease. (e) A person may not sell, transfer, or offer to sell or transfer, or knowingly purchase or receive, an aquatic farm product grown or propagated in the state unless the product was grown or propagated on a farm with a permit issued under AS 16.40.100 . The permit must be in effect at the time of the sale, transfer, purchase, receipt, or offer. Sec. 16.40.145. Geoduck seed transfer between a certified hatchery and an aquatic farm. Consistent with AS 16.40.140 (b) — (d), a hatchery certified under AS 16.40.100 may transfer geoduck seed to an aquatic farm located in a fisheries management area established under this title that is contiguous to an island in the Aleutian Chain or to the Gulf of Alaska. Sec. 16.40.150. Disease control and inspection. (a) The department shall order the quarantine or the destruction and disposal of diseased hatchery stock or of aquatic farm products when necessary to protect wild stock. A holder of a permit issued under AS 16.40.100 shall report to the department an outbreak or incidence of disease among stock or aquatic farm products of the permit holder within 48 hours after discovering the outbreak or incidence. (b) A holder of a permit issued under AS 16.40.100 shall allow the department to inspect the permit holder's farm or hatchery during operating hours and upon reasonable notice. The cost of inspection shall be borne by the department. (c) The department shall develop a disease management and control program for aquatic farms and hatcheries. (d) The department may enter into an agreement with a state or federal agency or a private, state-certified provider to provide services under (b) and (c) of this section, or inspections under AS 16.40.110 (b). Sec. 16.40.155. Records and reports confidential. Records required by statute or by a regulation adopted by the department concerning aquatic farm stocks or production, prices, and harvests of aquatic farm products and wild stocks, and annual statistical reports of individual aquatic farms or hatcheries required by statute or by a regulation adopted by the department are confidential and may not be released by the department, except that the department may release the records and reports (1) to the Department of Revenue and the Department of Natural Resources to assist the departments in carrying out their respective statutory responsibilities; (2) as necessary to comply with a court order; (3) provided by an aquatic farm or hatchery permit holder to the permit holder whose activity is the subject of the records or reports; (4) regarding cumulative annual harvests of wild stocks at individual aquatic farm sites. Sec. 16.40.160. Regulations. The commissioner may adopt regulations necessary to implement AS 16.40.100 — 16.40.199. Sec. 16.40.170. Penalty. A person who violates a provision of AS 16.40.100 — 16.40.199, a regulation adopted under AS 16.40.100 — 16.40.199, or a term or condition of a permit issued under AS 16.40.100 — 16.40.199, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor. Sec. 16.40.199. Definitions. In AS 16.40.100 — 16.40.199, (1) “aquatic farm” means a facility that grows, farms, or cultivates aquatic farm products in captivity or under positive control; (2) “aquatic farm product” means an aquatic plant or shellfish, or part of an aquatic plant or shellfish, that is propagated, farmed, or cultivated in an aquatic farm and sold or offered for sale; (3) “aquatic plant” means a plant indigenous to state water or that is authorized to be imported into the state under a permit issued by the commissioner; (4) “commissioner” means the commissioner of fish and game; (5) “hatchery” means a facility for the artificial propagation of stock, including rearing of juvenile aquatic plants or shellfish; (6) “insignificant population” means a population of shellfish that, in the determination of the commissioner, would not attract and support a commercial fishery for that species of shellfish and the harvest and sale of the shellfish would not result in significant alteration in traditional fisheries or other existing uses of fish and wildlife resources if the population were included within an aquatic farm site; (7) “positive control” means, for mobile species, enclosed within a natural or artificial escape-proof barrier; for species with limited or no mobility, such as a bivalve or an aquatic plant, “positive control” also includes managed cultivation in unenclosed water; (8) “shellfish” means a species of