New Dates Again For Delayed Southeast Alaska Shellfish, Finfish Meeting (Update)

The Alaska Board of Fisheries’ Southeast and Yakutat Finfish and Shellfish meeting, which due to Covid concerns was delayed until mid-March, will now be scheduled for late March-early April

Here’s the Alaska Department of Fish and Game press release:


 With the postponement and rescheduling of the Alaska Board of Fisheries (board) Southeast and Yakutat Finfish and Shellfish meeting to Anchorage, March 10-22, the board is rescheduling its statewide shellfish meeting to March 26-April 2, 2022. 
The meeting location remains the Egan Civic and Convention Center, 555 W 5th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska. During this eight-day public meeting, the board will meet to consider 45 proposals regarding all statewide shellfish proposals submitted by the general public, fishing organizations, local fish and game advisory committees, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. This includes three agenda change requests accepted by the board at its October 2021 work session.

In an effort to fully conduct this meeting the department is enacting a number of temporary COVID-19 mitigation measures including requiring registration. Registration is taken mainly to ask for contact information which is used to communicate meeting updates to attendees and, in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak at the meeting, made available to contact tracers. The registration also allows attendees to indicate their intention to provide oral public testimony, selecting from multiple time slots on a first-come, first-serve basis. To register, go to the meeting website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo&date=03-26-2022&meeting=anchorage. Registration will be available by January 21, 2022. Other mitigation measures will be enacted and provided in a meeting specific plan currently under development.The board invites the public to give oral public testimony during the meeting beginning March 26. 

Persons intending to testify are strongly encouraged to use the registration platform prior to the meeting. Individuals who register at the meeting may sign up for public testimony at the Egan Center. The tentative deadline for signing up is 2:00pm on Saturday, March 26. Public testimony will continue until members of the public who signed up before the deadline and are present have been given an opportunity to testify.  
All portions of the meeting are open to the public and a live audio stream is intended to be available on the Board of Fisheries website at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. Documents submitted to the board are intended to be posted online throughout the meeting. 

Copies of advanced meeting materials, including the agenda and roadmap, are available from Boards Support Section, 907-465-4110, or online at: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo.
The board encourages the public to submit written comments on specific proposals. See http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=process.comments for details on public comment. Public comments submitted by March 11 will be included in the board’s workbook before the meeting. After March 11, written public comments are limited to 10 single-sided or 5 double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group. These comments are recorded as record copies and inserted in board member workbooks at the beginning of the meeting, and accepted throughout the board meeting.

During the meeting, written public comments from any one individual or group may be submitted through email at dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov. Once proposal deliberations begin, the board will ONLY accept written public comments not more than five single-sided pages, or the equivalent double-sided pages. The board may relax this requirement if specific information is requested by the board requiring more pages than allowed under this standard.
Individuals not in attendance can submit written comments by fax to (907) 465-6094 or email dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov.

Training opportunity: The Boards Support Section is hosting a training course, How to Navigate the Board Process, roughly ten minutes following the noon adjournment on Day 1, March 26, in the main meeting area. While the training is designed for those new to the board process, all are welcome to join. Hatchery Committee: The board’s standing Hatchery Committee will meet at 9:00 a.m. on March 23, 2022, at the Egan Civic and Convention Center, 555 W. 5th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska. The meeting will occur in the Summit Hall, downstairs at the Egan Center. Committee meetings are open to the public.

A meeting agenda and other meeting materials will be available on the Board of Fisheries meeting information website at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo. Written comments for either committee are welcome by the board. Individuals wishing to submit comments for the committee may do so until March 8. Please refer to instructions earlier in this meeting announcement on how to submit comments.

Updated info on commenting process:

This is a SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE adding to the NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES that was issued on October 28, 2021, hereby incorporated by reference, concerning proposed regulation changes in Title 5 of the Alaska Administrative Code.  This SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE is being issued to notify the public of the following changes to the board’s meeting schedule and topic being added to the Board of Fisheries (board) schedule to be considered at the meeting noted:

On January 1, 2022, the board postponed its Southeast and Yakutat Finfish and Shellfish meeting, to be held from January 4-15, 2022, in Ketchikan due to a rising surge in COVID-19. Following a review, the board announces the revised dates and locations for completing its 2021/2022 meeting cycle.

Southeast and Yakutat Finfish & Shellfish

March 10-22, 2022

Egan Civic & Convention Center

555 W 5th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska

Comment deadline: February 23, 2022

Cook Inlet, Kodiak, Westward, Arctic Shellfish, Prince William Sound Shrimp, Statewide Shellfish General Provisions and Supplemental Issues 

March 26-April 2, 2022

Egan Civic & Convention Center

555 W 5th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska

Comment deadline: March 11, 2022

In addition to its regulatory meetings, the board intends to hold its all-day Hatchery Committee meeting on March 23, 2022 at the Egan Center in Anchorage, with a comment deadline of March 8.

