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 5 - Registration Area A (Southeastern Alaska)
5 AAC 38.140 - Southeastern Alaska Sea Cucumber Management Plan

Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 38.140

Current through August 30, 2024

(a) A permit described under 5 AAC 38.062 is not required for the taking of sea cucumbers in Registration Area A.

(b) Sea cucumbers may be taken from the first Monday in October through March 31 during the weekly fishing period established by emergency order. The weekly fishing period will occur on Mondays from 8:00 a.m until 3:00 p.m. and on Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon, except that

(1) during the week of Thanksgiving, the weekly fishing period will occur on Sunday from 8:00 a.m until 3:00 p.m. and on Monday from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon;

(2) beginning in November, the commissioner may, by emergency order, extend or shorten a weekly fishing period in an area in order to obtain the guideline harvest level in that area;

(3) during the week of Christmas and New Year's Day, the department may modify the days of the weekly fishing period by emergency order so that the fishing period does not fall on the holiday and does not add additional days to the weekly fishing period.

(c) Sea cucumbers may be taken in areas within Registration Area A as specified by an emergency order issued by the commissioner before each fishing season. An area may not be opened unless the department has conducted a biomass assessment in that area within the preceding two years. An area shall be closed by emergency order if the guideline harvest level is reached before the closing date of the season. An area opened by emergency order under this subsection may not be opened again until at least two subsequent fishing seasons have passed.

(d) Except as specified in(l) of this section, a CFEC permit holder may not land or possess more than 2,000 pounds of eviscerated sea cucumbers during any weekly fishing period established under (b) of this section, except that the commissioner may, by emergency order, establish a weekly fishing period during which the weekly harvest limit specified in this subsection does not apply in an area in which the guideline harvest level has not been reached.

(e) During an open sea cucumber fishing period, only a licensed CFEC sea cucumber permit holder may operate dive gear from a vessel that is licensed and registered to fish for sea cucumbers and no more than two licensed CFEC sea cucumber permit holders may conduct fishing operations from, or land commercially harvested sea cucumbers from, a vessel that is licensed and registered to commercially fish for sea cucumbers. From 24 hours before, during, and for 24 hours after a fishing period, or when commercially harvested sea cucumbers are on board the vessel, no more than three licensed CFEC sea cucumber permit holders may be transported, housed, quartered, or domiciled on board a vessel that is licensed and registered to commercially fish for sea cucumbers.

(f) In order to provide a refuge for sea cucumbers below 18 meters depth, saturation diving or the use of mixed gases is prohibited, except that the use of enhanced air nitrox having concentrations of oxygen that do not exceed 40 percent and having a remainder of nitrogen is permitted. Sea cucumbers may only be harvested by picking them by hand and placing them in bags. All other means of harvesting sea cucumbers are prohibited.

(g) Sea cucumbers may be harvested by divers using the following:

(1) scuba gear;

(2) a tethered, umbilical, surface-supplied system; or

(3) a snorkel.

(h) The department shall establish a guideline harvest level for each area open to the harvest of sea cucumbers. The guideline harvest level shall be based on population estimates from the department's biomass assessment, and shall be calculated as a product: Guideline Harvest Level = 3 x CF x GF x M x P, where:

CF = 0.4 scaling factor relating maximum sustainable fishing mortality to unexploited population size;

GF = 0.6 correction factor to allow for errors in assumptions upon which the surplus production model is based;

M = 0.32 estimated instantaneous mortality rate for sea cucumbers;

P = most recent biomass estimate, taken as the lower bound of the one-sided 90 percent confidence interval.

The guideline harvest level includes a factor of three to account for a two-year closure under (c) of this section. If the commissioner receives new information about sea cucumber productivity or if the commissioner determines that modifying the guideline harvest level will contribute to conservation, law enforcement, waste reduction, or promote development of the fishery, the commissioner may modify the guideline harvest level.

(i) Repealed 9/28/97.

(j) Repealed 7/18/2003.

