Purpose: Commercial fishing rules.

     Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-47-604.

     Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047.

     Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.

     Reasons for this Finding: Regulations for the 2004 Puget Sound commercial salmon fishery were discussed at North of Falcon planning meetings in the spring, and subsequently, a package containing permanent regulation changes arising from agreements made by comanagers at those meetings was filed with the Code Reviser's Office under expedited rule procedures. That package of permanent regulations is not yet in effect, and these emergency rules are necessary to initiate fisheries, which are scheduled to commence before those permanent rules will become effective. This regulation provides for the Bellingham Bay limited participation purse seine fishery and Area 9A gill net and skiff gill net fishery as negotiated during the North of Falcon. This fishery is not expected to exceed chinook by-catch levels modeled during the preseason process.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.

     Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0;      Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

     Date Adopted: August 20, 2004.

J. P. Koenings

Director

Lawful gill net gear:

     Lawful gill net gear in Puget Sound Areas 7, and 7A, shall not contain meshes of a size less than 5 inches nor greater than 5 1/2 inches. It is unlawful to fish for salmon with gill net gear in Areas 7 and 7A unless the vessel operator has attended a "Fish Friendly" best fishing practices workshop and is in possession of a department-issued certification card.

Lawful purse seine gear:

     1) It is unlawful to fish for salmon with purse seine gear in Areas 7 and 7A unless the vessel operator has attended a "Fish Friendly" best fishing practices workshop and is in possession of a department-issued certification card.

     2) If fishers are enrolled in the "Rolling Wedge" evaluation program they may use the rolling wedge in lieu of brailing provided they comply with the following conditions:

     (a) Have enrolled by contacting the Department at 902-2717 prior to June 1, 2004

     (b) Pay the funding fee of $100 per day of the opening

     (c) Allow WDFW observer on board for all fishing activities

     (d) No more than 125 fish may be on deck at any one time.

     (e) Place all lethargic or injured fish in the operating recovery box until they appear recovered or they are dead

     Dimensions and capacities of required recovery boxes:

     (i) Recovery boxes must have two chambers, if one box, or it may be two boxes with one chamber in each box.

     (ii) Each recovery box chamber must have an inside length measurement of 48 inches, an inside width measurement of 10 inches, and an inside height measurement of 16 inches.

     (iii) Each chamber of the recovery box must have an inlet hole measuring between 3/4 inch and 1 inch in diameter, and the inlet hole must be centered horizontally across the door or wall of the chamber and the bottom of the hole must be located 1 3/4 inches above the floor of the chamber.

     (iv) Each chamber of the recovery box must include a water outlet hole on the opposite wall from the inlet hole, and the outlet hole must be at least 1 1/2 inches in diameter with the bottom of the outlet hole located 12 inches above the floor of the chamber.

     (v) Flow of water through each chamber of the recovery boxes must be not less than 16 gallons per minute nor more than 20 gallons per minute.

     (f) Each box and chamber must be operating during any time that the net is being retrieved or picked.

     (g) The vessel operator must demonstrate to department employees, upon request, that the pumping system is delivering the proper volume of fresh seawater into each chamber.

     All salmon not to be retained must be released immediately with care and the least possible injury to the fish, or placed into the operating recovery box.

Daily Registration - When daily registration (hail in-hail out) is a condition to fish in an area, the license holder must report 1) their name, 2) a telephone number where they can be reached, 3) the gear type, and 4) the area they will be fishing. This report must be made 24 hours in advance of EACH DAY of fishing by using one of the following:

     • FAX transmission to (360) 902-2949

     • E-mail to psfishtickets@dfw.wa.gov

     • Toll-free telephone call to 1-866-791-1279 (leave voice message)

     "Hailing out" is required as part of daily registration. To "hail out" the vessel operator must notify the Department by phoning toll-free 1-866-791-1279 as they prepare to leave the fishing area and provide adequate notification as to where and when they will land their fish.

    
Area 6D:

     Skiff Gill Nets - (a) Open to skiff gill nets using 5-inch minimum and 5 1/2-inch maximum mesh from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the following dates: 9/21, 9/22, 9/23, 9/24, 9/27, 9/28, 9/29, 9/30, 10/1, 10/4, 10/5, 10/6, 10/7, 10/8, 10/11, 10/12, 10/13, 10/14, 10/15, 10/18, 10/19, 10/20, 10/21, 10/22, 10/25, 10/26, 10/27, 10/28, 10/29.

     (b) It is unlawful to retain chinook or pink salmon taken in Area 6D at any time, or any chum salmon taken in Area 6D prior to October 16. Any chinook, chum or pink salmon required to be released, must be removed from the net by cutting the meshes ensnaring the fish.

Area 7 and 7A:

     Reef Nets - Open to reef net gear according to the times, dates, and conditions as prescribed and listed here:

7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily

September 12 through November 13

     It is unlawful to retain chinook and salmon at all times, and it is unlawful to retain chum salmon and wild coho salmon prior to October 1. It is unlawful to fish for salmon with reef net gear in Areas 7 and 7A unless the vessel operator has attended a "Fish Friendly" best fishing practices workshop and is in possession of a department-issued certification card.

