Alaska Administrative Code › Title 5 - Fish and Game › Part 1 - Commercial and Subsistence Fishing and Private Nonprofit Salmon Hatcheries › Chapter 28 - Groundfish Fishery › Article 10 - Bering Sea - Aleutian Islands Area (Registration Area O) › 5 AAC 28.640 - Aleutian Islands District and Western District of the South Alaska Peninsula Area Sablefish Management Plan

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) The management
				  plan under this section governs the harvest of sablefish in the Aleutian
				  Islands District and the Western District of the South Alaska Peninsula Area
				  described in
				  5 AAC 28.555.
(b) The commercial fishing season for
				  sablefish in state waters will open and close concurrently with the federal IFQ
				  season for directed fishing for sablefish in the adjacent federal waters,
				  unless closed by emergency order. During a state-waters season, the combined
				  guideline harvest level for sablefish in the Aleutian Islands District and the
				  Western District of the South Alaska Peninsula is five percent of the federal
				  acceptable biological catch for sablefish in the combined federal Bering Sea
				  and Aleutian Islands Subareas.
(c)
				  Sablefish may be taken only with pots, longlines, mechanical jigging machines,
				  and hand troll gear. Pot gear may be longlined in the Aleutian Islands and
				  Western Districts.
(d) Before a
				  person uses a vessel to operate gear to take sablefish in the waters of the
				  Aleutian Islands District or the Western District, the vessel owner, the
				  owner's authorized agent, or the vessel operator shall validly register the
				  vessel with the department office in Dutch Harbor. A vessel that is registered
				  under this subsection shall be considered registered in the Aleutian Islands
				  District and the Western District.
(e) Notwithstanding
				  5 AAC 28.020(f), before departing from
				  the Aleutian Islands District and the Western District, the operator of a
				  vessel fishing for sablefish must notify a local representative of the
				  department to report the amount, by weight, of sablefish on board the vessel
				  and the location that the sablefish will be landed.
(f) Each processor of sablefish shall report
				  the amount, by weight, of sablefish received and processed to the department's
				  Dutch Harbor office each week or as otherwise directed by the
				  department.
(g) An operator of a
				  vessel fishing for sablefish in the Aleutian Islands District and the Western
				  District of the South Alaska Peninsula Area shall maintain an accurate logbook
				  of all fishing operations for each type of gear used. The following
				  requirements apply to a logbook under this subsection:
(1) a logbook must
(A) include the date, specific locations of
				  harvest by latitude and longitude, type and number of gear, average depth, and
				  hours fished for each set of
(B)
				  include the round weight of sablefish retained and discarded;
(C) be updated not later than 11:59 p.m.
				  local time on the day after the day of operation;
(D) be retained, with its original pages, for
				  a period of two years by the owner or operator of the vessel;
(E) be kept on board the vessel while
				  operating gear, during transits to or from a port of landing, and for 14 days
				  after landing sablefish;
(F) be
				  made available to a local representative of the department upon
				  request;