Alaska Administrative Code › Title 5 - Fish and Game › Part 1 - Commercial and Subsistence Fishing and Private Nonprofit Salmon Hatcheries › Chapter 27 - Herring Fishery › Article 6 - Prince William Sound Area (Registration Area E) › 5 AAC 27.334 - Harvest specifications and operations for the herring spawn-on-kelp pound fishery in Prince William Sound Area

Current through May 31, 2024
A permit issued by the commissioner is not required for the
					 harvest of spawn on kelp in pounds. However, a CFEC permit holder may not
					 participate in the spawn-on-kelp fishery in any year unless the permit holder
					 has registered with the department's Cordova office by March 15 of that year.
					 The permit holder may register by notifying the department's Cordova office in
					 writing by mail that is postmarked by March 15, or in person, or by telephone,
					 by 5:00 p.m. March 15. The following provisions apply to the herring
					 spawn-on-kelp pound fishery:
(1) after
				  fishing commences in a pound, no more than four persons may use that pound at
				  any time, except that if the department determines that the maximum number of
				  kelp blades that a person may maintain in a pound, established under (5) of
				  this section, will not be enough substrate for adequate spawn deposition to
				  produce a commercially valuable spawn-on-kelp product, based on kelp blade
				  density and the volume of the pound, the department may allow more than four
				  persons to use a pound at any time; if the department allows more than four
				  persons to use a pound under this paragraph, the department will provide public
				  notice of the number of persons allowed;
(2) if more than one person uses a pound,
				  from the time fishing commences in the pound until all herring spawn on kelp
				  has been removed from the pound, the pound may not contain more than the amount
				  of herring or kelp that all persons using the pound may, in the aggregate,
				  legally maintain in it; each person using the pound has a duty to ensure that
				  the pound does not, at any time, contain more than the legal amount of herring
				  or kelp;
(3) for a closed pound,
				  fishing commences when herring are introduced into the pound; once herring are
				  introduced into a closed pound, all herring must remain in the pound until the
				  department has authorized the release of the herring;
(4) for an open pound, fishing commences when
				  kelp is placed into the water within the pound; before operating an open pound,
				  a person must notify the department of that person's intent to operate an open
				  pound for the fishing season; once a person has notified the department of that
				  person's intent to operate an open pound under this paragraph, that person may
				  not use a closed pound during the remainder of that season;
(5) before each fishing season the
				  department, consistent with
				  5 AAC 27.365(d) (2), shall establish
				  the maximum amount of herring that a person may take and maintain in a pound,
				  and the maximum number of blades of kelp that a person may maintain in a pound
				  after fishing commences; the department shall provide public notice of that
				  amount and number; a person who notifies the department before April 1 of that
				  person's intent to operate an open pound shall receive an increase in the
				  maximum amount of kelp blades established in this paragraph that is calculated
				  on the basis of the wild spawn-on-kelp conversion factor described in
				  5 AAC 27.365(d) (1);
(6) a person may use a closed herring pound
				  only north and east of a line from Porcupine Point to Point Freemantle, unless
				  otherwise provided by emergency order; a person may use an open herring pound
				  throughout the Prince William Sound Area in areas established by emergency
				  order;
(7) notwithstanding
				  5 AAC 37.100 and
				  5 AAC 37.200, a person may take kelp for the herring
				  spawn-on-kelp pound fishery anywhere in the Prince William Sound Area unless
				  otherwise provided by emergency order;
(8) for the herring spawn-on-kelp pound
				  fishery, a person may take kelp by hand and may take the entire plant including
				  the stipe (stem) and holdfast;
(9)
				  before a person places kelp in a pound, the person must plainly and legibly
				  mark the person's name and five-digit CFEC permit number in characters that are
				  at least two inches high and one-half inch wide in a color that contrasts with
				  the pound background and that are mounted on the exterior of the pound and are
				  plainly visible and not obscured in any way;
(10) after fishing commences and until the
				  season closes, the CFEC permit number or numbers marked on a pound may not
				  change;
(11) before the
				  commencement of fishing, a person shall plainly and legibly mark all of that
				  person's lines of kelp blades with the person's name and shall indicate on each
				  line of kelp blades the number of blades attached to that line;
(12) at the time fishing commences, during
				  the capture and transfer of herring into the pound, and during the harvest of
				  herring spawn on kelp produced in the pound, a person using a closed pound must
				  be present at the pound, at a support shelter near the pound, or on a fishing
				  vessel while the vessel is being used to harvest herring or transfer herring to
				  the pound;
(13) a person using an
				  open pound must be present at the pound, or near the pound at a structure or on
				  a vessel used in support of the operation, when kelp is placed in the water and
				  during the harvest of herring spawn on kelp produced in the pound;
(14) a person using a closed pound shall
				  notify the department before dropping the webbing; after the webbing has been
				  dropped, the pound may only be used as an open pound during the remainder of
				  that season;
(15) a person may not
				  place herring in a pound after the fifth day following the day on which the
				  person first placed herring in the pound;
(16) a person may not hold herring in a pound
				  after the seventh day following the day on which the person first placed
				  herring into the pound;
(17)
				  herring that die during capture, transfer, or holding will be counted toward
				  the legal amount of herring that may be taken by the person who captured,
				  transferred, or held the herring;
(18) a person using a pound shall weigh the
				  spawn on kelp when the person removes spawn on kelp from the pound;
(19) if more than one person uses a pound, a
				  person removing spawn on kelp from the pound shall
(A) from the time spawn on kelp is removed
				  until it is processed, segregate that spawn on kelp from spawn on kelp that is
				  possessed by other persons using the pound;
(B) weigh the quantity of spawn on kelp that
				  is possessed by that person and provide the weight to a buyer for recording on
				  a fish ticket;