Date of Adoption: February 10, 2001.

Purpose: Amend commercial fishing and wholesale dealing rules.

Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-20-016, 220-47-301, and 220-69-240.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 01-02-085 on January 3, 2001.

Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: WAC 220-20-016, subsection [(1)](a), proposed amended language withdrawn and deletion restored; and subsection [(1)](d), added, "that may be lawfully retained."

WAC 220-69-240, subsection (7), title corrected and subsection (11), telephone numbers and e-mail address changed.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 3, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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.

March 6, 2001

Russell W. Cahill, Chair

Fish and Wildlife Commission

OTS-4592.3

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 99-202, filed 11/19/99, effective 12/20/99)

WAC 220-20-016   Sale and purchase of commercial caught salmon.   (1) It is unlawful for any person licensed to take salmon for commercial purposes as required under chapter ((75.28)) 77.65 RCW to:

(((1))) (a) Retain for personal use more than the equivalent of one daily sport bag limit for the area being fished. All salmon taken under commercial license must be recorded on state of Washington fish receiving tickets. The daily limit and possession limit described in this subsection also apply to crew members of the licensed fishing vessel.

(((2))) (b) Sell any salmon he takes under such license to anyone other than a licensed wholesale dealer located within or outside the state of Washington: Provided, That a person who is himself licensed as a wholesale dealer under the provisions of RCW ((75.28.300)) 77.65.280 may sell his catch to individuals or corporations other than licensed wholesale dealers.

(c) Sell, barter or attempt to sell or barter chum salmon eggs that have been removed from the body cavity of chum salmon unless all carcasses from which eggs have been removed are sold to the same buyer.

(d) Discard chum salmon that may be lawfully retained.

(2) It is unlawful for any person licensed as a wholesale dealer as required under RCW 77.65.280 and acting in the capacity as an original receiver to purchase or attempt to purchase chum salmon eggs without also purchasing all male and female chum salmon taken by the fisher, including the salmon carcasses from which the eggs were removed.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 99-24-011 (Order 99-202), 220-20-016, filed 11/19/99, effective 12/20/99; 85-11-020 (Order 85-43), 220-20-016, filed 5/10/85; 80-01-021 (Order 79-137), 220-20-016, filed 12/14/79.]

OTS-4591.1

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 97-124, filed 7/29/97, effective 8/29/97)

WAC 220-47-301   Puget Sound -- Lawful gear -- Purse seine.   (1) Lawful purse seine salmon nets in Puget Sound shall not exceed 1,800 feet in length along the cork line while wet and purse seine and lead combined shall not exceed 2,200 feet. Neither shall contain meshes of a size less than 4 inches, nor shall the meshes of the seine and lead be lashed together to form one continuous piece of webbed gear. It shall be lawful as part of the purse seine to have a bunt not more than 10 fathoms long ((and 200 meshes deep)) which may contain mesh of a size not less than 3-1/2 inches.

(2) It shall be unlawful to take or fish for salmon with purse seine gear in Puget Sound which contains mesh webbing constructed of a twine size smaller than 210/30d nylon, 12 thread cotton or the equivalent diameter in any other material.

(3) It shall be unlawful for any purse seine vessel to carry an extra lead or portion thereof unless stowed below decks during the fishing operation, nor may an extra lead or portion thereof be carried aboard its skiff.

(4) Purse seine mesh size shall be defined as the distance between the inside of one knot to the outside of the opposite vertical knot of one mesh. Minimum mesh size is met if a wedge of legal size can be passed without undue force through the mesh while wet.

(5) A purse seine will not be considered to be fishing once both ends of the seine are attached to the primary vessel.

(6) It shall be unlawful to take or fish for salmon with purse seine gear in Puget Sound unless at least four sections, each measuring no less than 12 inches in length, along the corkline in the bunt and within 75 fathoms of the bunt have no corks or floats attached. These four sections must be spaced such that one section is along the corkline in the bunt, within 5 fathoms of the seine net, and the other three sections must be spaced at least 20 fathoms apart along the corkline within 75 fathoms of the bunt.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 97-16-030 (Order 97-124), 220-47-301, filed 7/29/97, effective 8/29/97; 87-15-059 (Order 87-72), 220-47-301, filed 7/14/87; 86-13-038 (Order 86-46), 220-47-301, filed 6/12/86; Order 988, 220-47-301, filed 4/28/72.]

