Alaska Administrative Code
Title 5 - Fish and Game
Part 2 - Sport Fishing and Personal Use Fishery
Chapter 75 - Statewide Provisions
Article 9 - Definitions
5 AAC 75.995 - Definitions

Universal Citation: 5 AK Admin Code 75.995

Current through August 30, 2024

(a) In addition to the definitions set out in AS 16.05.940, in 5 AAC 47 - 5 AAC 75,

(1) "artificial fly" means a fly that is constructed by common methods known as fly tying, including a dry fly, wet fly, and nymph, or a bare single hook, and that is free of bait; materials and chemicals designed and produced primarily to cause flies to float or sink may be used on artificial flies;

(2) repealed 6/26/2016;

(3) "artificial lure"
(A) means a lure that is man-made, free of bait, and is used to attract fish for the purpose of taking fish;

(B) includes an artificial fly;

(4) "bag limit" means the maximum legal take of fish per person per day, in the area in which the person is fishing, even if part or all of the fish are immediately preserved; a fish when landed and not immediately released becomes a part of the bag limit of the person originally hooking it;

(5) "closed season" means the time during which fish may not be taken;

(6) "closed waters" means waters designated by the board wherein it is illegal to take fish;

(7) "char" means all char including Dolly Varden, Arctic char, Mackinaw or lake trout, and eastern brook trout;

(8) "charter vessel" means a vessel used for hire in the sport, personal use, or subsistence taking of fish or shellfish, and not used on the same day for any other commercial fishing purpose; a charter vessel does not include a vessel or skiff without a charter vessel operator;

(9) "drainage" means all of the waters comprising a watershed including tributary rivers, streams, sloughs, ponds, and lakes which contribute to the water supply of the watershed;

(10) "fresh water" means all inland waters; inland waters are separated from salt water at the mouths of creeks, streams and rivers at a line between extremities of the latter's banks at a mean low tide or at a point to be determined and adequately marked by the department;

(11) "grayling" means Arctic grayling;

(12) "length of fish" means the length from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail (total length);

(13) "local representative of the department" means
(A) the nearest or most accessible professional employee of the department;

(B) a person designated by the commissioner or by a professional employee of the department to perform specific functions for the department; or

(C) a law enforcement officer of the Department of Public Safety;

(14) "mark" or "marking" means all forms of skin alterations, fin clipping or other mutilation, or insertion of foreign materials in live fish that permit later identification;

(15) "molesting" means the harassing, disturbing, or interfering with fish by any means, including the use of any missile or object not established as legal gear; molesting includes dragging, kicking, throwing, striking, or otherwise abusing a fish that is intended to be released;

(16) "multiple hook" means a fish hook with two or more points with or without barbs;

(17) "open season" means the time during which fish may lawfully be taken; each period of time prescribed as an open season shall be construed to begin at 12:01 a.m. on the first day and end at midnight of the last day thereof;

(18) "peace officer of the state" means a person defined in AS 16.05.150;

(19) "pike" means northern pike;

(20) "possession limit" means the maximum number of unpreserved fish, except halibut, that a person may have in possession;

(21) "preserved fish" means fish prepared in such a manner, and in an existing state of preservation, as to be fit for human consumption after a 15-day period, and does not include unfrozen fish temporarily stored in coolers that contain ice or dry ice or fish that are lightly salted;

(22) "rockfish" means all fish of the genus Sebastes, including pelagic rockfish and non-pelagic rockfish;

(23) "salmon" means all salmon, including the five species of Pacific salmon;

(24) "salt water" means all marine waters: marine waters are separated from fresh water at the mouths of streams, rivers and creeks;

(25) repealed 6/30/84;

(26) "single hook" means a fish hook with only one point with or without a barb;

(27) "stream mouth" means the downstream point defined as a straight line running from the most downstream extremity on one streambank to the most downstream extremity on the other streambank, or a point defined and marked by the department;

(28) "toxicant" means any material or chemical that upon introduction into the waters of Alaska by direct or indirect means will kill, stun or drive fish from their natural repose;

(29) "transport" means ship, transport, carry, import, export or receive or deliver for shipment, transportation, carriage or export;

(30) "trout" includes rainbow, steelhead and cutthroat;

(31) "waters of Alaska" has the same meaning given in 5 AAC 39 .975;

(32) "year" means the calendar year from January 1 through December 31;

(33) "area" means a regulatory management area as described in 5 AAC 47.005, 5 AAC 52.005, 5 AAC 55.005, 5 AAC 56.105, 5 AAC 57.105, 5 AAC 58.005, 5 AAC 59.105, 5 AAC 60.105, 5 AAC 61.105, 5 AAC 62.105, 5 AAC 64.005, 5 AAC 65.005, 5 AAC 67.005, 5 AAC 69.105, 5 AAC 70.005, 5 AAC 71.005, 5 AAC 73.005, and 5 AAC 74.005;

