Title 5 . Fish and Game

Chapter 35 . Transportation, Possession and Release of Live Fish; Aquatic Farming

Section 556. Landing requirements for Registration Area J

5 AAC 35.556. Landing requirements for Registration Area J

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, the landing provisions of 5 AAC 35.031 apply to all districts within Registration Area J.

(b) The landing provisions of 5 AAC 35.031(c) (2) do not apply to the Bering Sea, Western Aleutian, and Eastern Aleutian Districts of Area J.

(c) Notwithstanding 5 AAC 35.031(c) , following the closure of Registration Area J, or a portion of Registration Area J, to the taking of a specified species of Tanner crab, a vessel validly registered for that area may not have that species of Tanner crab on board the vessel in waters subject to the jurisdiction of the state, if delivery is made

(1) in the district or subdistrict that the Tanner crab were taken, or to a floating processor at St. Matthew or the Pribilof Islands if the Tanner crab were taken in the Western Subdistrict of the Bering Sea, after 24 hours following the closure;

(2) to Dutch Harbor, Akutan, or King Cove from the

(A) Eastern Aleutian District, after 24 hours following the closure;

(B) Western Aleutian District, after 72 hours following the closure, except that the owner, or the owner's agent, of a vessel delivering to King Cove may request additional time to deliver Tanner crab using the procedure specified in (3) of this subsection;

(C) Eastern Subdistrict of the Bering Sea District, after 24 hours following the closure, except that a owner, or the owner's agent, of a vessel delivering to King Cove may request additional time to deliver Tanner crab using the procedure specified in (3) of this subsection;

(D) Western Subdistrict of the Bering Sea District, after 72 hours following the closure;

(3) to Adak or a location east of King Cove, or if the vessel owner, or the owner's agent, wishes to request additional time to deliver Tanner crab under (c)(2)(B) or (c)(2)(C) of this section,

(A) the vessel owner, or the owner's agent, shall contact, by radio or telephone, a representative of the department in Dutch Harbor within 24 hours after the closure;

(B) the representative of the department in Dutch Harbor shall grant a reasonable amount of additional time for the vessel to reach the port of delivery; the amount of additional time shall be determined under the assumption that the vessel departed the fishing grounds immediately after the closure and proceeded directly to the processing location, except that a vessel may stop en route and offload pots at a storage facility if the vessel operator first contacts a representative of the department in Dutch Harbor and provides information on the location of the storage facility, the expected time of gear placement at that facility, and the expected time the vessel will depart the storage facility en route to the port of delivery.

(d) In the Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula Districts, or a section of those districts, when the Tanner crab fishery is closed and gear has been stored as specified in 5 AAC 35.527(6) , a vessel with Tanner crab on board may not be used for any purpose, except to travel to the port of delivery to offload the Tanner crab. The vessel operator may not pull any gear, baited or stored, or place any gear in storage. Once the Tanner crab on board the vessel has been off-loaded to the port of delivery, the vessel operator shall immediately remove any pot gear remaining on the fishing grounds and return any crab caught to the water without further harm. All pot gear must be placed in storage or on board the vessel within three days following the closure of a section or district.

History: Eff. 9/29/96, Register 139; am 8/24/2002, Register 163

Authority: AS 16.05.251