FISHERY ANNOUNCEMENT
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND AREA-E
PARALLEL PACIFIC COD FISHERY SEASON CLOSING TO LONGLINE GEAR
STATE-WATERS PACIFIC COD FISHERY SEASON OPENING TO LONGLINE
GEAR
EMERGENCY ORDER # 2-GF–E-05-12
The Prince William Sound (PWS) Area E parallel Pacific cod season will close to fishing with
longline gear gear effective 12:00 noon March 4, 2012. This coincides with the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) closure of the Pacific cod less than 50 foot hook-and-line sector in the
federal Central Gulf of Alaska (CGOA) area. Fishermen are reminded that there is a 24-hour
delivery time requirement following closure of a groundfish fishery.
Consistent with new regulations adopted by the Alaska Board of Fisheries the PWS state-waters
Pacific cod season will open to longline gear at 12:00 noon, March 17, 2012, concurrent with
the individual fishing quota halibut season opening date, and will close when 85 percent (1.23
million lb) of the 1.45 million pound guideline harvest level is reached. The PWS state-waters
Pacific cod season remains open to pot gear.
Vessel area registration is exclusive for the state-waters Pacific cod season and legal gear is
currently limited to longline and pot. There is a gear limit of 60 pots and each pot must display a
buoy identification tag. Vessel registrations and buoy tags may be obtained from department
offices in Homer and Cordova or by appointment from Department of Public Safety in
Seward.
The PWS parallel Pacific cod season will remain open to jig gear and its closure will coincide
with the federal closure to jig gear in the CGOA. A vessel may not simultaneously participate
in a state-waters season and any other concurrent Pacific cod season, including those in
federal waters
Fishing Area: During a state-waters season Pacific cod may be taken in waters of the PWS Area
except for those waters east of 146 15.12 W. long. (the longitude of Hook Point (5 AAC
28.267.(e),(1)) in the Eastern Section of the Outside District (Figure 1).
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GF-E-12 Pcod Parallel LL Closure SW LL Open Final.docx
Pot fishing closure areas: See the attached map (Figure 1) or consult regulation 5 AAC 28.250
for pot gear closure areas.
Directed fishing for all groundfish is closed in waters within three nautical miles of two Steller
sea lion rookeries within PWS (Figure 1). Contact NMFS in Kodiak at (907) 481-1780 or
http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/regs/679b22.pdf for additional information. State regulation 5
AAC 28.055 requires the use of seabird avoidance measures in all longline groundfish fisheries
in the Outside District of PWS
http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/seabirds/guide.html.
Pacific cod may be retained at a 20% bycatch allowance to other directed fisheries for vessels
using longline, pot or mechanical jig gear. This amount is in addition to the 20% aggregate
bycatch allowance for all other retained species specified in 5 AAC 28.070. However, the total
landed weight of Pacific cod retained as bycatch may not exceed 20 percent of the directed
finfish species on board the vessel.
All other bycatch, in aggregate, may not exceed 20% by weight of the directed groundfish
species aboard a vessel. Regulation 5 AAC 28.265 requires that all rockfish be retained and any
rockfish in excess of the 5% bycatch allowance be reported as a bycatch overage on a fish ticket
with the proceeds surrendered to the state.
Lingcod may not be retained prior to the opening of the directed fishery on July 1, 2011.
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http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/news/pdfs/newsreleases/cf/112044790.pdf
