EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: Immediately.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-52-051.
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 2009 state/tribal shrimp harvest management plans for the Strait of Juan de Fuca and north Puget Sound require adoption of harvest seasons and the prohibition on night-time fishing contained in this emergency rule. This emergency rule opens the Regions 1 and 3 beam trawl fishery season. There is insufficient time to adopt 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: April 10, 2009.
Joe Stohr
for Philip Anderson
Director
(1) Shrimp beam trawl gear:
(a) Shrimp Management Area (SMA) 3 (outside of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District, Sequim Bay and Catch Area 23D) will open at 7:00 a.m. April 16, 2009, until further notice. Sequim Bay includes those waters of Catch Area 25A south of a line projected west from Travis Spit on the Miller Peninsula.
(b) That portion of Catch Area 22A within SMA 1B east of a line projected 122.47ºW longitude and west of a line projected 122.43ºW longitude in Rosario Strait will open at 7:00 a.m. May 1, 2009, until further notice.
(2) It is unlawful to set or pull shrimp beam trawl gear from one hour after official sunset to one hour before official sunrise.
(3) All shrimp taken under this section must be sold to licensed Washington wholesale fish dealers.
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