The United States negotiated treaties with various Indian tribes within the Washington Territory in the 1850s, before statehood.  In the treaties, the signatory tribes ceded their interest in most of the lands in the Washington Territory in exchange for monetary compensation and certain parcels of land which were reserved for the exclusive use of the tribes.  The treaties also reserved certain aboriginal rights on lands outside of the designated reservations, including the right to engage in fishing and hunting on usual and accustomed grounds and areas.

In 1970, the United States and several treaty tribes filed suit in federal court against the State of Washington for violating the tribes' treaty right to fish.  After extensive litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the treaties collectively entitled the tribes to a 50 percent share of the fish harvest in the state and established treaty tribes as comanagers of Washington fisheries. 

Generally, the Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is responsible for establishing the time, place, manner, and methods for non-tribal harvest of fish, shellfish, and wildlife in the state; however, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and WDFW jointly manage the state geoduck fishery with the Puget Sound Treaty Tribes as comanagers.  The DNR manages the state's share of the geoduck stock under the guidance of a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) developed in 2008.  The HCP covers the harvest of naturally occurring geoduck on state-owned beds under marine waters. 

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) must convene and administer a Geoduck Comanagement Task Force (Task Force) to investigate opportunities to reduce negative impacts to tribal treaty and state geoduck harvest in Washington.  

Reporting Requirements.
The Task Force must investigate the feasibility of intervention, including reseeding projects to improve native stocks, to enhance the wild stock of geoduck.  An evaluation of opportunities, challenges, and financial feasibility as well as joint recommendations must be submitted as a report to the DNR administrator and the Legislature by December 1, 2024.  

The Task Force must also:  (1) identify the important factors that are preventing classification of areas for commercial harvest of wild stock geoduck and that are leading to the downgrade of wild stock geoduck commercial tracts; and (2) develop recommendations to sustainably increase the number and area of harvestable tracts.  This information must be submitted as a report to the DNR administrator and the Legislature by December 1, 2024.  This report must include several components including:

• consideration of opportunities identified, and recommendations presented in previous studies or reports;
• an inventory of wastewater treatment plan and surface water runoff point sources impacting state and tribal geoduck harvesting opportunities within the classified commercial shellfish growing areas in the Puget Sound;
• a ranking of identified outfalls and point sources prioritized for future correction to mitigate downgraded classification of areas with commercial geoduck harvest opportunity;
• an inventory of wild stock geoduck tracts that are most impacted by poor water quality or other factors impacting classification;
• consideration of the role of sediment load and urban runoff, and pathways to mitigate these impacts; and
• recommendations for future actions to improve the harvest quantity of wild stock geoduck and to prioritize areas that can attain improved classification most readily while considering the influence of outfalls.

Task Force Membership.
The administrator of the DNR must invite representatives from the following entities to participate in the Task Force:

• the DNR;
• tribes with treaty or reserved rights to geoduck harvest in Washington;
• the Department of Ecology;
• the Department of Health;
• the Department of Fish and Wildlife;
• the Puget Sound Partnership; and
• a representative of the academic community.

The member representing the DNR serves as the chair of the Task Force.  Task Force members serve at the pleasure of the DNR administrator.  The administrator of the DNR may invite other individuals to the task force, not to exceed the number of seats of tribal entities.  The Task Force must convene at least quarterly and may consult any necessary experts in development of the reports required.

The Task Force expires January 15, 2025.