Date of Adoption: December 9, 2000.

Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-52-075.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 00-22-105 on November 1, 2000.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

December 21, 2000

Debbie Nelson

for Kelly White, Chairman

Fish and Wildlife Commission

OTS-4509.1

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 00-17, filed 2/14/00, effective 3/16/00)

WAC 220-52-075   Shellfish harvest logs.   It is unlawful for any vessel operator engaged in commercial crawfish, sea cucumber, sea urchin, scallop, shrimp other than ocean pink shrimp, squid, ((octopus,)) or sand shrimp fishing or operator of mechanical clam digging device to fail to obtain and accurately maintain the appropriate harvest log available from the Washington department of fish and wildlife. The harvest log must be kept aboard the vessel while the vessel is engaged in harvest or has crawfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, shrimp other than ocean pink shrimp, squid, ((octopus,)) scallops, clams, or sand shrimp aboard. The vessel operator must submit the harvest logs for inspection upon request by authorized department of fish and wildlife representatives. The department's copies of the completed harvest log must be submitted to the department for each calendar month in which fishing activity occurs. State copies must be received within ten days following any calendar month in which fishing activity occurred, except that commercial sea cucumber harvest logs must be received for each month of the season provided for in WAC 220-52-072 regardless of whether harvest activity occurred during the month, and all shellfish harvesters must submit a log that must be received by the tenth day following the termination of commercial fishing activity showing that shellfish harvest has terminated for the year.

(1) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of shrimp other than Puget Sound shrimp or sand shrimp or crawfish with shellfish pot or ring net gear must record the vessel Washington department of fish and wildlife boat registration number, number of pots or ring nets pulled, date pulled, soak time, and gear location before leaving the catch area where taken, and weights must be recorded upon landing or sale.

(2) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of shrimp other than ocean pink shrimp with beam trawl or shrimp trawl gear must record the vessel identity, date, location fished, trawl width, Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area, depth fished, latitude and longitude to the nearest tenth of a minute or to the nearest second at the beginning and end of each tow, tow speed, duration of tow and estimated weight of shrimp of each species caught for each tow before leaving the site where the catch was taken or before commencing a new tow, whichever occurs first.

It shall be unlawful to fail to permanently record this information into the department-supplied harvest log before leaving each catch site. Harvest logs must be maintained and submitted in ascending consecutive order of harvest log serial numbers. Harvest logs must be submitted for each month in which fishing activity occurs and must be received by the department within ten days following any month in which fishing occurs. The fish receiving ticket serial number must be recorded onto the harvest log at the time of sale, or before leaving the last catch site of the day if the vessel operator holds a wholesale dealer license and is the original receiver of the catch.

(3) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of sea urchins or sea cucumbers must record the vessel identity, date, location fished, depth fished, latitude and longitude to the nearest tenth of a minute or to the nearest second, and the approximate number of sea urchins or sea cucumbers taken before leaving the site where taken and the exact weight must be recorded upon landing or sale.

(4) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of clams with mechanical digging devices must record the vessel identity, location, and date of harvest before the end of each day's fishing and the weights by clam species must be recorded upon landing or sale.

(5) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of scallops must record the vessel identity, date, location, and duration of harvest and estimated weight of scallops caught for each tow or dive hour before leaving the catch area where taken.

(6) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of squid, except when taken incidental to any other lawful fishery, must record before leaving the Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area where taken, the vessel department of fish and wildlife boat registration number, gear type, catch area, starting and ending time of fishing, and numbers of other species caught and returned. Weights of squid must be recorded on landing or sale.

(7) ((Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of octopus, except when taken incidental to any other lawful fishery, must record before leaving the Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area where taken, the vessel department of fish and wildlife boat registration number, gear type and amount, catch area and hours fished. Weights of octopus must be recorded on landing or sale.

(8))) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of sand shrimp, except when taken incidental to any other lawful fishery, must record the location or identification number of the harvest tract, date of harvest, number of trenches pumped, average length and width of trenches (yards), total number of sand shrimp retained (dozens), total number of sand shrimp sold (dozens), and the name of the sand shrimp buyer.

(((9))) (8) Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of shrimp (other than sand shrimp) using shellfish pot gear in Puget Sound must record the vessel's Washington department of fish and wildlife boat registration number, number of pots pulled, soak time, gear location (including latitude and longitude to the nearest tenth of a minute), and weight(s) of catch before leaving the site where catch is taken. A separate weight for each species caught and retained must be recorded. When single pots are fished an entry is required for each pot site. When two or more pots are fished on a common ground line the catch site must be recorded at the location of the last pot on the ground line that is pulled. It shall be unlawful to fail to permanently record this information into the department-supplied harvest log before leaving each catch site. Harvest logs must be maintained and submitted in ascending consecutive order of harvest log serial numbers. Harvest logs must be submitted for each month in which fishing activity occurs and must be received by the department within ten days following any month in which fishing occurs. The fish receiving ticket serial number must be recorded onto the harvest log at the time of sale, or before leaving the last catch site of the day if the vessel operator holds a wholesale dealer license and is the original receiver of the catch. Vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of shrimp from Puget Sound with shellfish pot gear must report their daily catch by telephone before leaving the last catch site fished each day. For harvest in Crustacean Management Regions 1A, 1B, 1C, or 2, reports must be made to the voice recorder at the La Conner district office. For harvest in Crustacean Management Regions 3, 4, or 6, reports must be made to the voice recorder at the Point Whitney shellfish laboratory. All reports must specify the fisher's name, estimated total number of pounds of each shrimp species in possession, number of pots fished, number of pot pulls (pots multiplied by pulls), the Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area where shrimp were harvested, and the port or name of vessel where the catch will be landed or sold. The fish receiving ticket reporting requirements of WAC 220-69-240 remain in effect.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 00-05-054 (Order 00-17), 220-52-075, filed 2/14/00, effective 3/16/00; 97-08-052 (Order 97-55), 220-52-075, filed 3/31/97, effective 5/1/97; 94-12-009 (Order 94-23), 220-52-075, filed 5/19/94, effective 6/19/94; 93-15-051, 220-52-075, filed 7/14/93, effective 8/14/93; 91-10-024 (Order 91-22), 220-52-075, filed 4/23/91, effective 5/24/91; 87-15-022 (Order 87-69), 220-52-075, filed 7/8/87; 87-02-013 (Order 86-199), 220-52-075, filed 12/30/86; 84-08-014 (Order 84-24), 220-52-075, filed 3/27/84; 83-09-014 (Order 83-24), 220-52-075, filed 4/12/83; 82-03-045 (Order 82-6), 220-52-075, filed 1/19/82; 81-11-006 (Order 81-31), 220-52-075, filed 5/11/81; 80-13-064 (Order 80-123), 220-52-075, filed 9/17/80; 79-12-039 (Order 79-129), 220-52-075, filed 11/20/79; 79-02-053 (Order 79-6), 220-52-075, filed 1/30/79.]

Washington State Code Reviser's Office