Areas 7B and 7C:

     Purse Seines - (a) Open only to the purse seine vessels Anna Louise, Contender, Norman B, and Farewell from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday August 25, 2004. Open only to the purse seine vessels Polarland, Memento, Esperanza and Anna Louise from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday September 1, 2004.

     (i) It is unlawful to retain sockeye or coho salmon, and any sockeye or coho salmon caught must be released immediately.

     (ii) It is unlawful to bring salmon aboard a vessel unless all salmon captured in the seine net are removed from the seine net using a brailer or dip net, meeting the specifications in WAC 220-47-325, prior to the seine net being removed from the water, except all salmon must be immediately sorted and those required to be released, must be placed in an operating recovery box or released into the water before the next brail may be brought on the deck. However, small numbers of fish may be brought on board the vessel by pulling the net in without mechanical or hydraulic assistance.

     (iii) The 5-inch strip requirement is not in effect during this opening.

     (b) Open in Area 7B to purse seines using the 5-inch strip during the following hours and dates, provided it is unlawful to retain sockeye salmon, and any sockeye salmon caught must be released immediately.

     7:00 a.m. September 7 to 8:00 p.m. September 9

     7:00 a.m. September 13 to 7 p.m. September 15

     7:00 a.m. September 19 to 4 p.m. October 23

     Gill Nets - Open to gill nets as follows:

Areas	Mesh Size	Hours and Dates
7B and 7C	7" minimum	7:00 p.m. August 22 to 7:00 a.m. August 23 7:00 p.m. August 24 to 7:00 a.m. August 25 7:00 p.m. August 26 to 7:00 a.m. August 27 7:00 p.m. August 29 to 7:00 a.m. August 30 7:00 p.m. August 31 to 7:00 a.m. September 7:00 p.m. September 2 to 7:00 a.m. September 3
7B	5" minimum	7:00 p.m. September 6 to 8:00 a.m. September 7 7:00 p.m. September 7 to 8:00 a.m. September 8 7:00 p.m. September 9 to 8:00 a.m. September 10
7B	5" minimum	6:00 p.m. September 12 to 8:00 a.m. September 13 6:00 p.m. September 14 to 8:00 a.m. September 15 6:00 p.m. September 16 to 8:00 a.m. September 17.
7B	5" minimum	7:00 p.m. September 19 through 8:00 p.m. October 23

Area 8D:

     Purse Seine - Open to purse seines using the 5-inch strip as follows:

Hours	Dates
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.	9/23, 10/4

     It is unlawful to retain chinook salmon, and any chinook salmon caught with purse seine gear must be released immediately.

     Gill Nets - Open to gill nets using 5-inch minimum mesh as follows:

Hours	Dates
6:00 p.m. September 19 to 8:00 a.m. September 20 6:00 p.m. September 21 to 8:00 a.m. September 22 6:00 p.m. September 23 to 8:00 a.m. September 24 6:00 p.m. September 26 to 8:00 a.m. September 27 6:00 p.m. September 28 to 8:00 a.m. September 29 6:00 p.m. September 30 to 8:00 a.m. October 1

Area 9A:

     Gill Nets - Open to gill nets no more than 600 feet long and no more than 60 meshes deep using 5-inch minimum mesh as follows:

Hours	Dates
7:00 p.m. August 24 to 7:00 a.m. August 25 7:00 p.m. August 26 to 7:00 a.m. August 27 6:00 a.m. August 29 through 8:00 p.m. October 30

     It is unlawful to retain chum salmon in Area 9A prior to October 1 and unlawful to retain chinook salmon at any time. Any salmon not to be retained must be released from the net by cutting the meshes ensnaring the fish.

     Skiff Gill Nets - Open to skiff gill nets no more than 600 feet long and no more than 60 meshes deep using 5-inch minimum mesh as follows:

Hours	Dates
7:00 p.m. August 24 to 7:00 a.m. August 25 7:00 p.m. August 26 to 7:00 a.m. August 27 6:00 a.m. August 29 through 8:00 p.m. October 30

     It is unlawful to retain chum salmon in Area 9A prior to October 1 and unlawful to retain chinook salmon at any time. Any salmon not to be retained must be released from the net by cutting the meshes ensnaring the fish.

    
Area 12A:

     Beach Seines - (a) Open to holders of beach seine permits from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the following dates: 8/23, 8/24, 8/25, 8/26, 8/27, 8/30, 8/31, 9/1, 9/2, 9/3, 9/6, 9/7, 9/8, 9/9, 9/10, 9/13, 9/14, 9/15, 9/16, 9/17, 9/20, 9/21, 9/22, 9/23, 9/24, 9/27, 9/28, 9/29, 9/30, 10/1. All Chinook and chum salmon must be released immediately.

     (b) Open in those waters of Area 12A lying northerly of a line extending from Whitney Point to the flashing light off Fishermans Point then to Fishermans Point on the Bolton Peninsula.

All Other Saltwater and Freshwater Areas: Closed.

     "Quick Reporting" Fisheries: All fisheries opened under this section.

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     Reviser's note: The unnecessary underscoring in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.
REPEALER

     The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:

WAC 220-47-604

Puget Sound all-citizen commercial salmon fishery. (04-206)

© Washington State Code Reviser's Office