Title 5 . Fish and Game

Chapter 47 . Personal Use Fishery

Section 35. Methods, means, and general provisions - Shellfish

5 AAC 47.035. Methods, means, and general provisions - Shellfish

(a) Unless otherwise provided in 5 AAC 47.021 or by emergency order issued under AS 16.05.060 , the provisions in this section apply to shellfish sport fishing in the Southeast Alaska Area.

(b) Shellfish may be taken only as follows:

(1) shrimp may be taken by pots and ring nets;

(2) crab may be taken by pots, ring nets, diving gear, dip nets, and hooked or hookless hand lines;

(3) clams may be taken by rakes, shovels, or manually operated clam guns;

(4) abalone may be taken by abalone irons, diving gear, or by hand, except that a diver using a compressed air system, such as scuba or hookah, may not take abalone;

(5) scallops may be taken by diving gear, dip nets, or by hand.

(c) No more than four pots, other than shrimp pots, per person with a maximum of 10 pots, other than shrimp pots, per vessel may be used in the taking of shellfish other than shrimp at any time, except that no more than four pots per vessel may be used to take Tanner crab. No more than 10 additional shrimp pots per person with a maximum of 20 additional shrimp pots per vessel may be used in the taking of shrimp at any time.

(d) Pot gear must include an escape mechanism in accordance with the following provisions:

(1) repealed 8/14/2005;

(2) repealed 8/14/2005;

(3) a crab pot used to take Dungeness crab under this chapter must have at least two escape rings that each are not less than four and three-eighths inches, inside diameter; the escape rings must be located on opposite sides of the pot and the upper half of the vertical plane of the pot.

(e) The pot limits for shellfish in this chapter are not in addition to those allowed under subsistence fishing regulations contained in 5 AAC 02, nor to those allowed under personal use fishing regulations contained in 5 AAC 77.

(f) A sport fisherman using pots to take shellfish shall plainly and legibly inscribe the fisherman's first initial, last name, and home address on a keg or buoy attached to each pot. A keg or buoy attached to a pot must also be inscribed with the name or the division of motor vehicles boat registration number, issued under 2 AAC 70, of the vessel used to operate the pot.

(g) Until a crab has been processed or prepared for human consumption, a person may not mutilate or otherwise disfigure it in any manner that would prevent the determination of whether it meets the minimum size limit.

(h) The bag and possession limits in this chapter are not in addition to those allowed under subsistence fishing regulations contained in 5 AAC 02, nor to those allowed under personal use fishing regulations contained in 5 AAC 77.

(i) Male Tanner crab less than the minimum legal size and female Tanner crab that have been taken must be immediately returned unharmed to the sea.

(j) A person may not utilize a live holding facility to accumulate or pool multiple bag limits.

(k) A pot used to take shrimp under this chapter must have

(1) no more than four tunnel eye openings; no tunnel eye opening may exceed 15 inches in perimeter;

(2) a bottom perimeter of no more than 153 inches; and

(3) a volume of no more than 25 cubic feet.

( l ) Male Dungeness crab less than the minimum legal size and female Dungeness crab that have been taken must be immediately returned unharmed to the sea.

(m) A person may not disturb, tamper with, or retrieve another person's pot gear without prior permission of the owner of that pot gear.

History: Eff. 4/15/94, Register 130; am 8/16/97, Register 143; am 8/8/99, Register 151; am 5/25/2000, Register 154; am 6/1/2003, Register 166; am 7/18/2003, Register 167; am 12/1/2004, Register 172; am 8/14/2005, Register 175

Authority: AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251