Section 5 AAC 28.467 - Kodiak Area Pacific Cod Management Plan(a) The management plan in this section governs the harvest of Pacific cod in the Kodiak Area.(b) Each year the commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, a parallel season in the Kodiak Area during which use of the gear allowed in the federal season for Pacific cod in the Central Gulf of Alaska Area is permitted, unless that gear is prohibited under 5 AAC 28.050, 5 AAC 28.430, or 5 AAC 28.450.(c) Each year the commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, a state-waters season in the Kodiak Area for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear and for pot gear, as follows: (1) when a state-waters season for Pacific cod is opened for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear or pot gear, the parallel season for the applicable gear type is closed; the fishing season for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear or pot gear will close when the applicable gear type takes 50 percent of the annual Kodiak Area guideline harvest level;(2) the fishing season for vessels longer than 58 feet in overall length fishing with pot gear will close when 25 percent of the guideline harvest level has been taken by those vessels or December 31, whichever occurs first, unless the pot gear season has already been closed because pot gear has already taken 50 percent of the Kodiak Area guideline harvest level; the restrictions under this paragraph do not apply to a season reopened under (f) of this section.(d) The seasons for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear are as follows: (1) the state-waters season shall open January 1 and shall close when the mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear allocation is taken;(2) the parallel season that coincides with the federal Central Gulf of Alaska jig "A" season shall open 48 hours after the closure of the mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear state-waters season;(3) the parallel season that coincides with the federal Central Gulf of Alaska jig gear "B" season shall open June 10 or later based on inseason assessment of effort, harvest rate, or remaining Pacific cod guideline harvest level;(4) the state-waters season shall reopen 48 hours after the closure of the federal Central Gulf of Alaska jig gear "B" season if the mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear allocation has not been taken.(e) The seasons for pot gear are as follows: (1) the state-waters season shall open seven days following the closure of the federal Central Gulf of Alaska pot gear "A" season;(2) the state-waters season shall close when the pot gear allocation is taken or August 28, whichever occurs first;(3) the parallel season that coincides with the federal Central Gulf of Alaska pot gear "B" season shall open on September 1.(f) If during a state-waters season (1) less than 10.2 percent of the mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear guideline harvest level allocation has been taken through March 25, the commissioner shall reopen a state-waters season at 12:00 p.m. on April 1 and allow 50 percent of the remaining jig gear allocation, as of March 25, to be harvested by vessels using pot or jig gear; the state-waters season reopened under this paragraph for vessels using pot gear will close when 50 percent of the remaining jig gear allocation as of March 25 has been taken by vessels using pot gear or August 28, whichever occurs first;(2) the state-waters season guideline harvest level is not taken by the conclusion of the federal Central Gulf of Alaska pot gear "B" season, the commissioner may reopen a state-waters season during which all legal gear may be used, and shall close, by emergency order, the season on December 31 or when the guideline harvest level is achieved, whichever occurs first.(g) The commissioner may open and close, by emergency order, fishing seasons at times other than those specified in this management plan if the commissioner determines it is necessary to (1) adapt to unanticipated openings and closures of the federal season;(2) maintain sustained yield management; or(3) provide for orderly fisheries.(h) During a state-waters season, (1) the guideline harvest level for Pacific cod in the Kodiak Area is 12.5 percent of the estimated total allowable harvest of Pacific cod for the federal Central Gulf of Alaska Area;(2) Pacific cod may be taken only with groundfish pots, mechanical jigging machines, and hand troll gear, as follows: (A) except as provided in (j) of this section, no more than 60 groundfish pots may be operated from a vessel registered to fish for Pacific cod;(B) no more than six mechanical jigging machines may be operated from a vessel registered to fish for Pacific cod;(C) in addition to the requirements of 5 AAC 28.020, a vessel must be registered to fish with pot gear or with mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear (jig gear), and may not simultaneously be registered to fish with more than one gear type; a vessel's gear registration may be changed during a state-waters season to a different gear registration if the owner, or the owner's agent, submits a written request for a change in registration by mail, facsimile, or in person, to the department office in Kodiak, or other locations specified by the department, for validation, and that registration has been validated by the department;(D) during the seven days following the opening of the state-waters season, an operator of a vessel registered to fish for Pacific cod may store or transport groundfish pots in excess of the pot limit established in (A) of this paragraph if the pots are (i) stored in waters not more than 25 fathoms deep as described in 5 AAC 28.432(a); or(ii) being transported on board the vessel and are not marked with identification tags.(i) The Kodiak Area is an exclusive registration area for Pacific cod during a state-waters season.(j) If at any time after September 1 the commissioner determines that the guideline harvest level for Pacific cod will not be achieved by December 31, the commissioner may close, by emergency order, the fishing season and immediately reopen a state-waters season during which the following shall be implemented to increase the harvest rate in an attempt to reach the guideline harvest level: (1) removal of the limits on the number of groundfish pots and mechanical jigging machines that may be operated from a vessel;(2) after October 30, if needed, designation of the Kodiak Area as a nonexclusive registration area for Pacific cod.(k) If the season is closed and immediately reopened under (j) of this section, a vessel participating in the state-waters season when it was closed will not be required to comply with the landing requirements of 5 AAC 28.471 until the season is closed again.(l) If a state-waters season and federal season for Pacific cod are opened concurrently for the same gear type, (1) a vessel may not participate in a state-waters season and any other Pacific cod season at the same time;(2) a vessel's registration for the state-waters season in the Kodiak Area must be invalidated before that vessel may participate in any other Pacific cod season;(3) registration for a state-waters season may only occur in person or by facsimile from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on a working day at a department office designated by the department; and(4) all groundfish on board a vessel must be landed before that vessel may have the vessel's registration invalidated or be registered for a state-waters season for Pacific cod in the Kodiak Area.(m) If a state-waters season and federal season for Pacific cod are open concurrently for different gear types, a vessel may not participate in a state-waters season and any other Pacific cod season at the same time.Eff. 4/4/97, Register 142; am 11/27/97, Register 144; am 7/21/99, Register 151; em am 11/24/99 - 2/29/2000, Register 152; am 7/5/2000, Register 155; am 5/31/2001, Register 158; am 3/31/2002, Register 161; am 4/20/2012, Register 202; am 2/23/2014, Register 209, April 2014; am 6/5/2020, Register 234, July 2020; am 4/21/2024, Register 250, July 2024The department's office in Kodiak is located at 351 Research Court, Kodiak, Alaska 99615-7400; Telephone: (907) 486-1825; Fax: (907) 486-1841.
Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251