Opinion ID: 1254971
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: was nash a constructive holder of a gear license?

Text: Nash's claim that he held a constructive gear license for the Cook Inlet drift gill net fishery arises out of facts occurring in the 1971 salmon season. In 1968, 1969, and 1970 Nash had crewed for his father in the Cook Inlet gill net fishery on the vessel Skimmer, which was owned by a cannery. In 1971 his father decided to fish elsewhere and Nash made arrangements with the cannery to fish the Skimmer in Cook Inlet. However, because Nash was then only 16 years old, the cannery required that the vessel and gear be licensed in the name of an adult. Nash persuaded George Goff to fish with him on the Skimmer, and Goff became the gear license holder for the vessel during the 1971 season. Goff fished for the first two weeks of the season on the Skimmer and then left. For the final week of the season Nash fished alone, making deliveries under the license which had been issued to Goff. Nash argues that since he sold fish as the captain of a vessel which was licensed during a portion of the 1971 season, he should be deemed a constructive holder of a gear license. Our recent decision in the second Apokedak case, Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission v. Apokedak, 680 P.2d 486 (Alaska, 1984), has made this argument untenable. Apokedak was a full partner in a fishing venture in which his partner was the named gear licensee. Apokedak claimed that he was eligible to apply for a limited entry permit as the holder of a gear license under AS 16.43.260(a). We rejected this contention, stating: In our view, the term `holders of gear licenses' can only be reasonably construed to refer to individual named licensees. As of the enactment of the Limited Entry Act in 1973, of which AS 16.43.260(a) is a part, a gear license was a personal license. Gear could not be fished except in the presence of the named licensee; and the gear license could not be transferred except to aleviate hardship due to the inability of the licensee to continue fishing. AS 16.05.670. When the legislature limited the right to apply for an entry permit `holders of gear licenses issued under AS 16.05.536-16.05.670 . ..', it meant the individuals who had been issued gear licenses under these statutory sections; not such individuals and their partners as well. Since Nash was not the individual named licensee, he was not a holder of a gear license and was thus not eligible to apply for the Cook Inlet gill net salmon fishery. [5] In conclusion, we AFFIRM the decision of the superior court.