The Statewide BOF meeting concluded yesterday. Alaska Wildlife Troopers submitted proposal 153 stating they wanted to regulate slinky pot escape mechanism and would provide RC language during the meeting. This language was provided in RC51 on Saturday. Under this language,
all commercial, subsistence, personal use, and sport collapsible groundfish pots, commonly known as slinky pots, must contain two openings in the mesh with each equal to or exceeding 18 inches in length, the openings must each be laced, sewn, or secured together by a single length of untreated, 100 percent cotton twine, no larger than 30 thread; the cotton twine may be knotted at each end only; the openings must be on opposite sides of the pot, if placed on the tunnel side the opening must be in an area that does not include the door opening, within six inches of the edge of the pot;
AND
at least one buoy on each groundfish pot must be legibly marked, with the permanent ADF&G vessel license plate number of the vessel operating the gear, on the top one-half of the buoy in numerals at least four inches high, one-half inch wide, and in a color that contrasts with the color of the buoy. The buoy markings must be visible on the buoy above the water surface when the buoy is attached to the groundfish pot;
each end of a groundfish pot longline must have a buoy attached marked with the permanent ADF&G vessel plate number of the vessel operating the groundfish longlined pot gear; the buoy must have the letters LP to designate the gear as longlined groundfish pot gear and the buoy may bear only the number of the vessel operating the gear. The numbers and letters must be marked in the top one-half of the buoy in numbers and letters that are at least four inches high, one-half inch wide, and in a color that contrasts with the color of the buoy; the buoy markings must be visible on the buoy above the water’s surface when the buoy is attached to the longlined pot gear; for the purposes of RC0512 this subsection, “longlined” means more than one groundfish pot is attached to a stationary, buoyed, and anchored line.
AND
when groundfish pots are operated as a groundfish pot longline, each groundfish pot must have one identification tag issued by the department placed on each pot; any buoy attached to the longline may not display an identification tag, and the pot may not display more than one tag issued under the subsection, and that tag must be the one that was issued for the year that the fishing is occurring
This proposal passed unanimously.
As a reminder, last April the NP Council and NMFS removed the requirement for pot tags and revise regulations to allow the use of biodegradable twine in the door latch or pot tunnel of slinky pots instead of a panel tied shut with twine. At the same time, they change the West Yakutat pot limit to 200, modified gear retrieval requirements to 7 days for the central Gulf and 5 days for Southeast Outside, and removed buoy configuration, radar reflector, and flag pole requirements in regulation but retain ‘LP’ marking requirements. Here is the Final Rule with an effective date of February 27th, 2023.