(a) Except as may be otherwise provided under AS 16.43.270(d), an entry permit authorizes the permittee to operate a unit of gear within a specified fishery.

(b) The holder of an entry permit shall have the permit in possession at all times when engaged in the operation of gear for which it was issued.

(c) Each entry permit is issued for a term of one year and is renewable annually.

(d) Failure to renew an entry permit for a period of two years from the year of last renewal results in a forfeiture of the entry permit to the commission, except as waived by the commission for good cause. An entry permit may not be renewed until the fees for each preceding year during which the entry permit was not renewed are paid. However, failure to renew an entry permit in a year in which there is an administrative closure for the entire season for a specific fishery is good cause not to renew the entry permit. The commission shall waive the payment of fees for that year.

(e) An entry permit constitutes a use privilege that may be modified or revoked by the legislature without compensation.

(f) Except for permits that are not transferable under AS 16.43.170(e), an entry permit survives the death of the holder.

(g) Except as provided in AS 16.10.333 - 16.10.338, AS 44.81.215, 44.81.225, and 44.81.231 - 44.81.250, an entry permit may not be

(1) pledged, mortgaged, leased, or encumbered in any way;

(2) transferred with any retained right of repossession or foreclosure, or on any condition requiring a subsequent transfer; or

(3) attached, distrained, or sold on execution of judgment or under any other process or order of any court, except as provided in AS 16.43.170(g) and (h).

(h) Unless an entry permit holder has expressed a contrary intent in a will that is probated, the commission shall, upon the death of the permit holder, transfer the permanent permit by right of survivorship directly to the surviving spouse or, if no spouse survives, to a natural person designated by the permit holder on a form provided by the commission. If no spouse survives and if the person designated on the form, if any, does not survive, the permit passes as part of the permit holder's estate. A designation under this subsection must be acknowledged before a person authorized to administer an oath under AS 09.63.010 or must be witnessed by two persons who are qualified under AS 13.12.505 to witness the will of the permit holder. Except as provided in AS 16.10.333 - 16.10.337, AS 44.81.215, and 44.81.231 - 44.81.250, the permit is exempt from the claims of creditors of the estate.

(i) The holder of a transferable or nontransferable entry permit or of an interim-use permit may voluntarily relinquish the permit to the commission.