(k) The following waters are closed to commercial sea cucumber fishing:

(1) District 1:
(A) subdistrict 101-27, in waters of Nichols Passage north of a line from the southernmost tip of Dall Head, located on the southernmost tip of Gravina Island, to the easternmost tip of Cedar Point, located on the western shore of Annette Island, and south of a line from the southernmost tip of Gravina Point, located on the southeast shore of Gravina Island, to the northernmost tip of Walden Point, located on the northwesternmost tip of Annette Island;

(B) repealed 7/29/2009;

(2) District 2: those waters north and west of a line from Grindall Point at 55° 27.10' N. lat., 132° 09.34' W. long., south to 55° 26.47' N. lat., 132° 10.03' W. long., northwest to 55° 27.48' N. lat., 132° 12.46' W. long., northwest to 55° 31.48' N. lat., 132° 21.96' W. Jong., west to 55° 31.49' N. lat., 132° 33.28' W. long., south to 55° 28.94' N. lat., 132° 35.99' W. long., and south to 55° 27.22' N. lat., 132° 40.02' W. long. at the southern entrance to Harris Bay;

(3) District 3:
(A) the waters of Section 3-A that are north and east of a line from Halibut Nose to a point on Sukkwan Island at 55° 09.27' N. lat., 132° 53.77' W. long., north of a line from the southernmost tip of Sukkwan Island to a point on Prince of Wales Island at 54° 59.53' N. lat., 132° 36.73' W. long., and west of a line from a point on Prince of Wales Island at 55° 08.95' N. lat., 132° 38.47' W. long., located in Hetta Inlet approximately 1.1 nautical miles northeast of Eek Pt., to a point at 55° 03.25' N. lat., 132° 38.80' W. long., located approximately 0.6 nautical miles west of Lime Point, to a point on Prince of Wales Island at 54° 59.53' N. lat., 132° 36.73' W. long.;

(B) the waters of Section 3-B that are
(i) east of a line from a point on Prince of Wales Island located at 55° 34.56' N. lat., 133° 13.65' W. long. to Fern Reef buoy, to Point Eugenia and north of a line from the northernmost tip of Point Miliflores to Point Miraballes and including those waters of Port St. Nicholas; and

(ii) the waters of Port Caldera, Prince of Wales shoreline, and contiguous waters east of 133° 13.63' W. long. and west of 133° 07.00' W. long.

(4) District 5: the waters of Shipley Bay east of a line from 56° 05' N. lat., 133° 39.50' W. long., to 56° 07.17' N. lat., 133° 38.58' W. long., and the waters of Seclusion Harbor, Three Mile Arm, and Rocky Pass north of 56° 32' N. lat. (north end of Monte Carlo Island) and south of the latitude of the Summit at 56° 40.57' N. lat.;

(5) District 6: the waters of Section 6-B of Whale Pass and Coffman Cove, including all waters along the shore of Prince of Wales Island, and the shores of the adjacent islands west of a line from Luck Point to a point at 56° 10.30' N. lat., 133° 02.25' W. long.;

(6) District 9: the waters of Rowan Bay and Bay of Pillars east of a line from Point Ellis to Point Sullivan;

(7) District 10: all waters west of a line extending from the Admiralty Island shoreline at 57° 26' N. lat., 133° 54.20' W. long. to Point Gambier to the northernmost tip of Gambier Island at 57° 27.75' N. lat., 133° 51.48' W. long.;

(8) District 11: the waters of Section 11-C along the western shore of Stephens Passage south of the latitude of Midway Island;

(9) repealed 5/26/2006;

(10) District 12: the waters of District 12 in Chatham Strait along the shore of Admiralty Island south of the latitude of Danger Point Light at 57° 30.93' N. lat. and north of the latitude of Distant Point at 57° 24.04' N. lat., including all waters of Kootznahoo Inlet and Hood Bay;

(11) District 13:
(A) the waters of Section 13-A along the Chichag of Island shore south of 57° 47' N. lat., and north of 57° 37.17' N. lat., excluding Klag Bay, Lake Anna, and Sister Lake;

(B) the waters of Section 13-B in Whale Bay east of a line from North Cape to Point Lauder and a portion of Sitka Sound in Subdistrict 113-40 and 113-41 east of a line from the northern entrance to Deep Inlet at 56° 59.62' N. lat., 135° 18.67' W. long., to the western most tip of Long Island to Bieli Rock to Dog Point;

(12) District 14: the waters of Section 14-B in Port Frederick west and south of a line from Crist Point to Point Sophia;

(13) District 15: the waters of Section 15-C along the western shore of Lynn Canal south of the latitude of Point Sherman;

(14) District 16: the waters of Torch Bay north of the latitude of the southernmost point of Venisa Point.

(l) A CFEC permit holder who is an agent for a licensed processor and on board a vessel that is registered to operate as a tender vessel may commercially harvest sea cucumbers and transport sea cucumbers that have been harvested by other CFEC permit holders. The tender vessel may have on board more than the 2,000-pound limit specified in (d) of this section, if completed fish tickets, as required under 5 AAC 39.130, for the excess poundage are on board the vessel.

Authority:AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.251

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