WSR 15-19-041 EMERGENCY RULES DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE [Order 15-322—Filed September 10, 2015, 2:58 p.m., effective September 11, 2015, 6:00 a.m.] Effective Date of Rule: September 11, 2015, 6:00 a.m.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules for Puget Sound commercial shrimp.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-05100J; and amending WAC 220-52-051.
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 2015 state/tribal shrimp harvest management plans for the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound require adoption of harvest seasons contained in this emergency rule. This emergency rule (1) opens the spot shrimp pot "clean up" fishery in Shrimp Management Area 1A, 1C and Catch Areas 23A-E, 23A-S/23D, 23C and 25A with lowered limits to harvest the relatively small amounts of quota remaining; and (2) closes the trawl fishery in Shrimp Management Area 1B/21A-22A as the quota will be reached. 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: September 10, 2015.
James B. Scott, Jr.
for J. W. Unsworth
Director
NEW SECTION
WAC 220-52-05100K Puget Sound shrimp pot and beam trawl fishery—Seasons.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-051, effective immediately until further notice, it is unlawful to fish for shrimp for commercial purposes in Puget Sound except as provided for in this section:
(1) Shrimp pot gear:
(a) All waters of Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1C, 2W, 3 and 6 are open to the harvest of all shrimp species, except:
(i) All waters of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District are closed.
(ii) All waters of Shrimp Management Areas 2W, 6 and Marine Fish/Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area (Catch Area) 23A-C/23B and 23A-W are closed to the harvest of spot shrimp.
(iii) Effective immediately, all waters of Shrimp Management Areas 1A and 1C are open to the harvest of spot shrimp until closing at 6:00 p.m. September 14, 2015.
(iv) Effective immediately, all waters of Catch Areas 23A-E, 23A-S/23D and 25A are open to the harvest of all shrimp species until closing for spot shrimp at 6:00 p.m. September 14, 2015.
(v) Effective 6:00 p.m. September 14, 2015, all waters of Catch Areas 23C and 29 are closed to the harvest of spot shrimp.
(b) Effective immediately, until 6:00 p.m. September 14, 2015, it is unlawful for the combined total harvest of spot shrimp by a fisher and/or the fisher's alternate operator to exceed 250 pounds in Shrimp Management Area 1A, or to exceed 150 pounds in Shrimp Management Area 1C, or to exceed 260 pounds in Catch Area 23A-E, or to exceed 90 pounds in Catch Area 23A-S/23D, or to exceed 600 pounds in Catch Area 23C, or to exceed 375 pounds in Catch Area 25A.
(c) It is unlawful to pull shellfish pots in more than one catch area per day.
(d) Only pots with a minimum mesh size of 1 inch may be pulled on calendar days when fishing for or retaining spot shrimp. Mesh size of 1 inch is defined as a mesh opening that a 7/8-inch square peg will pass through, excluding the entrance tunnels, except for flexible (web) mesh pots, where the mesh must be a minimum of 1 3/4-inch stretch measure. Stretch measure is defined as the distance between the inside of one knot to the outside of the opposite vertical knot of one mesh, when the mesh is stretched vertically. There is no size restriction for spot shrimp.
(2) Shrimp beam trawl gear:
(a) Shrimp Management Area 3 (outside of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District, Sequim Bay and Catch Area 23D) is open. Sequim Bay includes those waters of Catch Area 25A south of a line projected west from Travis Spit on the Miller Peninsula.
(b) Effective immediately, until 6:00 p.m. September 19, 2015, those portions of Catch Areas 21A and 22A within Shrimp Management Area 1B are open.
(c) All waters of Catch Area 20A are open.
(3) All shrimp taken under this section must be sold to licensed Washington wholesale fish dealers.
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective 6:00 a.m. September 11, 2015:
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