5 AAC 28.577. South Alaska Peninsula Area Pacific Cod Management Plan

(a) This management plan governs the harvest of Pacific cod in the South Alaska Peninsula Area.

(b) Each year the commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, a parallel season in the South Alaska Peninsula Area to coincide with the initial federal season in the federal Western 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 Western Gulf of Alaska Area Pacific cod season is permitted, unless use of that gear is prohibited under 5 AAC 28.050 or 5 AAC 28.570.

(c) The commissioner shall open, by emergency order, a state waters season in the South Alaska Peninsula Area seven days following the closure of the directed federal season in the federal Western Central Gulf of Alaska Area. The commissioner shall, by emergency order, close the state waters season opened under this subsection as follows:

(1) for mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear, the commissioner shall close the state waters season when the guideline harvest level is taken or on December 31, whichever occurs first;

(2) for pots, the commissioner shall close the state waters season when 85 percent of the guideline harvest level is taken by pot gear or on December 31, whichever occurs first; however, notwithstanding the obligation to close the state waters season under this paragraph, if 15 percent of the guideline harvest level is not taken by mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear before October 31, 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, by emergency order, close the season on December 31 or when the guideline harvest level is reached, whichever occurs first;

(3) if the season is closed and immediately reopened under (2) of this subsection, a vessel participating in the state waters season when it was closed and immediately reopened is not required to comply with the landing requirements of 5 AAC 28.581 until the season is closed again.

(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

(e) During a state waters season,

(1) the guideline harvest level for Pacific cod in the South Alaska Peninsula Area is 15 percent of the estimated total allowable harvest of Pacific cod for the federal Western Gulf of Alaska Area;

(2) if the guideline harvest level specified in (1) of this subsection is reached, in any calendar year the guideline harvest level will be increased beginning the next calendar year to 20 percent of the estimated total allowable harvest of Pacific cod for the federal Western Gulf of Alaska Area; if the 20 percent guideline harvest level is reached in any calendar year after it has been implemented, the guideline harvest level will be increased beginning the next calendar year to 25 percent of the estimated total allowable harvest of Pacific cod for the federal Western Gulf of Alaska Area; however, notwithstanding increases in guideline harvest levels authorized by this paragraph, an increase in the guideline harvest level does not apply for the 1998 fishery;

(3) Pacific cod may be taken only with groundfish pots, mechanical jigging machines, and hand troll gear, as follows:

(A) except as provided in (E) of this paragraph, 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 only with 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 Kodiak, or other locations specified by the department for validation, and that registration has been validated by the department;

(D) a vessel registered to take Pacific cod may not be longer than 58 feet in overall length; in this subparagraph, "overall length" means the straight line length between the extremities of the vessel excluding anchor rollers;

(E) during the seven days immediately following the opening of the state waters season, an operator of a vessel registered to fish for Pacific cod may store or transport groundfish pots in excess of the pot limit established in (A) of this paragraph if the pots are

(i) stored in waters not more than 25 fathoms deep as specified in 5 AAC 28.571(a) ; or

(ii) are being transported on board the vessel and are not marked with identification tags.

(f) The South Alaska Peninsula 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 season. When the commissioner acts under this subsection, to increase the harvest rate in an attempt to reach the guideline harvest level, the commissioner:

(1) shall remove limits on the number of groundfish pots and mechanical jigging machines that may be operated from a vessel;

(2) if needed, in addition to (1) of this subsection, may designate the South Alaska Peninsula Area as a nonexclusive registration area for Pacific cod; or

(3) if needed, in addition to (1) and (2) of this subsection, may allow a vessel of any size to register to fish for Pacific cod in the South Alaska Peninsula Area.

(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 28.581 until the season is closed again.

History: Eff. 4/4/97, Register 142; am 11/27/97, Register 144; am 5/31/98, Register 146; am 7/21/99, Register 151; am 5/31/2001, Register 158; am 5/15/2004, Register 170

Authority: AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251

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