5 AAC 28.130. Lawful gear for Eastern Gulf of Alaska Area

(a) In the Northern Southeast Inside Subdistrict, the Southeast Outside Subdistrict, and the East Yakutat District, sablefish may be taken only with longlines. In the Southern Southeast Inside Subdistrict, sablefish may be taken only with longlines and pots.

(b) In the Southeast District, a longline vessel may have aboard or use for taking bait a gillnet with mesh size of not over two and one-half inches and made of not greater than Number 20 gillnet thread.

(c) In the Northern and Southern Southeast Inside Subdistricts, flatfish (flounder and sole) may be taken in a directed trawl fishery only by beam trawl gear, and only under the authority of a permit issued by the commissioner under ( l ) of this section. In the permit the commissioner may specify open areas, fishing periods, gear and operating specifications, observer requirements, and completion of logbooks, available from the department, by the vessel operator.

(d) In the Southeast District,

(1) except as provided in (3) of this subsection, rockfish and lingcod may be taken only by longline, dinglebar troll gear, power troll gear, hand troll gear, and mechanical jigging machines, except that

(A) in a directed fishery for pelagic shelf rockfish, pelagic shelf rockfish may be taken only by dinglebar troll gear, hand troll gear, and mechanical jigging machines;

(B) in a directed fishery for lingcod, lingcod may be taken only by dinglebar troll gear, hand troll gear, and mechanical jigging machines;

(2) repealed 7/18/2003;

(3) Pacific cod, shortspine thornyhead rockfish, and longspine thornyhead rockfish may be taken only by longline, dinglebar troll gear, power troll gear, hand troll gear, mechanical jigging machines, and pots;

(4) repealed 7/18/2003.

(e) In areas open to a directed fishery for flatfish (flounder and sole) using beam trawl gear in the Northern and Southern Southeast Inside Subdistricts, a registered shrimp beam trawl vessel may trawl for flatfish using beam trawl gear in an area closed to shrimp trawling, if a cod-end mesh of at least five inches stretched measure is used.

(f) In the Eastern Gulf of Alaska Area, pots may not be longlined, except that pots may be longlined in the Southern Southeast Inside Subdistrict sablefish fishery. At least one buoy on each groundfish pot must be legibly marked with only the permanent department vessel license plate number of the vessel operating the gear. The number must be placed on the top one-third of the buoy in numerals at least four inches high and one-half inch wide, must be in a color contrasting to the color of the buoy, and must be visible above the water surface when the buoy is attached to the groundfish pot. If groundfish pots are longlined under this subsection, a buoy is not required for each pot, but at least one buoy must be attached to the longline, and the buoy must be marked as described in this subsection.

(g) Repealed 7/14/2000.

(h) In the Eastern Gulf of Alaska Area, dinglebar troll gear is gear that consists of a single line that is retrieved and set with a troll gurdy or hand troll gurdy with a terminally attached weight from which one or more leaders with one or more lures or baited hooks are pulled through the water while a vessel is making way.

(i) Repealed 7/18/2003.

(j) Repealed 7/14/2000.

(k) A person may not operate a vessel that is using dinglebar troll gear and mechanical jigging machines at the same time.

( l ) In the Eastern Gulf of Alaska Area, groundfish may be taken by trawl gear only under the authority of a permit issued by the commissioner, if the commissioner determines that issuing the permit is not inconsistent with 5 AAC 39.210.

History: Eff. 7/30/89, Register 111; am 4/30/91, Register 118; am 4/15/94, Register 130; am 6/15/97, Register 142; am 6/14/2000, Register 154; am 7/5/2000, Register 155; am 7/14/2000, Register 155; am 7/18/2003, Register 167

Authority: AS 16.05.251

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