EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: October 1, 2008, 8:00 a.m.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-04000Y, 220-52-04600W, 220-52-04000A and 220-69-24000M; and amending WAC 220-52-040, 220-52-046, and 220-69-240.
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: The state may not authorize commercial shellfish harvests absent agreed planning or compliance with a process. The provisions of this rule are in conformity with agreed plans with applicable tribes, which have been entered as required by court order. There is insufficient time to promulgate permanent rules.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 3, Amended 0, Repealed 4.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: September 16, 2008.
J. P. Koenings
Director
(1) Dungeness crab pots may be deployed between 8:00 a.m. October 1, 2008 and 7:59 a.m. October 3, 2008 in Puget Sound waters from a vessel not designated on a person's Puget Sound crab license, provided that the primary or alternate operator designated on the license is on board the non-designated vessel ("barge" vessel), and provided prior notice has been given as indicated below.
(2) The license owner must leave a telephone message at the LaConner district office, (360) 466-4345, extension 245, with the following information:
a) Name and license number of license owner.
b) Name of designated primary operator if different from license owner.
c) Name of alternate operator if used to deploy pots from a non-designated vessel.
d) Buoy brand number and number of pots to be deployed from a non-designated vessel.
e) Name and identification numbers (WN and/or Coast Guard) of the non-designated vessel.
(3) Additional area gear limits. The following Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas are restricted in the number of pots fished, operated, or used by a person or vessel, and it is unlawful for any person to use, maintain, operate, or control pots in excess of the following limits:
(a) 20 pots per vessel in Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25E.
(b) 20 pots per vessel in all waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25A south of a line projected true west from Travis Spit on Miller Peninsula.
[]
(1) It is permissible to fish for Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in the following areas:
(a) Port Gardner: That portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Area 26A east of a line projected from the outermost tip of the ferry dock at Mukilteo. projected to the green #3 buoy at the mouth of the Snohomish River, and west of a line projected from that #3 buoy southward to the oil boom pier on the shoreline.
(b) Possession Point to Glendale: That portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Area 26A east of a line that extends true north from the green #1 buoy at Possession Point to Possession Point, and west of a line from the green #1 buoy at Possession Point extending northward along the 200-foot depth contour to the Glendale dock.
(c) Langley: That portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Area 24C shoreward of the 400-foot depth contour within an area described by two lines projected northeasterly from Sandy Point and the entrance to the marina at Langley.
(2) The following area is closed to commercial crab fishing:
(a) That portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Area 25A west of the 123°7.0' longitude line projected from the new Dungeness light due south to the shore of Dungeness Bay.
(b) That portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Area 23D west of a line from the eastern tip of Ediz Hook to the ITT Rayonier Dock.
[]
Reviser's note: The typographical error 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 effective 8:00 a.m. October 3, 2008:
| WAC 220-52-04000A | Commercial crab fishery -- Lawful and unlawful gear, methods, and other unlawful acts. |
The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:
| WAC 220-52-04000Y | Commercial crab fishery -- Exceptions to permanent rules for pot limits. (08-144) |
| WAC 220-52-04600W | Crab fishery -- Seasons and areas. (08-144) |
[]
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:
| WAC 220-69-24000M | Duties of commercial purchasers and receivers. (08-144) |