Court Opinion

ID: 9786727
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:01:46.028201+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:47.918302
License: Public Domain

MATTHEWS, Justice,
concurring.
This concurring opinion concerns an issue that has not been properly raised and therefore is waived. I write separately because the issue may be important when other winter fisheries are made subject to limited entry.
Geoduck fishing seasons run from October through May.1 But the CFEC measures past participation on a calendar rather than a seasonal year. This measurement can seriously distort the extent of a fisherman's past participation. A fisherman who has harvest, ed geoduck for two seasons may have done so in one calendar year. Likewise, a fisherman who has participated in only one season may have done so in two calendar years. Since the objective mandated by statute is to measure the extent of a fisherman's past participation,2 it seems apparent that some*468thing is wrong with a system that awards a one-season fisherman more points than a two-season fisherman.
But that is what has happened to Wilber. He fished in two seasons, 1994-95 and 1995-96. His 1994-95 season participation occurred in January 1995 when he harvested 1,849 pounds in Symonds Bay. In the 1995-96 season, he fished in two openings, one in October near Craig where he harvested 1,842 pounds, and one in January in Symonds Bay where he harvested 1,483 pounds. Looking at the top tier harvest thresholds established by the regulation,3 it is evident that Wilber is an industrious and effective fisherman. Yet Wilber received credit under the regulation for only one year of participation and received only ten points. By contrast, a fisherman who participated in only one season, that of 1994-95, landing say 1,000 pounds in October 1994 and 500 pounds in January 1995, would receive nineteen points and be eligible to receive a transferrable permit.
Under Alaska law, courts may review regulations to determine whether they are reasonable and not arbitrary.4 Successful challenges under this standard are usually process oriented. That is, courts find that the entity promulgating the regulation failed to consider some important factor. However, sometimes enactments are simply so unfair or so remotely related to reasonable objectives that they must be considered arbitrary and unreasonable on substantive grounds.5
I think a convincing case might be made that the regulation in question is arbitrary and unreasonable because it measures past participation on an annual rather than a seasonal basis. But this argument was not raised in the superior court and at best is only alluded to by Wilber in his briefs before this court. The issue therefore is waived.6 As to the arguments that are properly before this court, I agree with the opinion of the court.

. There are biological reasons for this: "Harvest for geoducks has been allowed from October 1 through May 31 to avoid the summer spawning and recovery period and to minimize paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin levels." Araska Commerciat FisuEriEs Entry Commission, SoutHEasT Araska Gropuc« Cram Dive Ratronate ror CFEC's Recutatory Decisions 7 (Dec. 28, 2000).
In recognition of these biological reasons geo-duck harvesting regulations define a registration year as starting on October 1 and ending on September 30. 5 Alaska Administrative Code (AAC) 38.146(b) (2007). All gear and vessels used to harvest geoducks must be registered and registration certificates must be kept on each vessel during harvesting. 5 AAC 38.020(c). Certificates are issued on the basis of the registration year-October 1 through September 30.

. AS 16.43.250(a)(2). While CFEC asserts that the language of this statute, which speaks of "the number of years of participation in the fishery," guided its decision to implement a calendar-year based participation system, "year" as used in the statute can readily mean "season." Indeed, CFEC has previously interpreted "year" as "season" in some winter fisheries. 20 AAC 05.693(a) (awarding past participation points in the Southeastern Alaska red and blue king crab pot fishery on a seasonal basis); 20 AAC 05.694(a) (award*468ing past participation points in the Southeastern Alaska brown king crab fishery on a seasonal basis); 20 AAC 05.695(a) (awarding past participation points in the Southeastern tanner crab pot fishery on a seasonal basis); see also 5 AAC 34.020(b) (king crab registration year is June 28 through June 27); 5 AAC 35.020(c) (tanner crab registration year is August 1 through July 31).

. See supra Op. at -.

. State v. Morry, 836 P.2d 358, 362-64 (Alaska 1992); Johns v. Commercial Fisheries Entry Comm'n, 758 P.2d 1256, 1261 (Alaska 1988).

. An example of a statute that operated so unfairly that it could not stand is the section of the workers' compensation act devising a formula for determining gross weekly earnings that was struck down in Gilmore v. Alaska Workers' Compensation Board, 882 P.2d 922 (Alaska 1994), superceded by statute, AS 23.30.220, as recognized in Dougan v. Aurora Electric, Inc., 50 P.3d 789, 796-97 (Alaska 2002). This section was struck down on equal protection grounds because it was needlessly unfair. Gilmore, 882 P.2d at 928-29. It seems clear that had it been a regulation rather than a statute, the section would also have failed to pass muster under the arbitrary and unreasonable standard.

. Powercorp Alaska, LLC v. State, Alaska Indus. Dev. & Exp. Auth., Alaska Energy Auth., 171 P.3d 159, 165 & n. 25 (Alaska 2007) (issues not briefed or raised in administrative appeal to superior court are waived).