Opinion ID: 1418766
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the individual cases

Text: A. In No. 2295, defendant Bundrant was charged in superior court with seven counts of possession of migratory shellfish near St. Paul Island (within the three-mile limit) on various dates in October, 1973, which shellfish were taken upon the high seas and the Bering Sea shellfish area during a closed period under fish and game board regulations. The statutory reference in the complaint is to AS 16.10.200, which reads: It is unlawful for a person taking migratory fish and migratory shellfish in high sea areas designated by the board or in violation of the rules and regulations promulgated by the board governing the taking of migratory fish and migratory shellfish in the designated areas to possess, sell, offer to sell, barter, offer to barter, give or transport in the state, including the waters of the state, migratory fish or migratory shellfish. Bundrant moved to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, asserting the invalidity of the Board's regulations. The motion was denied on March 27, 1974, but on September 10, after the federal court in Hjelle had enjoined enforcement of 5 AAC 36.040, the trial judge reconsidered and granted the motion to dismiss. Bundrant is a legal resident of Washington state and is not a resident of Alaska. [6] He held commercial fishing licenses in Alaska in 1965-70 and in 1973. His vessel, the F.V. Billikin, was registered in Alaska along with its gear. During the 1973 season he had fished within the three-mile limit (although during the period of the violations, October 6-20, 1973, he fished only outside the three-mile zone). He had anchored and processed crabs within the zone every night during this period. He maintained in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, a warehouse for use in processing his catch. He received fuel, food, water, repairs, and emergency aid from Alaskans, and used fisheries data from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. B. In No. 2435, the defendants Uri, et al., were charged with numerous counts of possession of king crab on several dates between June 30, 1974, and July 24, 1974, within a closed area; with possession of crab pots in a closed area; and with having taken crab in a closed area. These activities all took place from 16 to 60 miles from the Alaska coast. (Actually only one defendant, Perovich, is charged with fishing before July 1, the original opening date for the area.) The statutory references in the complaints are to AS 16.05.920 (unlawful possession), AS 16.10.200 (unlawful taking), 5 AAC 34.900, 5 AAC 34.910, 5 AAC 34.098, and 5 AAC 34.090(c). With the exception of Emil Vinberg, all of the defendants in this group are residents of states other than Alaska. The conduct cited here as criminal all took place outside the three-mile limit (in distinction to Bundrant, who is charged with possession within territorial waters of shellfish illegally taken outside of it). The state offered proof that after setting their pots outside the three-mile limit, the defendants returned to territorial waters. Although the Uri record has no stipulations like those in Bundrant regarding ongoing contacts with Alaska while operating in the Bering Sea, there was testimony in Uri to the effect that American crabbers in the Bering Sea always use processing facilities in Alaskan ports because the fragility of king crab rules out travel to more distant ports. The Uri defendants moved to dismiss on a number of grounds, including lack of jurisdiction, the unconstitutional vagueness of the regulations, and the illegality of the search of defendants' crab pots. The motion was granted by the trial judge, who adopted the defendants' argument that these regulations had intruded upon and were in conflict with an area of exclusive federal jurisdiction established by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and were consequently prohibited by Article VI of the Constitution of the United States. C. In No. 2444, defendant Kaldestad was charged with four counts, the first three of which are identical to the charges against the Uri defendants. The fourth count, however, charged possession within the three-mile limit of shellfish taken illegally outside of it (this being basically the same charge as that made against Bundrant, the distinction being that Bundrant was charged under the old regulations while Kaldestad was charged under the emergency regulations). The statutory references in the fourth count of the complaint are to AS 16.10.200, [7] 5 AAC 34.910, 5 AAC 34.098, and 5 AAC 34.090(c). Kaldestad's case was handled below together with the Uri cases, and trial court's dismissal applied to it as well. In his memorandum, the judge noted that these cases do not involve the state's jurisdiction to enact and enforce so-called `landing laws.' The charges in these cases specifically relate to conduct wholly occurring outside of Alaska's territorial waters. Somehow, the fourth count against Kaldestad escaped the judge's attention. In summary, the Uri defendants are charged with wholly extra-territorial activity prohibited by the emergency regulations. Bundrant is charged with possession in the state's waters of shellfish taken outside it in contravention of the old regulations. Kaldestad is charged with both prohibited extra-territorial activity and with possession in the state's waters of shellfish taken outside of it in contravention of the emergency regulations. Of all the defendants, only Emil Vinberg, of the Uri group, appears on the record to be an Alaskan citizen.