S-4582 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL NO. 6749
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State of Washington 50th Legislature 1988 Regular Session
By Senators DeJarnatt and Metcalf
Read first time 2/5/88 and referred to Committee on Environment & Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to commercial crab fishing in coastal waters; adding new sections to chapter 75.30 RCW; making an appropriation; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that a significant commercial crab fishery exists in the coastal waters of the state. The legislature further finds that the coastal crab fishery represents a separate and distinct fishery from that of the Puget Sound licensing district and is limited in quantity and is in need of conservation. The potential for depletion of coastal crab stocks is increasing, particularly as crab fishing becomes an attractive alternative to fishers facing increased restrictions on the other commercial fisheries of the state.
The legislature finds that the number of commercial fishers engaged in coastal crab fishing has steadily increased. This factor, combined with advances in fishing and marketing techniques, has resulted in strong pressures on the supply of crab.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. It is unlawful to take dungeness crab (Cancer magister) in the state coastal shellfish management and catch reporting areas 58B, 59A, 59B, 60A, 60B, 60C, and 60D without first obtaining a coastal crab license endorsement.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Commercial crab licenses issued under this section endorsed for Washington state coastal licensing districts may be issued only to vessels:
(1) Which hold a commercial crab license endorsed for coastal licensing zones for the 1988 season or had transferred to the vessel such a license, and have not subsequently transferred the endorsed license to another vessel unless both vessels are owned by the same owner; and
(2) From which one thousand pounds of dungeness crab were caught and landed in Washington state in the 1985, 1986, or 1987 coastal commercial crab fishing seasons as documented by a valid shellfish receiving ticket.
This requirement shall apply to licenses for which application is made after January 1, 1988. This section does not apply to Puget Sound licenses transferred to coastal waters if the transfer occurred in 1985, 1986, 1987, or 1988. The issuance of commercial crab licenses for the Puget Sound licensing district is not restricted by this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department shall conduct a study in cooperation with the coastal commercial crab fishing industry to determine if a moratorium on coastal commercial crab fishing licenses is desirable and in the best interests of management of the resource. Moratorium reciprocity with the states of Oregon and California, implementation considerations, and long-term impact on resource management shall be major components for the study. The study shall include the coastal shellfish management and catch reporting areas 58B, 59A, 59B, 60A, 60B, 60C, 60D, Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, and that portion of the mouth of the Columbia river regulated by the department. The results and recommendations of the study shall be completed by December 1, 1989, and reported to the appropriate committees of the legislature no later than January 31, 1990.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. There is appropriated from the general fund to the department of fisheries for the biennium ending June 30, 1989, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the purposes of the study.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Sections 1 through 4 of this act are each added to chapter 75.30 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This act is necessary for the immediate conservation of a scarce public resource, the support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and shall take effect immediately.