State v. Dupier

74 P.3d 922, 2003 Alas. App. LEXIS 147, 2003 WL 21771725
CourtCourt of Appeals of Alaska
DecidedAugust 1, 2003
DocketA-8270, A-8271, A-8272
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 74 P.3d 922 (State v. Dupier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Alaska primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Dupier, 74 P.3d 922, 2003 Alas. App. LEXIS 147, 2003 WL 21771725 (Ala. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION

STEWART, Judge.

John Dupier, Rodman E. Miller, and Philip J. Twohy hold federal permits to fish for halibut and sablefish off the coast of Alaska. The State charged them with violating state law by landing their fish in Alaska without first obtaining an interim-use or landing permit from the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) 1 The district court dismissed the charges, and the State appealed. For the reasons set out below, we agree with the district court.

Summary of our decision

The CFEC was created to regulate participation in Alaska's commercial fisheries. The primary task of the CFEC is to evaluate whether the number of fishers in a particular fishery should be limited to conserve the fishery resource and promote the health of the fishing industry.

Alaska statutes authorize the CFEC to issue three types of fishing permits to commercial fishers. The CFEC issues two of these permits-the limited entry permit and the interim-use permit-to regulate fishing in fisheries subject to limited entry by the CFEC (%e, all state-regulated fisheries in which the number of participants is currently limited or could be limited in the future). Limited entry permits (as their name implies) allow selected fishers to participate in fisheries in which the CFEC has limited access. Interim-use permits, on the other hand, are issued to all qualified fishers who wish to participate in a fishery the CFEC has not limited. This interim-use permit allows the CFEC to prevent fishers who do not have the appropriate commercial fishing gear from operating in fisheries in which entry has not been limited; it also allows the CFEC to gather data on those fisheries to determine if entry should be limited in the future. Thus, as the term "interim-use" suggests, 2 the legislature created interim-use permits so the CFEC could regulate fisheries that might later be subject to limited entry.

The third type of permit-the landing permit-was created to give the state some control over the activities of fishers who participate in federally controlled fisheries but wish to land their catch in Alaska. Unlike the limited entry and interim-use permits, landing permits, although legislatively authorized, have never been used. The Department of Fish and Game has never established eligibility standards for these permits, nor authorized the CFEC to issue the permits. Thus, the Department of Fish and Game never took the legislatively required steps to regulate the landings by fishers who fish in federally controlled fisheries but want to land their cateh in Alaska. To fill this void in the halibut and sablefish fisheries, the CFEC began requiring holders of federal permits to fish in those fisheries to obtain state interim-use permits before landing their catch in Alaska, even though interim-use permits were created for a different purpose. 3

The appellees in this case are fishers who participated in the federally controlled halibut and sablefish fisheries and landed their catch in Alaska. The State alleged that their conduct was illegal because they did not have an interim-use or landing permit. District Court Judge M. Francis Neville dismissed the charges because she found that the CFEC had no authority to require fishers operating exclusively in federal waters to *924 obtain interim-use permits. She also held that the appellees could not be penalized for failing to get landing permits because the CFEC had never issued such permits. We agree with Judge Neville's conclusions and therefore affirm her decision.

The CFEC is only authorized to issue interim-use permits to fishers participating in fisheries that are potentially subject to limited entry by the CFEC. The Alaska Legislature created the landing permit to regulate the landing of fish by fishers who participate in federally controlled fisheries but who wish to land their catch in Alaska. While the CFEC's desire to require such fishers to obtain an interim-use permit in place of the unobtainable landing permit is understandable, in doing so the CFEC exceeded its authority.

Discussion

Background

Resolution of this appeal requires some review of the federal and state laws governing fishing off the coast of Alaska.

The Alaska legislature created the CFEC in 1978 to "regulate entry into the commercial fisheries for all fishery resources in the state." 4 The original impetus for the CFEC was to limit participation in the salmon fishery; however, the CFEC was given authority to limit entry in other commercial fisheries when necessary to achieve sustained yield of the fishery resource and the economic health of the fishing industry. 5 The legislature directed the CFEC to limit entry in "distressed" fisheries 6 and fisheries that, while not distressed, had reached levels of participation that required limitation to achieve the act's purposes. 7 As noted above, for fisheries in which participation was to be limited immediately, the CFEC was directed to issue entry permits based on certain criteria. 8 For fisheries in which participation was not immediately limited, the CFEC was to issue interim-use permits. 9 Those permits were unlimited in number and were to be issued to "all applicants who can establish their present ability to participate actively in the fishery." 10 After January 1, 1974, no person could operate gear in the commercial taking of fish "without a valid entry permit or a valid interim-use permit issued by the commission." 11

The federal government has also acted to regulate fisheries off the coast of Alaska. In 1976, Congress enacted the Magnuson-Fish-ery Conservation and Management Act (subsequently renamed the Magnuson Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act 12 ) to address over-fishing in areas adjacent to territorial waters, particularly by foreign fishing boats. 13 The act established a 200-mile "fishery conservation zone"-now *925 called the "exclusive economic zone" (EEZ) 14 -over which the federal government exercises fishery management authority. 15 The halibut fishery is governed by both the Magnu-son-Stevens Act and a convention between the United States and Canada that is implemented in the United States by the Northern Pacific Halibut Act of 1982. 16 The Magnu-son-Stevens Act applies almost exclusively to the EEZ. 17

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Related

State v. Dupier
118 P.3d 1039 (Alaska Supreme Court, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
74 P.3d 922, 2003 Alas. App. LEXIS 147, 2003 WL 21771725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dupier-alaskactapp-2003.