A tad confused

Ive read the Alaska fishing regulations and what im getting from it is that i cannot keep any live fish caught in alaska.

Possession or marking of live fish or live fish eggs: It is unlawful to possess, transport, and release live fish or live fish eggs or in any way mark any live fish before release, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by the Commissioner under 5 AAC 41 or AS 16.05.930(a).

Possession of sport-caught fish: (a) Sport-caught fish, their parts, and articles manufactured from such fish may be possessed within the state by any person at any time, and may be transported within and exported out of the state by any person at any time except that no person may possess any unpreserved fish (see definition of preserved fish below), or part of one, not legally taken by himself, unless he furnishes, upon request of any peace officer of the state, a statement signed by the person taking the fish stating the type of fish, number of fish, location, date taken, and license number. The statement is unnecessary if the person possessing the fish is accompanied by the person who took the fish. No person may possess fish which were not legally taken. (b) A person may possess only the limit of fish allowed for the water on which that person is fishing. © Upon request by an ADF&G employee, a person must show to the employee fish taken and possessed by the person in a sport fishery.

Use of sport-caught fish as bait: (1) Whitefish, herring, and other species for which no seasonal or harvest limits are specified in 5 AAC 47 - 5 AAC 75, as well as the head, tail, fins, and viscera of legally taken sport fish, may be used for bait or other purposes. (2) Herring and other species of fish for which no seasonal or harvest limits are specified in 5 AAC 47 - 5 AAC 75 may be used as live bait, except that live fish may not be used as bait for sport fishing in fresh water. (3) Live bait may be possessed, transported, or released only in the salt waters or the regulatory area in which it was taken.

is this true? i hope not, but if it is im moving next summer anyhow.

Unfortunately, it sounds likely. Many states in the western contiguous US are the same way - there's been too many cases of private individuals moving fish around or releasing baitfish, with generally bad consequences. Alaska has been lucky because it's been insulated by Canada, with many fewer introductions than what we see down here, and likely a lot that didn't take because of the climate.

I would suggest teaming up with folks from one of the local colleges or come up with a good reason to take non-game fishes (display at local school, etc.) and apply for a scientific collecting permit.

If you want the contact info for the person in charge of permits for AK DFG, contact me directly.

Cheers,
Dave

It sounds to me like you can possess the fish, as long as you are the one who caught it. You can also ship fish out of state. Since you can ship them, can you ship me some Alaska Blackfish ?

Would one need a chiller to keep Alaska Black fish. Looks like an awesome fish. I would think these guys come from fairly cold water.

Ed, I disagree with your reading of that. Also in the regulations are the following, which are pretty clear-cut. They're serious about not wanting people moving live fish around.

"Sport fishing gear: Unless provided in 5 AAC 75.020 -- 5 AAC 75.049 (area-specific regulations), or by the area regulations in 5 AAC 46 -- 5 AAC 70, sport fishing may only be conducted by the use of a single line having attached to it not more than one plug, spoon, spinner, or series of spinners, or two flies, or two hooks. The line must be closely attended. The use of any explosive or toxicant for taking fish in the waters of Alaska is prohibited."

"Possession or marking of live fish or live fish eggs: It is unlawful to possess, transport, and release live fish or live fish eggs or in any way mark any live fish before release, except in accordance with the terms of a permit issued by the Commissioner under 5 AAC 41 or AS 16.05.930(a)."

Seems pretty clear to me, even though it isn't what you want to hear. That's why I suggested that getting a permit is the best approach.

Best regards,
Dave

Possession of sport-caught fish: (a) Sport-caught fish, their parts, and articles manufactured from such fish may be possessed within the state by any person at any time, and may be transported within and exported out of the state by any person at any time except that no person may possess any unpreserved fish (see definition of preserved fish below), or part of one, not legally taken by himself...

Sorry, Dave, but I don't know how you can read this and conclude that fish cannot be possessed by the person catching the fish. This says quite clearly (to me) that the person catching the fish can possess the fish, transport the fish, and export the fish from the state. If I were AlaskaMatt, I would memorize this citation, and fish to my heart's content.

Daniel, another Alaskan who appeared here briefly and hasn't been heard from since noted that Alaska Blackfish are often trapped in sun-baked pools that get very warm. So they can apparently handle warm temperatures, and you wouldn't need a chiller to keep them. The real problem with keeping them is that they are next to impossible to come by. Nobody or almost nobody here has access to them. If somebody could get some, and ship some...

I found it. Here it is:
http://forum.nanfa.o...h...ost&p=10421

Hi Ed,

Did you read either of the regulations in my previous post? How is "unlawful to possess, transport, and release live fish or live fish eggs" not crystal clear? It doesn't matter whether you caught them or not - if you want to keep them, move them, or export them, they have to be dead.

You also didn't read the part above that - it's illegal to dipnet or seine or trap fish in Alaska (except under other circumstances -smelt in some areas); "sport fishing equipment" is clearly defined as hook and line, so unless you think you can get blackfish on hook and line, you're out of luck without a special permit (which as I mentioned before is not that difficult to get!).

I spent two days on Spenard Lake (the introduced population in Anchorage) in late summer of 2005 trying to catch these things by seine, under scientific collecting permit for illustration purposes,, and if they are still there they certainly not abundant. The lake hosts a floatplane base (which explains how they likely got there from way out in western Alaska), and there is little public access. If you really wanted them you'd probably be better off chartering a plane and getting out the their native range.