OTS-4593.5

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 99-221, filed 12/20/99, effective 1/20/00)

WAC 220-69-240   Duties of commercial purchasers and receivers.   (1) Every person originally receiving or purchasing fresh or iced food fish or shellfish or parts thereof, or frozen food fish or shellfish or parts thereof that have not been previously landed in another state, territory, or country from fishermen, firms, or individuals, regardless of whether or not the receiver or purchaser holds a license as required under Title ((75)) 77 RCW, must immediately, completely, accurately, and legibly prepare the appropriate state of Washington fish receiving ticket regarding each and every purchase or receipt of such commodities. Any employee of a licensed wholesale dealer who has authorization to receive or purchase fish or shellfish for that dealer on the premises of the primary business address or any of its branch plant locations shall be authorized to initiate and sign fish receiving tickets on behalf of his employer. The business or firm shall be responsible for the accuracy and legibility of all such documents initiated in its name. Each delivery must be recorded on a separate state of Washington fish receiving ticket.

(2) State of Washington fish receiving tickets are required for:

(a) Fresh food fish and shellfish landed in the state of Washington including fish or shellfish not purchased, which fish shall be recorded as weigh back or take home fish or shellfish.

(b) Fresh food fish and shellfish previously landed in another state, territory, or country and shipped or transported into the state of Washington to an original receiver.

(c) Frozen food fish or shellfish not previously landed in another state, territory, or country and shipped or transported into the state of Washington to an original receiver.

(3) State of Washington fish receiving tickets are not required for:

(a) Purchases or receipts made by individuals or consumers at retail.

(b) Purchases or receipts from any person possessing a valid Washington wholesale dealer's license except that a wholesale dealer purchasing fish from a commercial fisherman or shellfish gatherer shall complete the appropriate fish receiving ticket regardless of whether the commercial fisherman or shellfish gatherer possesses a wholesale dealer's license. It is the purchaser's responsibility to obtain the name, address, and Washington wholesale dealer's license number, together with such sales receipt documents or information as may be required, to show the deliverer's name, quantity of fish, and date of the transaction and retain these with the food fish or shellfish.

(c) Fresh or frozen food fish or shellfish that are in transit through the state of Washington, if no storage, handling, processing, or repackaging occurs within the state.

(d) Private sector cultured aquatic products.

(4) Fishermen, fishermen-wholesalers, and wholesalers shall determine the weight of baitfish contained in an average and normal brail and multiply the number of such brailers of baitfish by this weight factor and report such baitfish in both dozens and total weight: Provided, That it is lawful for such fishermen, fishermen-wholesalers, and wholesalers, when receiving herring, candlefish, anchovy, or pilchards for bait purposes, to delay completing that portion of the fish receiving ticket which indicates number of herring received, only if the herring, candlefish, anchovy, or pilchards are sold individually or counted as dozens. Such counts must be entered on the fish tickets immediately. An estimate of herring, candlefish, anchovy, or pilchards caught but not sold due to mortality must be included on the fish ticket as "loss estimate."

(5) It is lawful for an original receiver, when receiving purse seine-caught herring taken from Areas 20A, 20B, 21A, and 21B during the period April 16 through May 31, to delay completing that portion of the fish receiving ticket which indicates the weight of herring received only until the herring are off-loaded from the original receiver's vessel. The herring must then be weighed and the weight immediately entered in the appropriate space on the ticket. A separate state of Washington fish receiving ticket must be initiated at the time of each individual receipt of herring from the purse seine catching vessel.

(6) The original receiver of herring taken from Puget Sound Marine Fish-Shellfish Catch Areas 20A, 20B, 21A, and 21B, during the period April 16 through May 31 must report each calendar day's receipts by noon of the following day to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, LaConner, Washington; telephone (360) 466-4345 ext. 243.

(7) It is unlawful for any person receiving or purchasing geoducks from fishermen, firms, or individuals, regardless of whether or not the purchaser or receiver holds a license as required under Title ((75)) 77 RCW, to fail to accurately and legibly complete the fish receiving ticket initiated on the harvest tract immediately upon the actual landing of geoducks from the harvesting vessel onto the shore. This fish receiving ticket shall accompany the harvested geoducks from the department of natural resources harvest tract to the point of landing.

