Fish and Game plans to cut about 50 of its own rules by year's end

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game plans to eliminate about 50 of its own regulatory requirements by December 31. Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang wrote in the department's reform plan that the agency "identified approximately 338 discretionary requirements under Fish and Game regulations in Title 5 of the Alaska Administrative Code." The 2026 goal is to reduce that to about 288. The plan was signed April 1, after an extension, and amended May 7.

The target comes from Administrative Order 360, which Governor Mike Dunleavy signed on August 4, 2025. It directs every executive branch department, board, commission and public corporation to "reduce the number of regulatory requirements by 15 percent by December 31, 2026, and 25 percent (cumulative) by December 31, 2027." The order says the state's regulatory system "has expanded over time, often adding layers of requirements without considering the burden imposed on Alaska's citizens and businesses." Cook Inletkeeper called the order "a reckless and ill-conceived attempt to gut oversight of natural resources" in an August 2025 statement.

What counts toward the quota is narrower than it sounds. Vincent-Lang wrote that the baseline "does not include Boards of Fisheries and Game regulations, which will be provided in each board's regulatory reform plan," and that the count may increase once guidance documents and materials adopted by reference are reviewed. Named repeals for 2026 include the annual seafood processing capacity survey, a decades-unused allowance for foreign-flagged processing vessels, and a hatchery surcharge date that has sunset.

The order also tells Fish and Game, Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation to set permitting deadlines with automatic approval if the state misses them. State commissioners told an Anchorage resource industry breakfast on August 11 that some permits now clear in under a week.

Departments are publishing their compliance plans one at a time on the Alaska Online Public Notice System, where at least fourteen are posted, including Natural Resources, Commerce, Transportation and Public Facilities and the Office of the Governor. The order also requires agencies to publish public and stakeholder feedback on proposed changes along with their own responses to it.

Fish and Game's regulatory reform page still takes written comment, and Environmental Conservation says every proposed change will go through a full public process. Quarterly progress reports go to the governor's office and have not been published.