EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: Immediately.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-05100K; and amending WAC 220-52-051, 220-52-075, 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 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 pot fishery season for nonspot shrimp. This emergency rule changes the phone number for shrimp daily catch reporting and purchase reporting by original receivers in Shrimp Management Areas 3, 4 and 6, so all Puget Sound shrimp pot catch phone reports go to one number. 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 3, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: April 16, 2009.
Joe Stohr
for Philip Anderson
Director
(1) Shrimp pot gear:
(a) All waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 29 are open to harvest of all shrimp species from 7:00 a.m. May 1, 2009, until further notice.
(b) All waters of Shrimp Management Areas 1B, 1C, 2E, 2W, 3, 4, and 6 outside the Discovery Bay Shrimp District are open to the harvest of all non-spot shrimp species from 7:00 a.m. May 1, 2009, until further notice, except as provided for in this section:
i) In Marine Fish/Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 22A, closed through June 15 in waters inside and bounded by a line projected from Blakely Marina on the northwest corner of Blakely Island to Upright Head on Lopez Island, following the shoreline southerly on Lopez Island to intersect a line projected due west from Bald Bluff on Blakely Island.
ii) All waters of Catch Areas 23A-E, 23A-W, and 23A-C are closed.
(c) The shrimp accounting week is Monday through Sunday.
(d) It is unlawful to fish for shrimp for commercial purposes in Puget Sound using shellfish pot gear in more than one Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area per day. Fishers may move all of their shellfish pot gear from one Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area to another Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area if a harvest report is made before the shellfish pot gear is moved. The harvest activity report must be made consistent with the provisions of WAC 220-52-075 and must also include the following additional information.
(i) The number of pots being moved to a new area, and the Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area that the pots are being moved to.
(e) It is unlawful to set or pull shellfish pots in one Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area while in possession of shrimp harvested from another Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area, except shellfish pots may be set in a new fishing area subsequent to making a report as indicated in Section 1(d) above.
(2) Shrimp beam trawl gear:
(a) Shrimp Management Area (SMA) 3 (outside of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District, Sequim Bay and Catch Area 23D) is open immediately, 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°.47' W longitude and west of a line projected 122°.43' W longitude in Rosario Strait will open at 7:00 a.m. May 1, 2009, until further notice.
(3) It is unlawful to set or pull shrimp beam trawl gear from one hour after official sunset to one hour before official sunrise.
(4) All shrimp taken under this section must be sold to licensed Washington wholesale fish dealers.
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(1) For harvest in Shrimp Management Areas 3, 4 or 6, reports must be made to the voice recorder at the La Conner district office: 360-446-4345 ext 245.
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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.
NEW SECTION
WAC 220-69-24000P
Duties of commercial purchasers and
receivers.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-69-240,
effective immediately until further notice, it is unlawful for
the original receiver of shrimp other than ghost shrimp taken
from Puget Sound to fail to report in the following manner:
(1) For Puget Sound shrimp - Pot gear: It is unlawful for the original receiver of shrimp other than ghost shrimp taken from Puget Sound by pot gear to fail to report to the department the previous week's purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following Monday. For harvest in Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1B, 1C, 2E, 2W, 3, 4 or 6, reports must be made to the La Conner district office by phone at 360-466-4345, extension 245, or by fax at 360-466-0515. All reports must specify the serial numbers of the fish receiving tickets on which the previous week's shrimp were sold, plus the total number of pounds caught by gear type, the Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area (Catch Area), and the species listed on each ticket. Violation of this subsection is a gross misdemeanor, punishable under RCW 77.15.560.
(2) Puget Sound shrimp - Trawl gear: It is unlawful for the original receiver of shrimp other than ghost shrimp taken from Puget Sound by trawl gear to fail to report to the department the previous day's purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following morning. For harvest in Shrimp Management Areas 1B, 1C or 3, reports must be made to the La Conner district office by phone at 360-466-4345, extension 245, or by fax at 360-466-0515. All reports must specify the serial numbers of the fish receiving tickets on which the previous day's shrimp were sold, the total number of pounds caught by gear type, the Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area, and the species listed on each ticket. Violation of this subsection is a gross misdemeanor, punishable under RCW 77.15.560.
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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 220-52-05100K | Puget Sound shrimp beam trawl fishery -- Season. (09-55) |