Section 5 AAC 28.537 - Chignik Area Pacific Cod Management Plan(a) The management plan in this section governs the harvest of Pacific cod in the Chignik Area.(b) Each year the commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, a parallel season in the Chignik Area corresponding to the federal Central Gulf of Alaska Area and the federal Western Gulf of Alaska Area, during which use of the gear allowed in the federal seasons for Pacific cod is permitted, unless that gear is prohibited under 5 AAC 28.050 or 5 AAC 28.530. A person may not operate a vessel in a parallel season for Pacific cod that is more than 58 feet in overall length.(c) Each year the commissioner shall open and close, by emergency order, a state-waters season in the Chignik Area for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear and for pot gear. For purposes of this section, when a state-waters season for Pacific cod is opened to mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear or pot gear, the parallel season for the applicable gear type is closed. During a state-waters season, (1) mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear is allocated 10 percent of the annual Chignik Area guideline harvest level; and(2) pot gear is allocated 90 percent of the annual Chignik Area guideline harvest level.(d) The seasons for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear are as follows: (1) the state-waters season shall open on March 15;(2) the state-waters season for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear shall close when the mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear allocation is taken or on December 31, whichever occurs first; if the allocation is not taken by June 8, the commissioner shall close the state-waters season for mechanical jigging machine and hand troll gear on June 8 or later based on in season assessment of effort, harvest rate, or remaining Pacific cod guideline harvest level;(3) the parallel season that coincides with the federal Central Gulf of Alaska jig gear "B" season shall open on June 10 or later based on in season assessment of effort, harvest rate, or remaining Pacific cod guideline harvest level;(e) The seasons for pot gear are as follows: (1) the parallel season for pot gear shall close when the federal Central Gulf of Alaska pot gear "A" season is closed; the state-waters season shall open March 1 or seven days after the closure of the parallel season for pot gear, whichever is later;(2) the state-waters season for pot gear shall close when the pot gear allocation is taken or on December 31, whichever occurs first;(3) the parallel season that coincides with the federal Central Gulf of Alaska pot gear "B" season shall open 48 hours after the guideline harvest level is achieved or on October 30, whichever occurs first.(f) If the state-waters season guideline harvest level is not taken (1) August 14, the commissioner may close, by emergency order, the state-waters season for pot gear and immediately reopen a state-waters season during which all legal gear may be used, and shall close, by emergency order, the season on October 30 or when the guideline harvest level is achieved, whichever occurs first; or (2) 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 section 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 Chignik Area is 8.75 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 five 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 machines 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) a vessel registered to take Pacific cod may not be longer than 58 feet in overall length;(E) notwithstanding 5 AAC 28.532(a), during the seven days immediately 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 28.532(a); or(ii) being transported on board the vessel and are not marked with identification tags.(i) The Chignik Area is a super exclusive registration area for Pacific cod during a state-waters season.(j) If at any time after the dates set forth below 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 may be implemented to increase the harvest rate in an attempt to reach the guideline harvest level; (1) after August 14, if needed, removal of the limits on the number of groundfish nots and mechanical jigging machines that may be operated from a vessel;(2) after October 30, if needed, allow a vessel of any size to register and fish for Pacific cod in the Chignik Area.(k) If the season is closed and immediately reopened under (f)(1) or (j) of this section, a vessel participating in the state-waters season when it was closed is not required to comply with the requirements of 5 AAC 28.541 until the season is closed again.(l) If the allocation for mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear specified in (c) of this section is harvested in any calendar year, the allocation will be increased an additional five percent of the guideline harvest level beginning the next calendar year, and the pot gear allocation will be reduced by five percent accordingly. If the increased allocation for mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear is harvested in any calendar year thereafter, the allocation will again be increased an additional five percent beginning the next calendar year, until the allocation for mechanical jigging machines and hand troll gear reaches 25 percent of the guideline harvest level.(m) If a state-waters and federal Pacific cod season are open 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 Chignik Area must be invalidated before that vessel may participate in any other Pacific cod season;(3) registration for a state-waters season may occur only 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 state-waters season for Pacific cod in the Chignik Area.(n) If a state-waters season and federal season for Pacific cod are open concurrently for a different gear type, 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 5/31/98, Register 146; am 4/15/99, Register 150; am 7/21/99, Register 151; am 8/8/99, Register 151; am 3/17/2001, Register 157; am 5/31/2001, Register 158; am 1/3/2002, Register 161; am 3/31/2002, Register 161; am 3/6/2003, Register 165; am 3/13/2005, Register 173; am 5/1/2011, Register 198; am 4/20/2012, Register 202; am 2/23/2014, Register 209, April 2014; am 2/28/2016, Register 217, April 2016; am 2/21/2019,Register 229, April 2019; am 9/19/2019,Register 231, August 2019Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251