(34) "charter vessel operator" means a person engaged in carrying any person on board a vessel for any valuable consideration that passes directly or indirectly to the vessel's owner, operator, or a person with a financial interest in the vessel;

(35) "flowing waters" means all fresh waters, excluding lakes and ponds, that have a detectable current, including all creeks, streams, and rivers draining into, between, and out of all lakes and ponds, and all intertidal waters upstream of the stream mouth, as "stream mouth" is defined in 5 AAC 75.995;

(36) "bait" means any substance applied to fishing gear for the purpose of attracting fish by scent, including fish eggs in any form, natural or preserved animal, fish, fish oil, shellfish, or insect parts, natural or processed vegetable matter, and natural or synthetic chemicals;

(37) repealed 4/23/98;

(38) "shellfish" means all shellfish and marine invertebrates;

(39) "client" means a person who is a member of a fishing party that engages or uses a person to provide sport fishing guide services and who is not a sport fishing guide or sport fishing guide crewmember;

(40) "closely attended" means that the line or strike indicator is within the view of and is accessible to the angler at all times;

(41) "sport fishing guide" means a person who provides sport fishing guide services to persons who are engaged in sport fishing;

(42) "sport fishing guide services"
(A) means assistance, for compensation or with the intent to receive compensation, to a sport fisherman to take or to attempt to take fish by accompanying or physically directing the sport fisherman in sport fishing activities during any part of a sport fishing trip;

(B) does not include
(i) sport fishing services; or

(ii) services provided by an assistant, deckhand, or similar person who works directly under the supervision of and on the same vessel as a sport fishing guide;

(43) "sport fishing services"
(A) means the indirect provision of assistance, for compensation or with the intent to receive compensation, to a person engaged in sport fishing in taking or attempting to take fish or shellfish by a business that employs a sport fishing guide to provide sport fishing guide services to the person during any portion of a sport fishing trip;

(B) does not include
(i) an activity for which a sport fishing guide registration is required; or

(ii) booking and other ancillary services provided by a tour broker or agent to a sport fishing services operator;

(44) "highway" has the meaning given in AS 19.59.001;

(45) "set line" means an unattended line or lines that have been set, staked, anchored, or otherwise fixed;

(46) "non-pelagic rockfish" includes all rockfish species in the genus Sebastes that are not defined as pelagic rockfish;

(47) "pelagic rockfish" includes the following Sebastes species:
(A) dark (S. ciliatus);

(B) dusky (S. variabilis);

(C) widow (S. entomelas);

(D) yellow tail (S. flavidus);

(E) black (S. melanops);

(F) deacon (S. diaconus);

(48) "exclusive economic zone" means all waters adjacent to the waters of Alaska and seaward to a boundary line drawn in such a manner that each point on the line is 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured;

(49) "sport fishing guide crew member" means a person who, for compensation or with intent to receive compensation for services during a day or any portion of a day, provides assistance on board a vessel to clients of a sport fishing guide or a sport fishing guide operator;

(50) "spear"
(A) means a hand-operated shaft with a sharp point or fork-like implement attached to one end, used to thrust through the water to impale or retrieve fish;

(B) includes a Hawaiian sling or pole spear which is a shaft propelled by a single loop of elastic material that is not equipped with a mechanical release or trigger;

(51) "speargun" means a device designed to propel a spear through the water by means of elastic bands, compressed gas, or other mechanical propulsion to take fish that is equipped with a mechanical release or trigger.

(52) repealed 3/28/2019;

(53) repealed 3/28/2019;

(54) repealed 3/28/2019;

(55) "bow and arrow" means a long bow, recurve bow, compound bow, or crossbow, with an arrow with a barbed tip attached by a line to the bow;

(56) "guided sport ecotourism fishing" means taking or assisting another to take fish in order to demonstrate fishing techniques or for other educational purposes; where all fish taken are returned to the water unharmed for compenstaion or with the intent to recieve compensation;

(57) "squid jig" means an artificial lure that may not exceed 24-inches in total length, used to target squid, that consists of barbless hook clusters and may not contain any barbed hooks.

(b) In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, "compensation"

(1) means direct or indirect payment, remuneration, and other benefits received in return for services, regardless of the source; in this paragraph, "benefits" includes
(A) wages and other employment benefits given directly or indirectly to an individual or organization; and

(B) dues, payments, fees, and other remuneration given directly or indirectly to a fishing club, business, organization, or individual who provides sport fishing guide services;

(2) does not include reimbursement for the actual daily expenses for fuel, food, or bait.

Authority:AS 16.05.251

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