Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 1 - Commercial and Subsistence Fishing and Private Nonprofit Salmon Hatcheries
Chapter 39 - General Provisions
Article 1 - General
5 AAC 39.130 - Reports required of fishermen, processors, buyers, exporters, and operators of certain commercial fishing vessels; transporting requirements

Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 39.130

Current through February 24, 2025

(a) Before operating during a calendar year, an individual, company, firm, or other organization that is a first purchaser, catcher-exporter, catcher-processor, or catcher-seller shall submit to the department a completed intent to operate application provided by the department or available online. The individual, company, firm, or other organization may begin to operate only after receiving authorization from the department to begin operating, along with the individual's or organization's processor code for the current year.

(b) An individual, company, firm, or other organization described in (a) of this section that intends or is required to use the eLandings Electronic Reporting System shall access the system by completing an operator documentation and user agreement on the Interagency eLandings Electronic Reporting System's website. In addition to the other requirements of this section, an individual, company, firm, or other organization described in (a) of this section that the commissioner determines has submitted at least 2,000 salmon harvest fish tickets or bought more than 20 million pounds of salmon during any of the previous three calendar years shall thereafter use the eLandings Electronic Reporting System for all salmon delivered to a tender vessel, floating processor, or shorebased processor. In addition to the other requirements of this section, a first purchaser shall use the tLandings application for all groundfish delivered to a tender vessel.

(c) An individual, company, firm, or other organization described in (a) of this section shall record each delivery on an ADF&G fish ticket. A fish ticket must be completed for all fish or byproducts of fish harvested in the waters of Alaska and for all fish or byproducts of fish harvested in waters outside of the waters of Alaska and offloaded or processed in the waters of Alaska. Fish tickets for each fishery must be finalized and submitted to a local representative of the department not later than seven days after a delivery or partial delivery, or as otherwise specified by the department, such as for each vessel trip. The operator of a vessel that has harvested fish in the waters of Alaska and whose port of delivery is outside this state, or who sells, transfers, receives, or delivers fish in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), shall submit a completed hailed weight fish ticket or a fish ticket to the department before the fish are transported out of the jurisdiction of this state. At the time of delivery or partial delivery, or as otherwise directed by the department, fish tickets must include the following information:

(1) the name and signature of the applicable individual, company, firm, or other organization described in (a) of this section;

(2) the name and signature of the CFEC permit holder that operated the unit of gear with which the fish were taken;

(3) the processor code imprinted on the fish ticket from the code plate issued by the department, the processor code handwritten on the fish ticket if instructed by an authorized representative of the department, or the electronically captured information from the eLandings Electronic Reporting System, except that if a catcher-seller is shipping fish to a fisheries business, the fisheries business must imprint the fish ticket, or electronically capture the information on the eLandings Electronic Reporting System, with the processor code of the fisheries business; in this paragraph, "fisheries business" has the meaning given in AS 43.75.290;

(4) the name, or the United States Coast Guard number or Department of Transportation number, of the vessel employed in taking the fish, if applicable;

(5) the date fishing gear was deployed and the date the delivery or partial delivery of the fish is completed;

(6) the permanent ADF&G vessel license plate number, if applicable;

(7) the type of gear by which the fish were taken by the gear code number specified by the department;

(8) the statistical areas, districts, and subdistricts in which the fish were taken and; if required by a local representative of the department, the nearest headland or bay in which the fish were taken;

(9) the pounds, including any applicable weight modifier such as with ice and slime, delivery condition code, and disposition code, including any applicable overage code, of fish by species, except that

(A) for salmon and crab, the number is also required;

(B) for herring, only the weight, in pounds or tons, and delivery condition are required;

(10) an indication of a partial delivery, including a partial delivery of groundfish as specified in 5 AAC 28.070(f), if applicable;

