Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 1 - Commercial and Subsistence Fishing and Private Nonprofit Salmon Hatcheries
Chapter 38 - Miscellaneous Shellfish Fishery
Article 2 - General Specifications and Restrictions
5 AAC 38.076 - Alaska Scallop Fishery Management Plan

Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 38.076

Current through August 30, 2024

(a) The requirements of the management plan contained in this section apply to vessels commercially fishing for scallops.

(b) The following scallop registration areas are established:

(1) Scallop Registration Area A (Southeastern Alaska) is Registration Area A, described in 5 AAC 38.100, except for all waters of District 16 as described in 5 AAC 31.105(p);

(2) Scallop Registration Area D (Yakutat) is Registration Area D, described in 5 AAC 38.160, and all waters of District 16 as described in 5 AAC 31.105(p);

(3) Scallop Registration Area E (Prince William Sound) is Registration Area E, described in 5 AAC 38.200;

(4) Scallop Registration Area H (Cook Inlet) is Registration Area H, described in 5 AAC 38.300;

(5) Scallop Registration Area K (Kodiak) is Registration Area K, described in 5 AAC 34.400;

(6) Scallop Registration Area M (Alaska Peninsula) is Registration Area M, described in 5 AAC 34.500;

(7) Scallop Registration Area O (Dutch Harbor) has as its northern boundary the latitude of Cape Sarichef (54º 36' N. lat.), as its eastern boundary the longitude of Scotch Cap Light, and as its western boundary 171º W. long., excluding the waters of Scallop Registration Area Q;

(8) Scallop Registration Area Q (Bristol Bay-Bering Sea) is the combination of the Bristol Bay and Bering Sea Registration Areas, described in 5 AAC 34.800 and 5 AAC 34.900;

(9) Scallop Registration Area R (Adak) has as its eastern boundary 171º W. long., as its western boundary the Maritime Boundary Agreement Line as that line is described in the text of and depicted in the annex to the Maritime Boundary Agreement between the United States and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics signed in Washington, June 1, 1990, and as that Maritime Boundary Agreement Line is depicted on NOAA Chart #513(7th Edition, June 2004) and NOAA Chart #514(7th Edition, January 2004), adopted by reference, and as its northern boundary 55º 30' N. lat.

(c) A person may use a vessel to take scallops only in a scallop registration area and the waters of the exclusive economic zone adjacent to the scallop registration area and only if the owner or the owner's authorized agent has registered the vessel with the department for that scallop registration area. In this subsection, "exclusive economic zone" means all of the waters adjacent to a scallop registration area and seaward to a boundary that is a line drawn in such a manner that each point on it is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured.

(d) A vessel may be registered to take scallops in only one scallop registration area at a time, except that the department may permit a vessel to register for one additional registration area as follows:

(1) before entering or leaving a scallop registration area for which the vessel is validly registered, the vessel permit holder must contact the department office responsible for management of the registration area as specified in (l) of this section or as specified on the area registration;

(2) a certified scallop observer, as described in 5 AAC 39.143, must be on board the vessel; before the vessel leaves port for either the registered area or the additional registration area the vessel intends to fish, the vessel's onboard observer must have been briefed by the department;

(3) before checking out of or into a registration area, the scallop onboard observer must verify the total pounds of processed or unprocessed scallops on board the vessel; a vessel changing registration areas may not have any unprocessed scallops on board the vessel;

(4) once a vessel has checked out of a registration area, that vessel may not check back in to that same registration area unless the onboard observer on board that vessel has been debriefed by the department;

(5) in addition to the requirements of (p) of this section, a CFEC permit holder shall ensure that all harvest from a registration area is reported on an ADF&G fish ticket before checking out of a registration area and provide the fish ticket number and harvest reported on each ticket to the department office responsible for management of the registration area.