They are not impossible to come by - a colleague of mine did some salinity-tolerance research on them many years back, and they are incredibly abundant in appropriate habitat in their native range.

Funny thing is, if they were easy to get, you probably would have zero interest in them...

Best regards,
Dave

I copied and pasted this directly from Alaskas fishing regs online.

Sport-caught fish, their parts, and articles manufactured from such fish may be possessed within the state by any person at any time, and may be transported within and exported out of the state by any person at any time except that no person may possess any unpreserved fish (see definition of preserved fish below), or part of one, not legally taken by himself, unless he furnishes, upon request of any peace officer of the state, a statement signed by the person taking the fish stating the type of fish, number of fish, location, date taken, and license number. The statement is unnecessary if the person possessing the fish is accompanied by the person who took the fish. No person may possess fish which were not legally taken. A person may possess only the limit of fish allowed for the water on which that person is fishing.

I think if one reads very closley and over and over the preserved fish they are talking about is one that is not caught by yourself. It says that sport fish may be possessed within the state by any person at any time, and may be transported within the state or exported out of the state by any person at any time.

The part that says the fish has to be preserved only applies to a person that did not catch that fish himself. Then it goes on to say that you can even possess that fish unpreserved if you have a statement signed by the person who caught the fish stating the type of fish, number of fish, location, date taken and his/her liscense number. Then as you can read above it is unnecessary to have that statement if that person who caught the fish is with you.

I agree totaly with Ed and I also believe that anyone that does not agree with Ed and Myself read and re-read till you see that you can have in your possesion fish taken by oneself. The only time the fish has to be preserved is when that fish was taken by another person and the person that caught this fish is not with you or you do not have a signed statement from that person. I see no confusion of any sort in that regulation. I believe you can possess leagly caught fish from a body of water and keep it and ship it, by reading this regulation. But I do agree it may be a little hard to catch some of those fish suitable for aquarium with hook and line.

Again if you read the part about preserved fish it only applies if you did not catch the fish yourself. But yet you still can keep the fish unpreserved if you have a signed statement by the person that caught it and his liscence number etc etc, or if you are with the person that caught it. I am with Ed on this Alaskamatt I would fish my heart out with out any worries. I would keep the fish and bring them to my house and export them if I desire and be within the letter of the law. I cannot see how one can come to any conclusion but that by reading the reg I coppied and pasted from the Alaska regs online.

I believe the message this regulation is trying to get across, and gets it across very clearly is that you cannot catch fish from one lake then pull out of that lake and go to another with those fish still in your possession.

If you cannot possess fish legally taken, then you cannot fish. That seems to me to be absurd. But, that's just me

I think a lawyer would dismantle this "unlawful to possess, transport, and release live fish or live fish eggs" statement by focusing on the "and". Legally, and logically, "AND" means a combination of all three terms. You cannot do all 3 things. "or" would be entirely different. By the absolute letter of this law, you could probably even possess and transport a bucket of live fish, then hand them to someone standing in a lake for release. (I would not recommend doing this!)

Before someone on here got themselves in trouble with a conservation officer, I went directly to the ADF&G. This is the response I got:

"A person may not catch a native fish with an Alaska fishing license with the intention of
keeping the fish live, or transporting the live fish. A
scientific/education permit, Fish Resource Permit, is required to capture a
native fish with intention to keep it alive in an aquaria or otherwise; this
permit can be obtained from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G),
Division of Sport Fish. It is unlawful to capture a fish from Alaska waters
and then release it into a new location, even into aquaria. A separate
permit, Fish Transport Permit, is required to relocate any live fish from
its capture location to any other location (even down stream of where it was
captured); such a permit can be obtained from ADF&G, Division of Commercial
Fisheries. An individual must have a scientific or educational purpose
outlined when applying for these permits.

If you would like to apply for a Fish Resource Permit or a Fish Transport
Permit, please review the Policy and Requirements link and find an
application for these permits on the ADF&G website link:
http://www.cf.adfg.s...ts/plf_home.php
Information is listed under the Scientific/Education heading in yellow."

Is this clear enough?

Best regards,
Dave

Thank you Dave....This clears it up.

Ignorance is bliss. You should have left well enough alone.

On the other hand, it has been said here before that you should go by the written text of the regs, not what a CO says. Ultimately, a judge enforces the law, based on the text of the regs, not the interpretation of the CO. Bullhead is grammatically correct, and I would think that would have to be the final answer in court.

Linking blackfish, lawyers, Clinton and fornicators in one post? Nice threadjack.

Daniel, I think the topic of this thread here is marking your words well.... "A tad confused"...
What is difficult to understand here?

Please read above where us "Nazi, first amendment abusing, liberal, Clinton worshiping admins" have tried to avoid any more of this ranting. It goes something like this:

Please keep discussions pertaining to laws and regulations from being influenced by personal opinion.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Seconded.

Thanks guys for clearing that up for me. I really appreciate all the responses .

Thanks guys for clearing that up for me. I really appreciate all the responses .

A permit should not be much of an issue..Take Dave up on his offer to help you sort this out.

Thanks, i sure will.

This is what I found on the link someone provided above. Why do they not spell this out in their fishing regs is beyond me. But now it is clear to me. Hey alaskamatt why not MOVE LOL

I mean it is cold up there anyway right ?? In all sincerity I hope you can get help from someone. Now I did not read real close but does it say you cannot possess fish shipped to you from another state. Just wondering who ever put that link up there. Sorry but my memory span is a nanosecond long. But I scanned this from page two on scientific permits or something like that.