A little good news for Alaska commercial fishermen: the Alaska Department of Public safety announced today that state troopers will not be issuing citations to operators of documented vessels that have not been registered with the Alaska Department of Vehicles. Here's the text of the announcement.
Department of Public Safety Advisory Location: Statewide Advisory Text: During the last legislative session, Senate Bill 145 (in collaboration with companion House Bill 185) was introduced to ensure vessels registered with CFEC be exempted from the need to also register with the State of Alaska. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, the bill did not quite make it into law. The intent of SB145 was to clean up the duplicative registration requirement with multiple entities. Once passed, this bill will eliminate duplicative registration requirements while still providing a database of registered owners, as intended by passage of SB 92. In addition, AS 05.25.055(f) states that vessels with a current federal certificate, which are operated less than 90 consecutive days in Alaskan waters, are exempt from further registration requirements. The intent of the legislation was to exempt this type of vessel from duplicative registration. If a recreational or commercial vessel has current federal documentation and we find it has been operated in the waters of Alaska for more than 90 days, no citation will be issued for failure to register with the State of Alaska. This direction is effective immediately and until further notice.
Posted on 6/11/2020 2:31:57 PM by DPS\mapeters
Posting Section: AK Wildlife Troopers
If your boat is documented, you are operating in Alaska waters, and you haven't already registered your boat, it looks like you can save your self a trip to the DMV. If your boat is not documented, you still need to register, if you haven't already. Thanks to United Fishermen of Alaska for putting us on to this.