5 AAC 39.670. Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Crab Fisheries Management Plan

(a) This management plan applies to the management of the seven crab fisheries rationalized by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), including the Community Development Quota and the Adak community allocation, with management authority delegated to the Department of Fish and Game as referenced in the Fishery Management Plan for Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands King and Tanner Crabs.

(b) The following fisheries are covered under the management plan in this section:

(1) Bristol Bay red king crab;

(2) Aleutian Islands red king crab (west of 179УИ W. long.);

(3) Aleutian Islands golden king crab;

(4) Saint Matthew Island Section blue king crab;

(5) Pribilof District red and blue king crab;

(6) Bering Sea C. opilio Tanner crab; and

(7) Bering Sea C. bairdi Tanner crab.

(1) a vessel participating in an Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ), Community Development Quota (CDQ), or the Adak community allocation crab fishery must have on board the vessel an activated vessel monitoring system (VMS) approved by NMFS;

(2) for the purposes of this section, a crab fishery cooperative is a cooperative approved by NMFS by August 1 of each year preceding the fishing season; during a crab fishery cooperative,

(A) the manager of a cooperative must register the vessel or vessels operating for the cooperative with the department before the cooperative begins fishing;

(B) a vessel may participate in more than one crab fishery cooperative at a time;

(C) the total number of crab pots deployed by the members of a cooperative may not exceed the sum of the crab pot limits of all vessels participating in the cooperative;

(3) each crab pot deployed must bear the ADF&G number of the vessel that registers the crab pot, and if in a fishery with a crab pot limit, the pot must bear a buoy tag registered to the vessel registering that pot; in addition,

(A) an active vessel may collectively operate and transport crab pot gear of another registered and active vessel;

(B) when a vessel transports and deploys crab pot gear to the fishing grounds for another vessel, the vessel registered with the crab pot gear must be active in the registration area where the crab pot gear is deployed within seven days of the initial deployment;

(D) a vessel's crab pot gear may not be deployed unless the vessel is actively participating in harvesting the species in the applicable area;

(E) for the purposes of this paragraph, a vessel is considered active in an area by becoming validly registered with the department and by VMS verification of the vessel in the registration area;

(4) a vessel participating in concurrent fisheries for Bristol Bay red king crab and C. bairdi Tanner crab may only use one species allocation of crab pot gear (pot limit); the participating vessel operator shall designate at the time of registration the quantity of pot gear registered and whether the crab pot gear is configured for red king crab or C. bairdi Tanner crab;

(5) a vessel participating in concurrent species fisheries for C. bairdi Tanner crab and C. opilio Tanner crab may only use one species allocation of crab pot gear (pot limit); the participating vessel operator shall designate at the time of registration the quantity of pot gear registered and whether the crab pot gear is configured for C. bairdi Tanner crab or C. opilia Tanner crab;

(6) a vessel operator may have a species of king or Tanner crab from an IFQ fishery and king crab from an Adak community allocation fishery or a species of king or Tanner crab from a CDQ fishery on board the vessel at the same time; a vessel operator may not have a species of king or Tanner crab from an IFQ fishery and a species of king or Tanner crab from a non-CDQ or non-IFQ fishery on board the vessel at the same time;

(7) an operator of a vessel participating in an IFQ, CDQ, or Adak community allocation crab fishery in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands area must notify the United States Coast Guard at least 24 hours before departing port when carrying crab pot gear;

(8) in addition to the registration requirements specified in 5 AAC 34 and 5 AAC 35, a vessel owner, or owner's agent, shall provide satisfactory proof of a current valid United States Coast Guard Commercial Fisheries Vessel Safety Decal before a registration certificate is issued;

(9) the operator of a vessel designated at the time of registration to operate the crab pot gear of another vessel shall be considered the agent of the vessel registered to operate the crab pot gear.

History: Eff. 8/14/2005, Register 175; am 8/28/2005, Register 175

Authority: AS 16.05.251

Editor's note: The contact phone number for the United States Coast Guard for Kodiak, Alaska is (907) 654-5588; Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska is (907) 581-6738; Anchorage, Alaska is (907) 229-8203; and Kenai, Alaska is (907) 398-6220.

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