WSR 18-11-021 EMERGENCY RULES DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE [Order 18-74—Filed May 4, 2018, 12:45 p.m., effective June 15, 2018] Effective Date of Rule: June 15, 2018. Purpose: Amends recreational fishing rules for Roosevelt Lake. Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-312-050. 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 white sturgeon population in the Upper Columbia Transboundary Reach (Grand Coulee Dam, Washington to Hugh Keenleyside Dam, British Columbia (BC)) has experienced consistent juvenile year-class production failure for more than thirty years. In response to production failure, the Upper Columbia White Sturgeon Recovery Initiative (UCWSRI) was formed in 2000. UCWSRI produced a recovery plan (finalized in 2002) with the goal, "To ensure the persistence and viability of naturally-reproducing populations of white sturgeon in the Upper Columbia River and restore opportunities for beneficial use, if feasible." A white sturgeon hatchery program began in 2001 (2002 releases) in BC and 2004 (with brood year 2003 fish from BC) in Washington using conventional broodstock and hatchery rearing methods. Stocking ranged from two thousand to twelve thousand juvenile sturgeon per year from 2001 to 2010 (including both Washington and BC releases). Survival of hatchery produced juvenile sturgeon was much higher than anticipated. As a result, there is a surplus of approximately twenty thousand five hundred sturgeon that are available for harvest from Lake Roosevelt over the next decade. 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 Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: May 3, 2018. Joe Stohr Director
NEW SECTION
WAC 220-312-05000G Freshwater exceptions to statewide rules—Eastside.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-312-05000B and WAC 220-312-050:
(1) Effective June 15, 2018, until further notice, it is permissible to fish for sturgeon in waters of Lake Roosevelt from Grand Coulee Dam to China Bend Boat Ramp (including the Spokane River from Highway 25 Bridge upstream to 400' below Little Falls Dam, Colville River upstream to Meyers Falls and the Kettle River upstream to Barstow Bridge).
(a) Daily limit of one sturgeon between 53 and 63 inches fork length. Annual limit of two sturgeon.
(b) Anglers are required to record harvested on a Catch Record Card.
(c) Anglers may fish with two poles with the purchase of a Two-Pole Endorsement license.
(d) Night closure is in effect. All other statewide rules for white sturgeon apply.
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. |