On-board observer program.

(a) The commissioner may enter into appropriate contracts and agreements with agencies, such as the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission, designed to ensure that on-board observer programs conducted in the fisheries of the state are coordinated and consistent with each other for vessels operating in state and federal water.

(b) The master of a vessel, as a condition of participating in a fishery for which an on-board observer program is authorized by the Board of Fisheries under AS 16.05.251 , shall consent in writing to the placement of an observer aboard the vessel.