(11) the CFEC permit number of the operator of the unit of gear with which the fish were taken, imprinted on the fish ticket from the valid permit card or electronically captured from the valid permit card; the imprinting requirement under this paragraph may be suspended by a local representative of the department after presentation by the commercial fisherman of the operator's permit application validated by CFEC or documentation from the department or CFEC that the permit card has been damaged, lost, or stolen; if a suspension is granted, the buyer or commercial fisherman must handwrite the name of the permit holder, the permit holder's permit number, and, if applicable, the permanent ADF&G vessel license plate number on the fish ticket, and attach a copy of the supporting documentation;

(12) the number or pounds of fish by species retained by a commercial fisherman for that person's own use, if applicable;

(13) the number of licensed crewmembers, including the vessel operator, if applicable;

(14) the number of certified onboard observers, if applicable;

(15) the management program code, if using the eLandings Electronic Reporting System;

(16) the permanent ADF&G vessel license plate number of the tender vessel, if applicable;

(17) for a dual permit, the second CFEC permit number, if required by the department;

(18) any other information that the commissioner determines is necessary.

(d) A person may not possess a fish ticket that has been imprinted with a CFEC permit number until the time of delivery or partial delivery.

(e) A buyer of fish harvested through a CDQ program, as described in 6 AAC 93, shall electronically submit a fish ticket at least one time per week. The buyer may use the consolidated fish ticket feature in the eLandings Electronic Reporting System, including seaLandings, to generate the fish ticket. In this subsection, "week" means a seven-day period of time that begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday.

(f) An individual, company, firm, or other organization described in (a) of this section shall furnish, verbally or in writing, purchasing, production, or other information as required by the commissioner.

(g) Not later than April 1, a first purchaser, catcher-exporter, or catcher-processor that has been assigned a processor code under (a) of this section shall submit a Commercial Operator's Annual Report (COAR), which is an operator's accurate and complete summary of activity for each intent to operate application approved by the department for the previous year, or a signed statement of nonactivity for the previous year, on a form provided by the department or available online. The department will not authorize operations for the current year to an applicant that has not submitted all COAR reports due under this section for any previous year.

(h) A commercial fisherman shall furnish to the buyer information necessary for completion of reports required by the commissioner.

(i) An individual, company, firm, or other organization described in (a) of this section using the eLandings Electronic Reporting System must electronically submit the initial landing report at the completion of a delivery or partial delivery, and submit to the department the final landing report and a copy of the fish ticket generated and printed from the eLandings Electronic Reporting System not later than seven days after the delivery or partial delivery.

(j) A commercial fisherman shall submit to the department verbally, in writing, or electronically through the eLandings Electronic Reporting System, directly or through the buyer, information necessary for reports required by the commissioner.

(k) Unless otherwise specified in this chapter, in addition to other requirements of this section, each person that is the first purchaser of or that first processes raw groundfish or halibut shall comply with the record keeping and electronic reporting requirements through the eLandings Electronic Reporting System and any other reporting requirements in 50 C.F.R. 679.5, revised as of October 1, 2013.

(l) The commissioner may, by emergency order, close a fishing season and immediately reopen a fishing season during which a different reporting requirement is in effect.

(m) In addition to the other provisions of this section, if the commissioner determines it is necessary, the following information regarding the transporting, delivery, or shipping of unprocessed fish must be transmitted to an authorized local representative of the department either in person, in writing, by radio or telephone, or by other means specified by the department:

(1) the number and species of salmon taken in a regulatory area must be reported before being transported to any other area or out of this state;

(2) the number or pounds, by species, of all other fish must be reported before being transported out of this state;

(3) the number or pounds, by species, of fish taken by a catcher-seller must be reported upon delivery or before shipping the fish within the state.

(n) A floating processor shall report in person, by radio or telephone, or by other means specified by the department, to the local representative of the department located within the management area of intended operation before the start of processing operations. The report must include the initial processing location by district or subdistrict and latitude and longitude, and the date of intended operation. Before moving the operation and upon arriving at a new location, the operator shall notify the local representative of the department in person, by radio or telephone, or by other means specified by the department, of the new location of operation by district or subdistrict and latitude and longitude. A local representative of the department may waive all or part of the requirements of this subsection upon determining that the requirements are not necessary for the conservation or management of the fishery in that area.

