Title 5 . Fish and Game

Chapter 1 . Transportation, Possession and Release of Live Fish; Aquatic Farming

Section 620. Lawful gear and gear specifications

5 AAC 01.620. Lawful gear and gear specifications

(a) Fish may be taken by gear listed in 5 AAC 01.010(a) unless restricted in this section or under the terms of a subsistence fishing permit.

(b) Salmon may be taken only by the following types of gear:

(1) in the Glennallen Subdistrict by fish wheels or dip nets;

(2) repealed 4/30/91;

(3) in salt water by gillnets and seines;

(4) repealed 6/12/2003.

(c) Fish wheels used for subsistence fishing may be operated only as follows:

(1) the owner of a fish wheel shall register that fish wheel with the department; the department shall issue a registration number for the fish wheel; that registration number, and either the owner's name and address or the owner's permanent identification number from a valid Alaska driver's license or a state identification card, must be permanently affixed and plainly visible on the fish wheel on a wood, metal, or plastic plate that is at least 12 inches high by 12 inches wide, in letters and numerals at least one inch high, when the fish wheel is in the water; only the registration number from the current year may be affixed to the fish wheel; any other registration number must be removed from the fish wheel;

(2) the owner of a fish wheel registered under (1) of this subsection is responsible for the fish wheel when the fish wheel is in the water;

(3) when the permit holder is a person other than the owner of the fish wheel, in addition to the requirements of (1) of this subsection, an additional plate of wood, metal, or plastic, that is at least 12 inches high by 12 inches wide bearing the permit holder's name and address in letters and numerals at least one inch high must be attached to each fish wheel so that the name and address are plainly visible;

(4) a permit holder may operate only one fish wheel at a time;

(5) a person may not set or operate a fish wheel within 75 feet of another fish wheel;

(6) a fish wheel

(A) may not have more than two baskets;

(B) must be removed from the water at the end of the permit period; and

(C) may not be rented, leased, or otherwise used for personal gain.

(d) Halibut may be taken only by a single hand-held line with not more than two hooks attached to it.

(e) The permit holder must personally operate the fish wheel or dip net. A subsistence fish wheel or dip net permit may not be loaned or transferred except as permitted under 5 AAC 01.011.

(f) Herring spawn on kelp may be taken only by a hand-held unpowered blade-cutting device. Kelp plant blades must be cut at least four inches above the stipe (stem). The provisions of this subsection do not apply to Fucus species.

(g) Repealed 5/24/97.

(h) Groundfish may be taken only by a single hand troll, single hand-held line, or a single longline, none of which may have more than five hooks attached to it.

(i) Groundfish taken incidentally in a subsistence salmon net fishery, consistent with applicable subsistence salmon laws and regulations, are lawfully taken and may be retained for subsistence purposes.

History: In effect before 1983; am 6/30/83, Register 86; am 4/28/84, Register 90; am 4/30/91, Register 118; readopt 5/15/93, Register 126; am 5/24/97, Register 142; am 3/30/2000, Register 153; am 5/11/2003, Register 166; am 6/12/2003, Register 166; am 3/30/2006, Register 177

Authority: AS 16.05.251

AS 16.05.258

Editor's note: At its February 23 - 27, 1993 meeting, the Board of Fisheries readopted 5 AAC 01.620 in its entirety without change, under ch. 1, SSSLA 1992 (the 1992 subsistence law), which repealed and reenacted AS 16.05.258 . As of Register 142, July 1997, the substance of 5 AAC 01.620(g) appears in 5 AAC 01.620(c) .