The board of fisheries and the department, when taking actions regarding the management of groundfish fisheries, should consider the following principles and criteria:

1. (1) conservation of the groundfish resource to ensure sustained yield, which requires that the total allowable catch in any fishery be based upon the biological abundance of the stock;
2. (2) minimization of bycatch of other associated fish and shellfish and prevention of the localized depletion of stocks;
3. (3) conservation of the habitat and other associated fish and shellfish species from nonsustainable fishing practices with consideration of ecosystem interactions;
4. (4) maintenance of slower harvest rates by methods-and-means and time-and-area restrictions to ensure adequate reporting and analysis necessary for management of the fishery and ensuring adherence to annual and seasonal total allowable catch limits;
5. (5) extension of the length of fishing seasons by methods-and-means and time-and-area restrictions to provide for the maximum benefit to the state and local areas of the state;
6. (6) harvest of the resource in a manner that emphasizes the quality and value of the fishery product;
7. (7) provision of opportunities for subsistence, sport, commercial, and personal use fisheries;
8. (8) cooperation with federal agencies associated with groundfish fisheries;
9. (9) management of the groundfish fisheries based on information that, in the commissioner's discretion, will tend to promote the purposes of state statutes pertaining to fisheries management.

(Eff. 6/25/2023, Register 246)

Authority: AS 16.05.251