Anyone interested in, or affected by, the subject matter contained in this legal notice should make written or oral comments to have their views considered by the board. You may comment on the proposed regulation changes, including the potential costs to the private persons of complying with the proposed changes, by submitting written comments limited to no more than 100 single-sided or 50 double-sided pages to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Boards Support Section, at P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK 99811-5526. Additionally, the Boards Support Section will accept comments by facsimile at (907) 465-6094, by email to dfg.bof.comments@alaska.gov (PDF format only), or online at www.boardoffisheries.adfg.alaska.gov. Individuals and advisory committees directing public comment at an ADF&G office or personnel other than as prescribed above do not have assurance their comments will be received and entered as public comment. Written comments must be received no later than the deadlines listed above. Written comments exceeding the page limit will not be accepted. Written comments limited to 10 single-sided or 5 double-sided pages in length from any one individual or group are accepted after the above deadline and inserted in board member workbooks at the beginning of the meeting, and are also accepted during the meeting and until the board begins proposal deliberations. The Additional Public Comment Standard explained in the October 28, 2021, NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES also applies to this meeting.

The board takes in-person oral public testimony at its regulatory meetings and intends to do so for these meetings. For the Southeast Finfish and Shellfish meeting, the board is also allowing remote public testimony to occur at various Southeast ADF&G offices or other venues of the board’s choosing. The deadline for signing up for remote public testimony is March 3, 2022 and may be done at http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo&date=03-10-2022&meeting=anchorage. The board will schedule the remote testimony times and locations after the deadline.

If you are a person with a disability who needs special accommodation in order to participate in the proposed regulation process, please contact Glenn Haight at (907) 465-4110 no later than two weeks prior to the meeting to ensure necessary accommodations can be provided.

For a copy of the proposed regulation changes, or for a copy of the October 28, 2021, NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES, contact the ADF&G, Boards Support Section, P.O. Box 115526, Juneau, AK  99811-5526, phone 907-465-4110, or access the Internet at:

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=fisheriesboard.meetinginfo

Anyone interested in or affected by subsistence, personal use, commercial fishing, sport, guided sport, or aquatic plant regulations are hereby informed that the Board of Fisheries may consider any or all of the subject areas covered by this notice. Under AS 44.62.200(b), the board may review the full range of activities appropriate to any of the subjects listed in this notice. The board may make changes to the subsistence, personal use, sport, guided sport or commercial fishing regulations as may be required to ensure the subsistence priority in AS 16.05.258. On its own motion, after the public hearing, the board may adopt, amend, reject, supplement, or take no action on these subjects without further notice. In addition, the board may adopt other regulations necessary to implement, administer, or enforce the regulations adopted. THE BOARD IS NOT LIMITED BY THE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE OR CONFINES OF THE ACTUAL PROPOSALS THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED BY THE PUBLIC OR ADF&G.The language of the final regulations may be different from that of the proposed regulations. YOU SHOULD COMMENT DURING THE TIME ALLOWED IF YOUR INTERESTS COULD BE AFFECTED.

Statutory Authority:  AS 16.05 – AS 16.20; AS 16.40

Statutes being implemented, interpreted, or made specific:  AS 16.05

Fiscal Information:  The proposed regulatory actions are not expected to require an increased appropriation.

Date:  February 1, 2022                                   _______________________________________

                                                                        Glenn Haight, Executive Director

                                                                        Alaska Board of Fisheries

ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS NOTICE INFORMATION

(AS 44.62.190(g))

  1. Adopting Agency: Alaska Board of Fisheries.
  1. General subject of regulations: IN THE PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND (INCLUDING UPPER COPPER RIVER, UPPER SUSITNA RIVER, PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND SALTWATER, AND COPPER RIVER DISTRICT) FINFISH FISHERIES; SOUTHEAST AND YAKUTAT FINFISH FISHERIES; CRAB, SHRIMP, AND MISCELLANEOUS SHELLFISH FISHERIES FOR ALL REGIONS STATEWIDE INCLUDING SOUTHEAST, YAKUTAT, PRINCE WILLIAMS SOUND, COOK INLET, KODIAK, WESTWARD, AND ARCTIC; AND STATEWIDE SHELLFISH GENERAL PROVISIONS FISHERIES
  2. Citation of regulations: 5 AAC 01 – 5 AAC 77.
  1. Department of Law file number (if any):
  • 2021-20-0476 Parts 1 and 2 – Prince William Sound, Upper Copper River and Upper Susitna River, Finfish and Shellfish (except shrimp)
  • 2020-20-0464 Parts 1 and 2 – Southeast and Yakutat Finfish and Shellfish
  • 2020-20-0465 – Statewide Shellfish (including PWS shrimp) and Supplemental Issues
  1. Reason for proposed actions: Implement, interpret, or make specific the provisions of AS 16.05 – AS 16.20, AS 16.40.
  1. Appropriation/Allocation: Natural Resources and all RDUs
  1. Cost of implementation to the state agency and available funding: It is not possible to estimate the costs. However, these actions are not expected to require any additional costs.
  1. The name of the contact person for the regulations:

                        Glenn Haight, Executive Director

                        Alaska Board of Fisheries

                        PO Box 115526

                        Juneau, AK 99811-5526

                        (907) 465-4110

                        Email: glenn.haight@alaska.gov

  1. The origin of the proposed action:

            [X]       staff or state agency

            [X]       general public

  1. Date: February 1, 2022 Prepared by:

                                                            Glenn Haight, Executive Director

                                                            Alaska Board of Fisheries

                                                            (907) 465-4110