(8) It is unlawful for the original receiver of Pacific whiting to fail to enter an estimated weight of Pacific whiting on the fish receiving ticket immediately upon completion of the landing. The exact weights of whiting, by grade, and all incidental species in the landing must be entered on the fish receiving ticket within twenty-four hours of the landing.

(9) It is unlawful for the original receiver of shrimp other than ghost shrimp taken from Puget Sound to fail to report to the department the previous day's purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following morning. Such report must be by telephone call to the Point Whitney Shellfish Laboratory or by facsimile transmission (FAX) to the Point Whitney Shellfish Laboratory. All reports must specify the total number of pounds caught by gear type, Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area, and species. The fish receiving ticket reporting requirement of WAC 220-69-240 remains in effect.

(10) It is unlawful for the original receiver to fail to initiate the completion of the fish receiving ticket immediately upon receipt of any portion of a commercial catch. Should the unloading of a catch take more than one day, the date that the unloading is completed shall be entered on the fish receiving ticket as the date of landing. If, for any purpose, the vessel leaves the unloading site, the original receiver must immediately enter the current date on the fish receiving ticket.

(11) During any fishery opening designated by rule as "quick reporting required," it is unlawful for any wholesale dealer acting in the capacity of an original receiver to fail to report a summary of all purchases of salmon and sturgeon made on the previous calendar day. The summary must include dealer name and purchasing location, date of purchase, list of fish ticket numbers used on the purchasing date, and the following summary catch data for each species purchased: Gear, catch area, species, number and total weight of fish. When quick reporting is required, it is unlawful to fail to comply with the following reporting requirements:

(a) Puget Sound summary reports must be reported by 10:00 a.m. on the day after the purchase date by either:

(i) FAX transmission to (360) 902-2949

(ii) E-mail to psfishtickets@dfw.wa.gov or

(iii) Telephone to 1-866-791-1279

(b) Coastal troll summary reports must be reported by 10:00 a.m. on the day after the purchase date by either:

(i) FAX transmission to (360) 902-2949

(ii) E-mail to trollfishtickets@dfw.wa.gov or

(iii) Telephone to 1-866-791-1279

(c) Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay summary reports must be reported by 10:00 a.m. on the day after the purchase date by either:

(i) FAX transmission to (360) 664-0689

(ii) E-mail to harborfishtickets@dfw.wa.gov or

(iii) Telephone to 1-866-791-1280

(d) Columbia River summary reports must be reported by 10:00 a.m. on the day after the purchase date by either:

(i) FAX transmission to (360) 906-6776 or (360) 906-6777

(ii) E-mail to crfishtickets@dfw.wa.gov or

(iii) Telephone to 1-866-791-1281

(12) It is unlawful for any wholesale dealer acting in the capacity of an original receiver and receiving sea urchins or sea cucumbers from nontreaty fishers to fail to report to the department each day's purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following day. For red sea urchins the report must specify the number of pounds received from each sea urchin district. For green sea urchins and sea cucumbers the report must specify the number of pounds received from each Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area. The report must be made by facsimile (FAX) transmission to (360) 586-8408 or by telephone to (360) 796-4601, extension 500. Additionally, it is unlawful for the original receiver of red sea urchins to fail to record on the fish receiving ticket the sea urchin district where the red sea urchins were taken, and it is unlawful for the original receiver of any sea urchins to fail to record on the fish receiving ticket the name of the port of landing where the sea urchins were landed ashore.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 00-01-145 (Order 99-221), 220-69-240, filed 12/20/99, effective 1/20/00; 97-08-052 (Order 97-55), 220-69-240, filed 3/31/97, effective 5/1/97. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080 and 75.58.040. 86-19-043 (Order 86-102), 220-69-240, filed 9/12/86. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 85-11-020 (Order 85-43), 220-69-240, filed 5/10/85; 83-24-049 (Order 83-203), 220-69-240, filed 12/2/83; 82-17-040 (Order 82-105), 220-69-240, filed 8/13/82; 81-11-006 (Order 81-31), 220-69-240, filed 5/11/81; Order 77-14, 220-69-240, filed 4/15/77; Order 76-153, 220-69-240, filed 12/17/76.]

Washington State Code Reviser's Office