(a) Except as provided under (c) of this section, a buyer who acquires a fishery resource that is subject to a seafood development tax levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 shall collect the seafood development tax at the time of purchase, and shall remit the total tax collected during each month to the department by the last day of the next month.

(b) A buyer who collects the seafood development tax shall

(1) maintain records reflecting the fishery in which the fishery resource was caught; and

(2) report to the Department of Revenue by March 1 of each year the total value, as defined in AS 43.75.290, of the fishery resources caught in each fishery that the buyer has acquired during the preceding year.

(c) A commercial fisherman who transfers possession of a fishery resource to a buyer who is not a fisheries business licensed under AS 43.75 is liable for the payment of a seafood development tax levied under AS 43.76.350, 43.76.355, 43.76.360, or 43.76.365 if, at the time possession of the fishery resource is transferred to a buyer, the seafood development tax payable on the fishery resource has not been collected. If a commercial fisherman is liable for payment of the seafood development tax under this subsection, the commercial fisherman shall comply with the requirements under (b) of this section to maintain records and to make reports to the Department of Revenue. Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a person subject to this subsection shall remit the total seafood development tax payable during the calendar year to the Department of Revenue before April 1 after close of the calendar year.

(d) The Department of Revenue shall deposit the seafood development tax collected under AS 43.76.350 - 43.76.399 in the general fund. The legislature may make appropriations based on this revenue to the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development for the purpose of providing financing for qualified regional seafood development associations.