Section 16.43.521. General Bering Sea hair crab vessel permit provisions.

   (a) A person or entity may not operate a vessel or use a vessel to take fish in the Bering Sea hair crab commercial fishery for which a vessel interim-use permit or vessel entry permit is required unless the appropriate vessel permit has been issued for the vessel and is posted in a prominent location on the vessel.
   (b) A person or entity may not hold more than one vessel entry permit for the Bering Sea hair crab fishery unless
        (1) the number of vessel entry permits held by the person or entity is consistent with regulations of the commission regarding concentration of ownership of vessel permits in the fishery; and
        (2) either
             (A) the person or entity qualified for each vessel entry permit at the time of the initial issuance of vessel entry permits for the fishery; or
             (B) the vessel entry permits are issued for a vessel for which the person or entity already holds another vessel entry permit for that fishery.
   (c) The operator of a vessel for which a vessel interim-use permit or vessel entry permit has been issued shall comply with the terms of the vessel permit while the vessel is operated in the fishery for which the permit is issued.
   (d) A vessel interim-use permit and a vessel entry permit constitute a use privilege that may be modified or revoked by order of the commission or by law without compensation.
   (e) A vessel entry permit may not be
        (1) pledged, mortgaged, leased, or encumbered in any way;
        (2) transferred with any retained right of repossession or foreclosure, or on any condition requiring a subsequent transfer; or
        (3) attached, distrained, or sold on execution of judgment or under any other process or order of any court.
   (f) Unless the person who holds a vessel entry permit has expressed a contrary intent in a will that is probated, the commission shall, upon the death of the person, transfer the vessel entry permit by right of survivorship directly to the person's surviving spouse or, if no spouse survives, to another person designated by the vessel permit holder on a form provided by the commission. If no spouse survives and if the person designated on the form, if any, does not survive, the permit passes as part of the vessel permit holder's estate. A designation under this subsection must be acknowledged before a person authorized to administer an oath under AS 09.63.010 or must be witnessed by two persons who are qualified under AS 13.12.505 to witness the will of the vessel permit holder. A vessel entry permit is exempt from the claims of creditors of the estate.
   (g) AS 16.43.451 - 16.43.521 do not alter the requirement for an interim-use permit or entry permit under AS 16.43.140 or a vessel license under AS 16.05.490 - 16.05.520.
   (h) Nothing in AS 16.43.451 - 16.43.521 limits the powers of the Board of Fisheries or the Department of Fish and Game.
   (i) Notwithstanding AS 16.05.815 and AS 16.43.975, the commission may release to the owner of a vessel information on the vessel's history of harvests in a fishery that is necessary to apply for a vessel interim-use permit or vessel entry permit under AS 16.43.451 - 16.43.521.

Notes

History

(Sec. 4 ch 2 SLA 2014)