(e) In addition to the other requirements of this section, a person who takes scallops other than weathervane scallops, and a person who takes weathervane scallops when a permit is required under this chapter, must obtain a permit issued by the department which might include:

(1) location and duration of harvests;

(2) gear limitations and other harvest procedures;

(3) periodic reporting, including logbook requirements;

(4) requirements for onboard observers; and

(5) catch or bycatch limits.

(f) Unless otherwise provided by permit issued under (e) of this section, scallops may be taken only as follows:

(1) a vessel fishing for weathervane scallops may use and carry only scallop dredges with rings having an inside diameter of four inches or larger;

(2) a vessel fishing for scallops other than weathervane scallops may use or carry only scallop dredges with rings having an inside diameter of three inches or larger;

(3) a person may not use chafing gear or other devices that decrease the legal inside ring diameter of a scallop dredge, except that rubber chafing gear may be used on the bottom of the ring bag that contacts the substrate but may not be placed forward of the first continuous row of rings behind the sweep chain; for the purposes of this paragraph "continuous row of rings" means a row of rings that is parallel to the cutting bar and extends the full width of the ring bag;

(4) no more than two scallop dredges may be operated at one time from a vessel, and the opening of a scallop dredge may not be more than 15 feet wide; the opening of a dredge is measured in a straight line, parallel to the cutting bar, at the widest point, as determined by the distance between the attachment points for the sweepchain (center of the pad eye).

(g) The department may require a vessel fishing in a scallop fishery with a guideline harvest range established by regulation to carry an onboard observer as specified in 5 AAC 39.141 - 5 AAC 39.144, 5 AAC 39.146, and 5 AAC 39.645 - 5 AAC 39.646, unless the department determines that carrying an observer in that fishery will not serve the purposes of the onboard observer program. The department shall require a vessel fishing in a scallop fishery without a guideline harvest range established by regulation to carry an onboard observer as specified in 5 AAC 39.141 - 5 AAC 39.144, 5 AAC 39.146, and 5 AAC 39.645 - 5 AAC 39.646.

(h) Fishing seasons, open and closed areas, and guideline harvest ranges for taking weathervane scallops are set out in 5 AAC 38.120, 5 AAC 38.167, 5 AAC 38.168, 5 AAC 38.180, 5 AAC 38.220, 5 AAC 38.221, 5 AAC 38.224, 5 AAC 38.320, 5 AAC 38.324, 5 AAC 38.420, 5 AAC 38.425, and 5 AAC 38.430.

(i) Weathervane scallops may be shucked by hand only. A mechanical shucking machine may not be on board a vessel that is fishing for weathervane scallops.

(j) A vessel that is fishing for weathervane scallops may have on board no more than 12 persons who are crew members of the vessel. For the purpose of this subsection, "crew member" means a person who is involved with the operations of the vessel, and includes a captain, mate, engineer, cook, deckhand and processing worker, but does not include an onboard observer.

(k) The commissioner may establish bycatch limits for crab in the scallop fishery.

(l) A CFEC permit holder must check in with the department before fishing, and check out before departing the management area. Check in and check out contacts will be specified by the department at the time of registration.

(m) Catch reports must be submitted to the applicable area office as specified by the department at the time of registration.

(n) A vessel operator and crew members must give all king crab that are caught to the onboard observer.

(o) Log sheets, issued by the department, must be completed after each tow and returned to the department either by mail or facsimile as specified by the department at the time of registration.

(p) Fish tickets must be completed on a weekly basis by the vessel operator and submitted to a local representative of the department within seven days after off-loading product. The reporting week begins at 12:01 a.m. Monday through 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Each fish ticket must document the number of tows and pounds of scallop meats harvested, by statistical area.

Copies of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) charts adopted by reference in 5 AAC 38.076(b) can be viewed, downloaded, and purchased at NOAA's website at http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/staff/chartspubs.htm. In addition, the charts are available for inspection at the Lieutenant Governor's Office, Juneau, Alaska.

Authority:AS 16.05.251

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Alaska may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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