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(a) This management plan governs the harvest of Pacific cod in the Cook Inlet Area.
(b) Each year the commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, a parallel season in the Cook Inlet Area to coincide with the initial federal season in the federal Central Gulf of Alaska Area. The commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, the parallel season during which the use of the same gear allowed in the federal Central Gulf of Alaska Area Pacific cod season is permitted, unless use of that gear is prohibited under 5 AAC 28.050, 5 AAC 28.330, or 5 AAC 28.350.
(c) The commissioner shall open, by emergency order, a state waters season in the Cook Inlet Area 24 hours following the closure of the directed federal season in the federal Central Gulf of Alaska Area and shall close, by emergency order, the state waters season, as follows:
(1) for mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear, when 25 percent of the guideline harvest level is taken by mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear or December 31, whichever occurs first;
(2) for pots,
(A) the fishing season shall close at 12:00 noon on May 1 or when 75 percent of the guideline harvest level is taken by pot gear, whichever occurs first;
(B) if 75 percent of the guideline harvest level is not taken by pot gear during the fishing season specified in (A) of this paragraph, the commissioner shall open, by emergency order, a fishing season on June 15 and shall close, by emergency order, the season on December 31 or when 75 percent of the guideline harvest level is taken by pot gear, whichever occurs first;
(C) if 25 percent of the guideline harvest level is not taken by mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear before September 1, the commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the fishing season and immediately reopen a fishing season during which all legal gear may be used, and shall close, by emergency order, the season on December 31 or when the guideline harvest level is reached, whichever occurs first;
(D) if the season is closed and immediately reopened under (C) of this paragraph, a vessel participating in the state waters season when it was closed will not be required to comply with the landing requirements of 5 AAC 28.371 until the season is closed again;
(3) the fishing season for vessels longer than 58 feet in overall length fishing with pot gear shall close when 25 percent of the guideline harvest level has been taken by those vessels, unless the pot gear season has already been closed for the remainder of the season under (2) of this subsection; this restriction does not apply if the pot gear season is still open on September 1 under (2)(B) of this subsection or to a season reopened after August 31 under (2)(C) of this subsection; in this paragraph, "overall length" means the straight line length between the extremities of the vessel, excluding anchor rollers.
(d) The commissioner may open and close, by emergency order, fishing seasons at times other than those specified in this management plan if
(1) the guideline harvest level specified in (e)(1) or, if applicable, (e)(2) of this section has been reached and a federal season is ongoing in adjacent federal waters; or
(2) the commissioner determines it is necessary to
(A) adapt to unanticipated openings and closures of the federal season;
(B) maintain sustained yield management; or
(C) provide for orderly fisheries.
(e) During a state waters season,
(1) the guideline harvest level for Pacific cod in the Cook Inlet Area is 3.75 percent of the estimated total allowable harvest of Pacific cod for the federal Central Gulf of Alaska Area;
(2) repealed 4/9/2005;
(3) Pacific cod may be taken only with groundfish pots, mechanical jigging machines, and hand troll gear, as follows:
(A) no more than 60 groundfish pots may be operated from a vessel registered to fish for Pacific cod;
(B) no more than five mechanical jigging machines may be operated from a vessel registered to fish for Pacific cod;
(C) in addition to the requirements of 5 AAC 28.020, a vessel must be registered to fish with pot gear or with mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear (jig gear), and may be registered to fish with only one of these two gear types; a vessel's gear registration may be changed during a state waters season to a different gear registration if the owner, or the owner's agent, submits a written request for a change in registration by mail, facsimile, or in person, to the department office in Homer, or other locations specified by the department for validation, and that registration has been validated by the department.
(f) The Cook Inlet Area is an exclusive registration area for Pacific cod during a state waters season.
(g) If at any time after October 30, the commissioner determines that the guideline harvest level for Pacific cod will not be reached by December 31, the commissioner may close, by emergency order, the fishing season and immediately reopen a state waters fishing season during which the following shall be implemented to increase the harvest rate in an attempt to reach the guideline harvest level:
(1) limits on the number of groundfish pots and mechanical jigging machines that may be operated from a vessel are removed; or
(2) if needed, in addition to (1) of this subsection, designate the Cook Inlet Area as a nonexclusive registration area for Pacific cod.
(h) If the season is closed and immediately reopened under (g) of this section, a vessel participating in the state waters season when it was closed will not be required to comply with the landing requirements of 5 AAC 28.371 until the season is closed again.
(i) During a closure of the directed rockfish fishery, a vessel registered to fish groundfish pots or mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear for Pacific cod may retain rockfish only in an amount that does not exceed five percent of the gross round weight of all groundfish species on board the vessel.
History: Eff. 4/4/97, Register 142; am 11/27/97, Register 144; am 7/21/99, Register 151; am 5/31/2001, Register 158; am 2/13/2005, Register 173; am 4/9/2005, Register 174
Authority: AS 16.05.060
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Last modified 7/05/2006