Alaska Statutes: AS 16.12.090. Cost Recovery Fisheries.

Alaska Statutes. Title 16. Fish and Game Chapter 12. Shellfish Enhancement Projects Section 90. Cost Recovery Fisheries.

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AS 16.12.090. Cost Recovery Fisheries.

   (a) A permit holder may harvest shellfish for a project under AS 16.12.010 in a special harvest area through
        (1) agents or employees of or persons under contract with the permit holder as provided under a permit from the department or regulations of the Board of Fisheries; or
        (2) the common property fishery under this section.
   (b) A permit holder may, by a majority vote of the membership of the permit holder's board of directors, elect to harvest shellfish in a special harvest area established for a project under AS 16.12.010 through the common property fishery. A permit holder seeking to harvest shellfish in a special harvest area through a common property fishery shall notify the Department of Revenue by July 1 of the year preceding the year for which the harvest is sought. At the request of the permit holder and if the commissioner determines that there are no allocative issues involved, and after reasonable consultation with affected commercial fishermen, the commissioner may adopt regulations governing the harvest of shellfish in a special harvest area through a common property fishery. The regulations must specify the terms, conditions, and rules under which the common property fishery in the special harvest area shall be conducted, including requirements for holding inspections and reporting of harvests and sales of shellfish taken in the special harvest area. Following adoption of regulations by the department, before January 15 of each year, the permit holder's board, by a majority vote of the board's membership, may determine whether the permit holder will operate under the regulations adopted under this subsection during the current calendar year and shall notify the department if the permit holder intends to operate under the regulations adopted under this subsection. The Board of Fisheries may adopt regulations under AS 16.05.251 regarding a fisheries management plan governing operations under this subsection in a special harvest area, including allocation plans. Participation in the fishery must be open to all interim-use permit and entry permit holders who hold permits to operate a type of gear that may be used in the fishing district in which the special harvest area is located if that type of gear is authorized by regulation to be used in the special harvest area. An interim-use permit holder or an entry permit holder who takes shellfish in a common property fishery in a special harvest area may sell the shellfish to a fish buyer or processor who is licensed to do business in the state.
   (c) As a condition of participation in a common property shellfish fishery in a special harvest area under this section, a commercial fisherman who participates in the fishery is subject to the payment of the assessment levied under (d) of this section on the projected value of the shellfish or on the pounds of shellfish harvested. The assessment is levied on the shellfish that the commercial fisherman takes in the special harvest area and sells to a licensed buyer. The buyer of the shellfish must be licensed under AS 43.75, and the buyer shall collect the assessment on shellfish taken in a special harvest area at the time of purchase and remit the assessment to the Department of Revenue in accordance with regulations adopted by the Department of Revenue.
   (d) The Department of Revenue may, by regulation, set the assessment levied on shellfish taken in a special harvest area on an annual basis in consultation with the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, the permit holder, and representatives of affected commercial fishermen. The Department of Revenue shall set an annual assessment under this section not later than January 1 of that year. The assessment must provide sufficient revenue to cover debt service, reasonable operating expenses, reasonable maintenance expenses, and development or maintenance of a reserve fund up to 100 percent of annual operating costs of the permit holder's project under AS 16.12.010. In setting the assessment, the Department of Revenue shall consider the estimated harvest of shellfish in the special harvest area, the projected price to be paid for shellfish in the region, the amount of the existing reserve held by the permit holder, and the amount by which the assessment collected in previous years exceeded or fell short of the amount anticipated to be collected. The assessment may not exceed 50 percent of the value of the shellfish. The Department of Revenue may levy the assessment as a percentage of the projected value of the shellfish harvested in the special harvest area or as a flat rate on each pound of shellfish harvested in the area, to the nearest whole cent.
   (e) The Department of Revenue shall deposit the assessments collected under this section in the general fund. The legislature may appropriate the funds collected under this section to the permit holder who is carrying out a project under AS 16.12.010, including the operation of a facility, in the special harvest area in which the assessment was levied. A permit holder shall use funds appropriated under this subsection for the purposes set out under AS 16.12.080(a). The legislature may also appropriate funds collected under this section to the Department of Revenue for costs incurred by the Department of Revenue under this section.
   (f) A person who violates a regulation adopted under (b) of this section is guilty of a violation under AS 16.05.722 or a misdemeanor under AS 16.05.723. A person who violates a regulation adopted by the Department of Revenue under (c) of this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.
   (g) In this section,
        (1) “special harvest area” means an area designated by the commissioner or the Board of Fisheries where shellfish may be harvested by permit holders under this chapter and by the common property fishery;
        (2) “value” has the meaning given in AS 43.75.290.

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