Title 5 . Fish and Game

Chapter 39 . Transportation, Possession and Release of Live Fish; Aquatic Farming

Section 130. Reports required of processors, buyers, fishermen, and operators of certain commercial fishing vessels; transporting requirements

5 AAC 39.130. Reports required of processors, buyers, fishermen, and operators of certain commercial fishing vessels; transporting requirements

(a) A person, company, firm, or other organization who is the first purchaser of raw fish, or who catches and processes fish or byproducts of fish, or who catches and has fish or byproducts of fish processed by another person or company, shall

(1) furnish to the department each calendar year before operating, a completed Intent to Operate registration form, available from the department; a person, company, firm, or other organization described in this subsection may begin to operate only after receiving authorization from the department and only after receiving fish tickets from the department: forms will not be processed and fish tickets will not be issued without certification that surety bonds as required by AS 16.10.290 - 16.10.296 have been posted with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development and that a valid Alaska Business License or Fisheries Business License has been issued by the Department of Revenue;

(2) submit, no later than April 1, an operator's accurate and complete summary of activity for each Intent to Operate form filed for the previous year or a signed statement of nonactivity on forms available from the department;

(3) furnish, verbally or in writing, purchasing or production records as requested by the department or its representative.

(b) A catcher/seller must complete a registration form available from the department each calendar year and may begin to operate only after receiving authorization from the department and only after receiving fish tickets from the department.

(c) Each buyer of raw fish, each fisherman selling to a buyer not licensed to process fish (a catcher/seller), and each person or company who catches and processes his or her own catch or has that catch processed by another person or company shall record each landing on an ADF&G fish ticket. A catcher/seller must complete an ADF&G form in order to obtain fish tickets. Fish tickets must be submitted to a local representative of the department within seven days after landing, or as otherwise specified by the department for each particular area and fishery. The operator of a fishing vessel whose port of landing is outside Alaska, or who sells, transfers, or delivers fish in a Seaward Biological Influence Zone, shall submit a completed ADF&G fish ticket, or an equivalent document containing all of the information required on an ADF&G fish ticket, to the department before the fish are transported out of the jurisdiction of the state. The record must include the following:

(1) the name of the individual or company buying the fish, the processor code assigned to each buyer by the department, and the signature of the buyer or his representative;

(2) the full name and signature of the permit holder;

(3) the name or the Coast Guard number of the vessel employed in taking the fish;

(4) the date of the landing of the fish;

(5) the permanent vessel license plate number or, for set gillnets and fish wheels, the fisherman's five-digit CFEC permit serial number;

(6) the type of gear by which the fish were taken;

(7) the nearest headland or bay or statistical catch area in which the fish were taken;

(8) information applicable to the following species:

(A) the number, pounds, and delivery condition code of salmon by species, and the pounds and delivery condition code of salmon roe by species;

(B) the number and pounds of king, Dungeness, and Tanner crab;

(C) the pounds of other fish or shellfish by species;

(9) the CFEC permit number of the operator of the unit of gear with which the fish were taken, imprinted on the fish ticket from the valid permit card at the time of delivery only; the imprinting requirement of this paragraph may be suspended by a local representative of the department after presentation by the fisherman of documentation from the department or CFEC that the permit card has been lost, transferred or destroyed; if the above suspension is granted, then the buyer or fisherman shall write the permit number on the fish ticket at the time of delivery only;

(10) other information the department may require.

(d) Each fisherman shall furnish to the buyer factual catch data necessary for completion of reports required by the department.

(e) Each shellfish fisherman shall furnish in writing to the department, directly or through the buyer, data necessary for reports required by the department.

(f) The following information regarding the transporting of unprocessed fish shall be transmitted to an authorized representative of the department either verbally, in writing, or by telephone:

(1) the number and species of salmon taken in any regulatory area shall be reported before being transported to any other area or out of the state;

(2) the numbers or pounds by species of all other fish shall be reported before being transported out of the state.

(g) Operators of floating fish processing vessels shall report in person, or by radio or telephone, to the local representative of the department located within the management area of intended operation before the start of processing operations. The report must include the initial processing location by district or subdistrict, the exact latitude and longitude of the location, and the date of intended operation. Before moving the operation and upon arriving at a new location, the operator shall notify the local department representative in person, or by radio or telephone, of the new location of operation by district or subdistrict and exact latitude and longitude of the location. The local representative of the department may waive all or part of the above requirements if he determines they are not necessary for the conservation or management of the fishery in that area.

