Opinion ID: 1138725
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Common Use and Exclusive Right of Fishery

Text: The court's holding in Part A of the section entitled The Article VIII Clauses  History and Analysis is not altogether clear. I agree with the court to the extent that it holds that an intrastate geographical preference for the taking of wildlife violates sections 3 and 15 of article VIII of the Alaska Constitution. I reject any implication that all preferences, especially all subsistence preferences, would violate these sections. I do not believe that the court can find a violation of article VIII, section 17 without a full equal protection analysis. I do not join part A of the court's opinion, but I concur in its result. [2] Section 15 of article VIII provides that [n]o exclusive right or special privilege of fishery shall be created or authorized in the natural waters of the State. Alaska Const., art. VIII, § 15 (emphasis added). Section 4 of article VIII provides that the use of resources shall be subject to preferences among beneficial uses. On the surface, there appears to be some conflict between these provisions. To the greatest extent possible, we must interpret the provisions of Article VIII consistent with each other. See Abrams v. State, 534 P.2d 91, 95 (Alaska 1975). Section 4 clearly authorizes some preferences based upon uses. The court recognized a parallel exception to section 15 in Kenai Peninsula Fisherman's Cooperative Association, Inc. v. State, 628 P.2d 897 (Alaska 1981), where we wrote that section 15 was not meant to prohibit differential treatment of such diverse user groups as commercial, sports, and subsistence fishermen. 628 P.2d at 904. The Act distinguishes subsistence uses from commercial and sport uses in name only. As discussed above, its classification is in fact a fairly arbitrary one based upon residence. It is not the type of classification we have previously held permissible under section 15. We are left with the question whether geographical preferences are permissible under section 15. For the reasons given in the court's opinion, see supra pp. 6-8, I believe that reliance upon Hynes v. Grimes Packing Co., 337 U.S. 86, 69 S.Ct. 968, 93 L.Ed. 1231 (1949), which interpreted the federal statute upon which section 15 was based, is appropriate. In Hynes, the Court invalidated regulations prohibiting fishing off the shores of the Karluk Reservation. While I do not believe that Hynes is determinative since it involved an exclusive right to fish in a particular area and not a mere preference, 337 U.S. at 92, 69 S.Ct. at 973, section 15 proscribes special privilege[s] as well as exclusive rights. Like the court, I do not read Hynes as being based on the fact that the exclusive right was granted to Natives rather than some other group. Nor do I believe that Hynes can be distinguished by the ability of people to move to rural areas and thus qualify under the Act. See supra pp. 7-8 & n. 12. For these reasons, I agree with the court that geographical preferences for the taking of fish are not permissible under section 15. The Act thus violates section 15. Although section 15 is facially applicable only to fishing, I would have no difficulty finding a corresponding prohibition of geographical hunting preferences in the common use clause of article VIII, section 3. See supra p. 9.