Alaska Administrative Code › Title 5 - Fish and Game › Part 2 - Sport Fishing and Personal Use Fishery › Chapter 47 - Southeast Alaska Area › 5 AAC 47.090 - George Inlet superexclusive guided sport ecotourism Dungeness crab fishery

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) Notwithstanding
				the provisions of
				5 AAC 47.036, the waters of George Inlet north of the
				latitude of the southernmost tip of California Head, excluding the waters of
				Herring Cove, are open as a superexclusive registration area for Dungeness crab
				ecotourism fishing from April 15 through September 30, subject to the
				requirements of this section and chapter.
(b) During the calendar year of registration,
				a sport fishing operator or vessel registered for the George Inlet
				superexclusive guided sport ecotourism Dungeness crab fishery may not
				participate in any other Dungeness crab fishery or any other guided sport
				fishery. From April 15 through September 30, a sport fishing guide registered
				for the George Inlet superexclusive guided sport ecotourism Dungeness crab
				fishery may not participate in any other Dungeness crab fishery, or any other
				guided sport fishery as a guide or sport fishing operator, during times when
				the guide is validly registered for the superexclusive fishery. A sport fishing
				guide may participate in another Dungeness crab fishery, or guided sport
				fishery as a guide or sport fishing operator, after submitting a written
				notification to the commissioner to invalidate the guide's registration for the
				superexclusive fishery.
(c) A sport
				fishing operator or vessel owner may register for the George Inlet
				superexclusive guided sport ecotourism fishery after December 1 of the year
				before the year in which fishing will occur and before January 3 of the
				calendar year in which fishing will occur. The registration will be effective
				for the calendar year in which fishing will occur.
(d) Notwithstanding
				5 AAC 47.035(c), no more than six pots
				per registered sport fishing operator may be used and each pot may be lifted no
				more than three times per day. A pot lifted more than twice must be removed
				from the water on the third lifting and not returned to the water until the
				next calendar day. Pots may be set, but not pulled, by a separate designated
				support vessel that does not carry clients and is not otherwise used for
				fishing while designated as a support vessel. The department must be notified
				in writing of any support vessel designation before the support vessel is used
				to set pots. The vessel remains designated as a support vessel for the
				remainder of the calendar year unless the department is notified in writing
				that the designation is terminated.
(e) Notwithstanding
				5 AAC 47.035(f), the name and address
				of each sport fisherman using the gear is not required to be inscribed on a keg
				or buoy. However, the vessel's name, the responsible sport fishing guide's name
				and address, and all other information required by
				5 AAC 47.035(f) is required. The guide
				whose name is listed on the pot, and the person pulling or setting the pot, are
				responsible for any violations.
(f)
				Except for one legal size Dungeness crab, all crab taken must be returned to
				the water unharmed immediately after being brought on board a vessel or after
				being removed from a pot. All by catch must be immediately removed from the pot
				and released to the water unharmed. One legal size male Dungeness crab per trip
				may be temporarily retained at the location of harvest for educational
				purposes, but must be released to the water unharmed before leaving the
				location of harvest.
(g) No bait
				may be added to a pot unless all crab are first removed from the pot and
				released.
(h) No more than four
				crab may be left in a pot if a pot is returned to the water.
(i) The commissioner may close the fishery by
				emergency order, or close and immediately reopen the fishery with additional
				conditions by emergency order, if the commissioner determines that a closure or
				additional conditions are reasonably necessary for the protection of the
				resource. The commissioner shall close, by emergency order, the guided sport
				ecotourism Dungeness crab fishery if the personal use Dungeness crab fishery in
				the area is closed. The commissioner may reduce the number of allowable pots or
				the number of allowable lifts, or both, if more than one sport fishing operator
				registers for the George Inlet superexclusive guided sport ecotourism Dungeness
				crab fishery.
(j) Repealed
				5/9/2015.
(k) Nothing in this
				section is intended to prohibit any form of guided sport fishing, otherwise
				permissible in George Inlet under applicable regulations, by a guided sport
				operator, sport fishing guide, or vessel not registered for the George Inlet
				superexclusive guided sport ecotourism Dungeness crab fishery.
(l) Notwithstanding
				5 AAC 75.076(a), a guide conducting a
				guided sport ecotourism fishery under this section shall obtain and complete a
				guided sport ecotourism fishing logbook available from the department. Each
				week, the guided sport ecotourism fishing logbook for that week must be
				available on board the vessel at all times and for inspection upon request by a
				local representative of the department or a peace officer of the state. Within
				seven days after the end of each weekly reporting period, a sport fishing
				operator must submit all ecotourism logbooks for that week to the department's
				Ketchikan office.
(m) The
				commissioner may, by emergency order, require any additional recordkeeping or
				reporting by ecotourism operators or guides that the commissioner determines
				will be necessary for management or enforcement purposes.
(n) Repealed 7/29/2009.
(o) In this section, "sport fishing operator"
				means an owner of a business that conducts sport fishing services.
The guided sport ecotourism logbook required in 5 AAC 47.090 is available from, and must be submitted to, the Department of Fish and
					 Game's office in Ketchikan at 2030 Sea Level Drive, Suite 205, Ketchikan, AK
					 99901.
Authority:
AS
					 16.05.060
AS
					 16.05.251