(h) No person may possess a fish ticket that has been imprinted with a CFEC permit number until the time of delivery to the purchaser of the fish listed on the fish ticket.

(i) In the Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Area, a buyer or processor transporting salmon or salmon roe to the point of initial processing shall have in his or her possession, and display, upon request, to a peace officer of the state, a completed fish ticket, or a copy of it, for all salmon or salmon roe in the buyer's or processor's possession at the time. Such a buyer or processor, while transporting commercially caught salmon or salmon roe, may not possess or transport subsistence caught salmon or salmon roe.

(j) In addition to other requirements of this section, each person, as that term is defined in AS 01.10.060 , that is the first purchaser of or the first processes raw groundfish in state waters that were taken in a federal groundfish fishery shall comply with the recordkeeping and reporting requirements in 50 C.F.R. 679 (updated December 10, 1997).

(k) Before entering the waters of Alaska, an operator of an unlicensed commercial fishing vessel shall report by telephone, and shall leave a recorded report, at a telephone number designated by the department for that purpose or shall report by other means specified by the department. A report under this subsection must (1) identify the vessel and operator; (2) certify that no unprocessed fish are on board the vessel; (3) include the destination, travel route, and dates of transit; and, (4) if any processed fish are on board the vessel, include the quantity, species, and the location from which the fish were taken. The commissioner may, upon request by a local representative of the department, waive all or part of the requirements of this subsection if the commissioner determines that compliance with this subsection is not necessary for conservation, management, or enforcement in a designated geographical area. For the purposes of this subsection,

(1) "commercial fishing vessel" means a floating craft powered, towed, rowed, or otherwise propelled, which is used for or equipped to be used for

(A) commercial fishing;

(B) fish processing;

(C) fish transport; or

(D) fish storage, including temporary storage;

(2) "unlicensed" means not licensed under AS 16.05.490 - 16.05.530.

( l ) For purposes of this section, a "catcher/seller" is a person who sells or attempts to sell unprocessed fish, that were legally taken by the catcher/seller,

(1) to the general public for use for noncommercial purposes;

(2) for use as bait for commercial or noncommercial purposes; or

(3) to restaurants, grocery stores, and established fish markets.

(m) In addition to the requirements of this section, in Statistical Area A, the owner or operator of a facility or vessel that purchases unprocessed red sea urchins shall,

(1) within 30 days after the purchase, submit to the department a report indicating the pounds of red sea urchins purchased, the pounds of red sea urchin roe recovered, the price paid to the person who delivered the urchins, and the number of the ADF&G fish ticket prepared at the time of delivery;

(2) upon the request of an employee or representative of the department, report information regarding the dates, locations, and times of any delivering, transporting, unloading, or processing of red sea urchins.

(n) In Statistical Area A, a person shall obtain a transport permit from the department before transporting unprocessed red sea urchins from Statistical Area A. Before issuing a transport permit, a department employee or representative shall inspect the unprocessed urchins and the fish tickets, and take biological samples of the urchins. The department shall conduct the inspections and sampling in Ketchikan or at other locations specified by the department. A person shall request the inspections and sampling by contacting the department office in Ketchikan in person, by telephone, or by radio from 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday, excluding state holidays.

History: In effect before 1981; am 6/28/81, Register 78; am 4/16/83, Register 86; am 5/31/85, Register 94; am 7/23/88, Register 107; am 6/14/90, Register 115; am 7/26/90, Register 115; am 8/2/90, Register 115; am 5/2/92, Register 122; am 6/2/95, Register 134; am 6/2/96, Register 138; am 12/8/96, Register 140; am 5/31/98, Register 146; am 3/13/2004, Register 169

Authority: AS 16.05.251

AS 16.05.475

AS 16.05.690

AS 16.10.190

AS 16.10.200

AS 16.10.210

Editor's note: For purposes of 5 AAC 39.130(k) , the designated phone number to report to the department is (907) 247-ADFG (2334).

For purposes of 5 AAC 39.130(n) , the department's Ketchikan office telephone number is (907) 225-5195.

At its January 21 - 31, 1997 meeting, and in accordance with 5 AAC 39.210, the Board of Fisheries approved the commissioner of fish and game's adoption of 5 AAC 39.130(m) - (n), which took effect 12/8/96.

As of Register 151 (October 1999), the regulations attorney made technical revisions under AS 44.62.125 (b)(6) to reflect the name change of the Department of Labor to the Department of Labor and Workforce Development made by ch. 58, SLA 1999 and the corresponding title change of the commissioner of labor.