WSR 19-18-087
EMERGENCY RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
FISH AND WILDLIFE
[Order 19-208—Filed September 4, 2019, 9:04 a.m., effective September 8, 2019]
Effective Date of Rule: September 8, 2019.
Purpose: Amends coastal commercial crab fishery rules.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-340-42000T; and amending WAC 220-340-420.
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: This rule is needed to adjust the weekly landing limit for coastal commercial crab fisheries. The weekly landing limit is necessary to protect the coastal Dungeness crab resource by mitigating handling mortality from sorting soft shelled crab and is in conformity with the coastal Dungeness crab summer fishery management plan. 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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 3, 2019.
Kelly Susewind
Director
[NEW SECTION]
WAC 220-340-42000UCommercial crab fishery—Unlawful acts.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-420, effective September 8, 2019:
(1) Effective immediately until further notice, it is unlawful for persons participating in the Columbia River, Coastal, or Willapa Bay commercial Dungeness crab fishery to:
(a) Deploy or operate more than a total of 330 shellfish pots if the permanent number of shellfish pots assigned to the Coastal commercial crab fishery license held by that person is 500.
(b) Deploy or operate more than a total of 200 shellfish pots if the permanent number of shellfish pots assigned to the Coastal Dungeness crab fishery license held by that person is 300.
(c) Fail to maintain onboard any participating vessel the excess crab pot buoy tags assigned to the Coastal Dungeness crab fishery license being fished.
(2) It is unlawful for any person licensed to fish under a Dungeness crab-coastal fishery license to possess or land crab in excess of 1,200 pounds taken during each of the following coastal crab accounting periods:
• September 8 – September 15, 2019
(3) Any crab taken prior to September 8, 2019, and not landed before 11:59 p.m. September 7, 2019, become part of the September 8 – September 15, 2019 accounting period catch.
(4) It is unlawful for any person taking crab under subsection (2) of this section to fish for crab during any accounting period while having on board any crab taken in a different accounting period.
Reviser's note: The bracketed material preceding the section above was supplied by the code reviser's office.
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective September 8, 2019:
WAC 220-340-42000T | Commerical crab fishery—Unlawful acts. (19-116) |