1. (a) Herring may be taken during the open season by purse seines and gillnets.
2. (b) Herring pounds for fresh bait and tray pack operations may be used only under the terms of a permit issued by the commissioner.
3. (c) Herring pounds for the taking of spawn-on-kelp in pounds may be operated only under terms of a permit issued by the commissioner and as provided in 5 AAC 27.185.
4. (d) A herring pound for the herring spawn-on-kelp pound fishery may be a closed pound or an open pound and may be operated only as provided in 5 AAC 27.185.

5. (e) In the Southeastern Alaska Area,

   1. (1) a closed pound consists of a single, floating, rectangular frame structure with suspended webbing that is used to enclose herring for a period of time in order to produce spawn on kelp suspended within the pound; a closed pound shall be operated as follows:

      1. (A) webbing of a closed pound may not have a mesh size of more than one and one-half inches;
      2. (B) the opening of a closed pound must be rectangular at the water surface and may not exceed 800 square feet in area;

      3. (C) neither the sewn vertical wall nor the near-vertical wall may exceed the depth below the water surface when the pound contains herring as follows:

         1. (i) with a surface square footage less than 400 feet, the depth of webbing may not exceed 30 feet;
         2. (ii) with a surface square footage of at least 401 feet but not more than 500 feet, the depth of webbing may not exceed 24 feet;
         3. (iii) with a surface square footage of at least 501 feet but not more than 600 feet, the depth of webbing may not exceed 20 feet;
         4. (iv) with a surface square footage of at least 601 feet but not more than 700 feet, the depth of webbing may not exceed 17 feet;
         5. (v) with a surface square footage of at least 701 feet but not more than 800 feet, the depth of webbing may not exceed 15 feet;
      4. (D) webbing of a closed pound may not be part of the webbing of another pound structure;
   2. (2) an open pound consists of a single, floating, rectangular frame structure with suspended kelp and no webbing or lead that is used for the production of spawn on kelp; the inside surface area may not exceed 2,400 square feet and no one side may be longer than 60 feet; for the purposes of this paragraph, "lead" means a length of net employed for guiding herring to the pound.

(In effect before 1983; am 4/16/83, Register 86; am 6/25/89, Register 110; am 4/23/94, Register 130; am 1/29/98, Register 145; am 5/31/98, Register 146; am 4/16/2000, Register 154; am 9/10/2000, Register 155; am 4/2/2006, Register 177)

Authority: AS 16.05.251