The House of Representatives concurred with Senate changes to a mariculture enhancement piece of legislation by Rep. Dan Ortiz, allowing qualified non-profits to pursue enhancement and/or restoration projects involving shellfish species, including red and blue king crab, sea cucumber, abalone, and razor clams.
Sen. Gary Stevens (Kodiak) on the Senate floor said:
“Most of our wild crab fisheries have been shut down for some time for reasons not entirely understood by the scientific community, but certainly may include overfishing. The state has not provided any tools to fix the situation other than to discontinue that fishing. This bill revises the legal framework for our large-scale shellfish projects to function within our state, to nurture, for example, young shellfish, king crab, razor clams in their formative stages so that they have a better shot at survival in the wild. The policy structure contained in this bill represents an investment in our science and fisheries related jobs, and opportunities in the private sector and for our state’s principle in maintaining sustainable wild yield of our fish and game resources.”
House Bill 41 creates regulatory framework which the Department of Fish and Game can manage shellfish enhancement projects, and outlines criteria for the issuance of permits. It sets out safety standards to ensure sustainability and health of existing natural stocks. The Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game must also make a determination of substantial public benefit before a project can proceed. It also allows Fish and Game to set the application fee for a shellfish enhancement project permit and grants the similar authority over the application fee for a salmon enhancement project permit.
Among the co-sponsors of House Bill 41 is Senate President Peter Micciche. HB 41 now moves to Governor Mike Dunleavy’s desk for signature.
Transcribed audio courtesy of KTOO 360TV.