crustacean, mollusk, or other invertebrate, in any stage of its life cycle, that is indigenous to state water or that is authorized to be imported into the state under a permit issued by the commissioner; (9) “stock” means live aquatic plants or shellfish acquired, collected, possessed, or intended for use by a hatchery or aquatic farm for the purpose of further growth or propagation. Article 3. Finfish Farming. Sec. 16.40.210. Finfish farming prohibited. (a) A person may not grow or cultivate finfish in captivity or under positive control for commercial purposes. (b) This section does not restrict (1) the fishery rehabilitation, enhancement, or development activities of the department; (2) the ability of a nonprofit corporation that holds a salmon hatchery permit under AS 16.10.400 to sell salmon returning from the natural water of the state, as authorized under AS 16.10.450 , or surplus salmon eggs, as authorized under AS 16.10.420 and 16.10.450; (3) rearing and sale of ornamental finfish for aquariums or ornamental ponds provided that the fish are not reared in or released into water of the state. (c) In this section “ornamental finfish” means fish commonly known as “tropical fish,” “aquarium fish,” or “goldfish,” that are imported, cultured, or sold in the state customarily for viewing in aquaria or for raising in artificial systems, and not customarily used for sport fishing or human consumption purposes. Article 4. Fishery Associations. Sec. 16.40.240. Regional dive fishery development associations. (a) The commissioner shall assist in and encourage the formation of qualified regional dive fishery development associations for the purpose of developing dive fisheries in administrative areas of the state in which dive fisheries exist. A regional dive fishery development association is qualified if the commissioner determines that the regional association (1) is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under AS 10.20 ; (2) represents commercial fishermen who participate in each dive fishery in the region; and (3) possesses a board of directors that (A) is representative of commercial dive fishermen who fish in each of the significant commercial dive fishing areas in the administrative area; (B) has a member who is representative of fish processors who process dive fishery resources in the administrative area; and (C) has a member who is representative of municipalities in the administrative area. (b) In this section, “administrative area” has the meaning given in AS 43.76.210 . Sec. 16.40.250. Salmon fishery associations. The commissioner may assist in and encourage the formation of qualified salmon fishery associations for the purpose of promoting the consolidation of the fishing fleet in a salmon fishery for which the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission has issued commercial fishing entry permits under AS 16.43 . A salmon fishery association is qualified if the commissioner determines that the regional association (1) is incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under AS 10.20 ; (2) is comprised of interim-use permit and entry permit holders in the salmon fishery for which the association is established; and (3) has a board of directors that is comprised of interim-use permit and entry permit holders in the salmon fishery. Article 5. Salt Water Sport Fishing Services. Sec. 16.40.260. Sport fishing operator license. [Repealed, § 8, ch. 70, SLA 2004, as amended by § 3, ch. 61, SLA 2009, § 1, ch. 48, SLA 2010, § 1, ch. 13, SLA 2011, and § 1, ch. 30, SLA 2012.] Sec. 16.40.261. Salt water sport fishing operator license. Sec. 16.40.270. Sport fishing guide license. [Repealed, § 8, ch. 70, SLA 2004, as amended by § 3, ch. 61, SLA 2009, § 1, ch. 48, SLA 2010, § 1, ch. 13, SLA 2011, and § 1, ch. 30, SLA 2012.] Sec. 16.40.271. Salt water sport fishing guide license; combined operator and guide license. Sec. 16.40.280. Reports. [Repealed, § 8, ch. 70, SLA 2004, as amended by § 3, ch. 61, SLA 2009, § 1, ch. 48, SLA 2010, § 1, ch. 13, SLA 2011, and § 1, ch. 30, SLA 2012.] Sec. 16.40.290. Penalty. [Repealed, § 8, ch. 70, SLA 2004, as amended by § 3, ch. 61, SLA 2009, § 1, ch. 48, SLA 2010, § 1, ch. 13, SLA 2011, and § 1, ch. 30, SLA 2012.] Sec. 16.40.291. Penalty. Sec. 16.40.299. Definitions. [Repealed, § 8, ch. 70, SLA 2004, as amended by § 3, ch. 61, SLA 2009, § 1, ch. 48, SLA 2010, § 1, ch. 13, SLA 2011, and § 1, ch. 30, SLA 2012.] Sec. 16.40.300. Definitions.