(o) In this section,

(1) "buyer-exporter" means the first purchaser of unprocessed fish that exports or attempts to export out of this state the fish either unprocessed or custom processed;

(2) "catcher-exporter" means a commercial fisherman who exports or attempts to export out of this state unprocessed or custom processed fish that were legally taken by the catcher-exporter;

(3) "catcher-processor" means a commercial fisherman who sells or attempts to sell processed or unprocessed fish that were legally taken by the catcher-processor in or out of this state;

(4) "catcher-seller" means a commercial fisherman who sells or attempts to sell unprocessed fish that were legally taken by the catcher-seller

(A) to the general public for use for noncommercial purposes;

(B) for use as bait for commercial or noncommercial purposes;

(D) by shipping the fish to a licensed buyer, processor, or exporter within this state;

(5) "commercial fish transporter" means those individuals whose activities require a permit under AS 16.05.671;

(6) "custom processed" means that the fish is processed by a person that does not own the fish;

(7) "delivery" means offloading fish for sale or for transport to a buyer for later sale;

(8) "dual permit" means the use of additional fishing gear on board a vessel or at a set gillnet site under a second CFEC permit as allowed under the applicable provisions in this title;

(9) "eLandings Electronic Reporting System"

(A) means the electronic and Internet based reporting system maintained by the department, the National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission to provide an alternative to paper fish tickets;

(B) includes the following:

(i) eLandings, which is a web application for shore side and Internet capable vessels;

(ii) seaLandings, which is a desktop application for sea vessels without Internet capability;

(iii) tLandings, which is a portable data storage application for tender and other operations;

(10) "first purchaser"

(A) means the person that first purchases unprocessed fish directly from the commercial fisherman for the purchaser's own business and does not act as a buying agent for another business;

(B) includes a

(i) buyer-exporter;

(ii) floating processor;

(iii) independent buyer;

(iv) shorebased processor;

(11) "fish ticket" includes

(A) a department issued paper copy form for recording harvest; and

(B) an electronically generated record of harvest from the eLandings Electronic Reporting System;

(12) "floating processor" includes the operator of a vessel who

(A) operates as a catcher-processor;

(B) is the first purchaser of unprocessed fish and sells or attempts to sell processed or unprocessed fish in or out of this state;

(13) "independent buyer" means the first purchaser of unprocessed fish for sale unprocessed within this state to a shorebased processor, floating processor, or buyer-exporter;

(14) "partial delivery" means the offloading of fish for sale or for transport to a buyer of only a portion of the total harvest from one vessel's trip, excluding catch retained for

(A) personal use under 5 AAC 39.010;

(B) bait under applicable provisions of this title;

(15) "shorebased processor" means a land-based first purchaser that purchases unprocessed fish and sells or attempts to sell that fish, processed or unprocessed, in or out of this state;

(16) "trip" means

(A) for a vessel on which fish are harvested but not processed, the period of time from when the vessel commences fishing until completion of the final delivery; a trip may include one or more partial deliveries; or

(B) a period of time designated by the department, such as every seven days.

(17) "tender vessel" means a vessel whose operator acts as an agent for a processor and accepts delivery of fish from a commercial fisherman or another tender vessel for transport to a shore-based or floating processor.

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The online form referred to in 5 AAC 39.130(a) is available on the department's website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishlicense.buyers.

The Interagency eLandings Electronic Reporting System's website can be accessed at https://elandings.alaska.gov/.

The department's hailed weight fish ticket form (ADFG HWTl) is available on the department's website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/license/fishing/pdfs/hailed_weight_ft.pdf.

The COAR report form is available on the department's website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fishlicense.coar.

Authority:AS 16.05.020

AS 16.05.050

AS 16.05.060

AS 16.05.671

AS 16.05.690

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