Section 5 AAC 35.507 - Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula Districts C. bairdi Tanner crab harvest strategies (a) In the Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula Districts, a commercial C. bairdi Tanner crab fishery may open only if analysis of preseason survey data indicates that the subject population (1) in the Chignik District or a section of the South Peninsula District is sufficient to provide a guideline harvest level of 200,000 pounds or more as calculated under (c) of this section; or (2) in a section of the Kodiak District is sufficient to provide a guideline harvest level of 100,000 pounds or more as calculated under (c) of this section. (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a commercial C. bairdi Tanner crab fishery may open (1) in the South Mainland Section if at least two adjacent sections are open and will close when both of the adjacent sections are closed; (2) in the Semidi Island Overlap Section, subject to the following conditions: (A) the Southwest Section of the Kodiak District or the Chignik District is opened; (B) the owner or the owner's agent of a vessel registers with the department before fishing in the Semidi Island Overlap Section and is not simultaneously registered to fish in other sections of the Kodiak District or the Chignik District; (C) the pot limit is 70 pots per vessel; (D) a vessel operator provides daily reports to the department verbally or in writing of the vessel's catch, catch locations, and effort, or maintains logbooks that include the vessel's catch, catch location, and effort; and (E) the commissioner may close, by emergency order, the Semidi Island Overlap Section based on fishery performance. (c) In the Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula Districts, the department shall establish separate C. bairdi Tanner crab guideline harvest levels, as described in (1) or (2) of this subsection. In the Kodiak, Chignik, and South Peninsula Districts, and under the restrictions of (d) of this section, the maximum exploitation rate on legal male abundance (EXPelm) shall be established as follows: (1) in an area where the long-term trend in mature male abundance (MMA) is increasing, the maximum exploitation rate on legal male abundance (EXPelm) in all districts or sections will be established by an analysis of preseason survey mature female abundance (MFA) data as follows: (A) if MFA is less than 40 percent of MFA(1988-2021), EXPELM will be 0.05; (B) if MFA is at least 40 percent but not greater than 100 percent of MFA(1988-2021), EXPELM will be computed as (((MFA/ MFA(1988-2021) - 0.4)/0.6)x0.15) + 0.05, with slope m and Intercept b; (i) the EXPLMB slope "m" is computed as (((((MFA/MFA(1988-2021) - 0.4)/0.6)x0.15) + 0.05) - 0.05)/0.5;(ii) the EXPELM intercept "b" is computed as 0.05 - (m x 0.5); (C) if MFA is greater than 100 percent of MFA(1988-2021), EXPELM will be 0.20, and (i) if MMA is less than 50 percent of MMA(1988-2021), the fishery will not open; (ii) if MMA is at least 50 percent but not greater than 100 percent of MMA(1988-2021), the guideline harvest level of legal males will be computed as ((m X MMA/MMA(1988-2021) + b) X ELM; (iii) if MMA is greater than 100 percent of MMA(1988-2021), the guideline harvest level of legal males will be 20 percent of ELM; (2) in an area where the long-term trend in mature male abundance (MMA) is stable or decreasing, the maximum exploitation rate on legal male abundance (EXPELM) in all districts or sections will be established by an analysis of preseason survey mature female abundance (MFA) data as follows: (A) if MFA is less than 40 percent of MFA(1988-2021), EXPELM will be 0.05; (B) if MFA is at least 40 percent but not greater than 100 percent of MFA(1988-2021), EXPELM will be computed as (((MFA/ MFA(1988-2021) - 0.4)/0.6)x0.15) + 0.05, with slope m and intercept b, and (i) the EXPELM slope "m" is computed as (((((MFA/MFA(1988-2021) - 0.4)/0.6)x0.15)+0.05) - 0.05)/0.5;(ii) the EXPELM intercept "b" is computed as 0.05 - (m x 1);(C) if MFA is greater than 100 percent of MFA(1988-2021), EXPELM will be 0.20, and (i) if MMA is less than 100 percent of MMA(1988-2021), the fishery will not open; (ii) if MM A is at least 100 percent but not greater than 150 percent of MMA(1988-2021), the guideline harvest level of legal males will be computed as ((m X MMA/MMA(1988-2021)) + b) X ELM; (iii) if MMA is greater than 150 percent of MMA(1988-2021), the guideline harvest level of legal males will be 20 percent of ELM. (d) Notwithstanding (a) - (c) of this section, in implementing these harvest strategies, the department shall (1) consider the reliability of the estimates of C. bairdi Tanner crab, the manageability of the fishery, and other factors the department determines necessary to be consistent with sustained yield principles; and (2) use the best scientific information available and consider all sources of uncertainty as necessary to avoid overfishing. (e) In this section, (1) "EXPELM" means the maximum exploitation rate on legal male C. bairdi Tanner crab abundance as determined in (c) of this section; (2) "MFA" means the abundance of mature female C. bairdi Tanner crab in the entire surveyed portion of the district or section estimated at the time of the preseason survey; (3) "MFA(1988-2021)" means the mean value of the abundance of mature female C. bairdi Tanner crab in the entire surveyed portion of the district or section estimated at the time of the preseason survey for the period 1988-2021; (4) "MMA" means the abundance of male C. bairdi Tanner crab in the entire surveyed portion of the district or section that are more than 114 mm carapace width estimated at the time of the preseason survey; (5) "MMA(1988-2021)" means the mean value of the abundance of male C. bairdi Tanner crab in the entire surveyed portion of the district or section that are more than 114 mm carapace width estimated at the time of the preseason survey for the period 1988-2021; and (6) "ELM" means 100 percent of the soft-shell, new-shell, and old-shell male C. bairdi Tanner crab abundance in the entire surveyed portion of the district or section that are at least 140 mm (five and one-half inches) carapace width, including lateral spines, estimated at the time ofthe preseason survey.Eff. 8/8/99, Register 151; am 3/11/2001, Register 157; am 8/14/2005, Register 175; am 9/25/2022, Register 243, October 2022Authority:AS 16.05.060
AS 16.05.251