Alaska Board of Fisheries Releases Results from Statewide Finfish, Supplemental Issues, Subsistence Finding Standards and Chitina Dipnet Fishery

The Alaska Board of Fisheries has released results from the recent meeting in Anchorage on Statewide Finfish, Supplemental Issues, Subsistence Finding Standards, and the Chitina Dipnet Fishery. The meeting took place March 16 - 21, 2010 at the Hilton Hotel, Anchorage.

Results:

NA 164 Revise unlawful possession of subsistence finfish regulations.
NA 165 Delay opening personal use fishery until escapement goal is met.
F 166 Eliminate requirement of having a sport fishing license to fish in personal use fisheries.
C/A 167 Modify definition of mechanical jigging machine. (Amended to clarify lures or baited hooks could be used and that mechanical jigging machines may not be fished unattached to the vessel.)
F 168 Repeal the 58-foot length limit on salmon seine vessels in Alaska.
F 169 Amend criteria for the allocation of fishery resources.
NA 170 Clarify regulations establishing escapement goals.
NA 171 Clarify escapement goals and establish ranges.
C/A 172 Provide definition for escapement goal threshold. (Amended to provide specific regulatory language.)
C/A 173 Amend management plan for parallel groundfish fisheries. (Amended to provide specific regulatory language.)
F 174 Amend lawful gear for groundfish.
F 175 Establish statewide bag limit for sablefish.
C/A 176 Increase bag limit for spiny dogfish. (Amended to specify a bag and possession limit of five fish, with no annual limit.)
F 177 Establish statewide bag limit for thornyhead rockfish.
C 178 Clarify emergency order authority.
F 179 Clarify emergency order authority.
C/A 180 Define electric fishing reels. (Substitute language amended back to original language, it maximum of 15 pounds, not including attached power cord.)
NA 181 Clarify definition of fishing rod and electric reel.
F 182 Prohibit use of electric reels.
NA 183 Prohibit use of electric reels.
C/A 184 Prohibit use of felt sole wading boots. (Adopted with a statewide effective date of January 1, 2012)
C 185 Clarify definition of underwater spear.
NA 186 Allow the use of underwater spear.
F 187 Allow the use of bait by disabled anglers.
C 188 Modify sport fishing regulations for halibut.
NA 189 Require a client-guide agreement for each client on a sport fishing charter trip.
F 190 Allow crew members to retain fish when clients are onboard.
F 191 Define official time for sport fisheries.
F 192 Establish a definition of artificial fly.
C/A 195 Close summer commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Southeast Alaska District 2. (Set a season date from 12:00 noon October 1 through 11:59 p.m. February 28 for District 2.)
C 196 Adjust the total allowable catch for the Bering Sea C. opilio Tanner crab commercial fishery.
T 197 Reduce the minimum size limit for Tanner crab in the Bering Sea commercial fishery. (Tabled to March 2011 meeting.)
C 198 Remove the minimum total allowable catch in the Saint Matthew Island blue king crab fishery.
C 200 Adopt subsistence finding standards.
F 201 Find a customary and traditional use of salmon stocks in the Chitina Subdistrict of the Copper River and establish amounts necessary for subsistence.

Other actions:
The board denied a petition for emergency action on Slikok Creek Chinook salmon submitted by the Kenai Area Fisherman’s Association.
The board denied a request to hold a public hearing on Upper Cook Inlet Finfish proposals in October 2010 four months prior to the scheduled regulatory meeting.
The board approved a delegation of authority for regulation amendments to coordinate with federal fishery regulations and to correct an error in regulations that occurred after the 2005 King and Tanner crab meeting.
The board approved a draft letter to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (council) on pending actions related to Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) crab. The letter specifically addresses annual catch limits, rebuilding plans, and bycatch considerations.

The board scheduled a regulatory meeting for October 2011 to address Pacific cod fisheries in the Prince William Sound Area (Registration Area E), Cook Inlet Area (Registration Area H), Kodiak Area (Registration Area K), Chignik Area (Registration Area L), and South Alaska Peninsula Area (Registration Area M). Specific dates for the meeting are to be set during the October 2010 worksession in order to consider changes is state regulations in light of federal Gulf of Alaska sector splits. The board approved a draft call for proposals and set a proposal deadline of April 8, 2011. The board also decided to send a letter to the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association asking for an update on its cost recovery fishery.


C = Carried; C/A = Carried as amended; F = Failed; NA = No action; T = Tabled; T/A = Tabled as amended