Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-520, effective immediately, until further notice, or until they expire pursuant to RCW 34.05.350, it is unlawful to fish for shrimp for commercial purposes in Puget Sound except as provided for in this section:

(1) Shrimp Pot Harvests:

(a) All waters of Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1B, 1C, 2E, 2W, 3 as well as Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Areas 26B, and 26D are open to the commercial harvest of all shrimp species until further notice, except as provided for in this section:

(i) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp by pots is prohibited effective September 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m..

(ii) Commercial harvest of non-spot shrimp by pots is prohibited effective October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m..

(iii) Sub-area 23A-S of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23A are closed to the commercial harvest of non-spot shrimp until the harvestable share available for the state managed commercial spot shrimp fishery is taken.

(iv) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1B and 1C is prohibited.

(v) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Shrimp Management Area 2W is prohibited.

(vi) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Sub-areas 23A-W, 23A-E, and 23A-C of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23A and Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23B is prohibited.

(vii) Commercial harvest of non-spot shrimp in Shrimp Management Area 2E is prohibited.

(viii) Commercial harvest of non-spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Areas 26B and 26C is prohibited.

(ix) Commercial harvest of non-spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 26D is prohibited.

(b) There is no minimum size limit for spot shrimp or non-spot shrimp.

(c) Shrimp pot gear used for commercial harvest must meet the following requirements:

(i) A shrimp pot may not exceed a maximum 153 inch bottom perimeter and a maximum of 24 inch height.

(ii) The entire top, bottom, and sides of the shrimp pot must be constructed of mesh material. Use of liners is prohibited.

(iii) Entrance tunnels to shrimp pots may be constructed of any size mesh material. All entrance tunnels must open into the pot from the side. The sum of the maximum widths of all entrance tunnel openings must not exceed half of the perimeter of the bottom of the pot.

(iv) Spot shrimp may only be harvested using pots with a minimum mesh size of 1 inch. 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.

(v) Non-spot shrimp may only be harvested using pots with a minimum mesh size 1/2 inch. Mesh of 1/2 inch is defined as a mesh that a 3/8 inch square peg will pass through, excluding the entrance tunnels, except for flexible (web) mesh pots, where the mesh must be at a minimum 1 1/8 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.

(d) Buoys must have the number of pots deployed per groundline recorded on each end-buoy of a groundline.

(e) It is lawful to concurrently deploy spot shrimp pots and non-spot pots with the following restrictions:

(i) Spot pots and non-spot pots may not be deployed concurrently within the same Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area, with the following exceptions:

(A) Spot and non-spot pots may be concurrently deployed in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area is 23A but not within the same sub-area (23A-E, 23A-W, 23A-C, or 23A-S).

(B) Non-spot pots may be deployed within Sequim Bay, defined as that portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 25A south of a line true west from Travis Spit to the Miller Peninsula, concurrently with spot shrimp pots in the remaining portion of 25A outside of Sequim Bay.

(ii) All shrimp harvested must be landed and recorded on a shellfish receiving ticket before subsequent harvest may occur.

(f) Each fisher or alternate operator is required to report their intended catch area of harvest, target species (spot or non-spot), and the amount of pounds that are being targeted prior to the deployment of any shrimp gear to either shrimp.report@dfw.wa.gov, by text message to 360-302-6372, or by other electronic means designated by the Department.

(g) It is unlawful to harvest non-spot and spot shrimp in the same day.

(h) It is unlawful to harvest shrimp in more than one Shrimp Management Area (1A, 1B, 1C, 2E, 2W, 3, 4, 5, or 6) per day except for the following exceptions:

Spot Shrimp may be harvested from Shrimp Management Areas 4 and 6 during clean-up fisheries on the same day provided that catch from each Shrimp Management Area is kept in separate containers and attributed to the appropriate Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area on the Fish Receiving Ticket.

(2) Shrimp Non-spot Pot Harvest Restrictions:

(a) The non-spot shrimp catch accounting period is weekly, from 12:00 a.m. on Wednesdays through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesdays.

(b) It is unlawful for the combined total harvest of non-spot shrimp per license to exceed 1000 pounds per non-spot shrimp catch accounting week from Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1B, 1C, and 2W combined.

(c) Harvest of non-spot shrimp is not permitted deeper than 175 feet in Region 2W. Region 2W is comprised of Catch Areas 25B, 25C, 25D, and 26AW.

(3) Shrimp Spot Pot Harvest Restrictions:

(a) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Shrimp Management Area 2E is limited to 953 pounds.

(b) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Sub-area 23A-S of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23A and Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23D is limited to 837 pounds.

(c) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23C is limited to 196 pounds.

(d) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 25A of Discovery Bay Shrimp District is limited to 356 pounds.

(e) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 29 is limited to 408 pounds.

(f) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 26B is limited to 321 pounds.

(g) Commercial harvest of spot shrimp in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 26D is limited to 500 pounds.

(4) Shrimp trawl Harvest Restrictions:

(a) Shrimp Management Area (SMA) 3 (outside of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District, Sequim Bay and Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 23D) is open, effective immediately, until September 30, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. or the State share has been taken, whichever comes first.

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 Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting 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 is open effective immediately, until October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. or the State share has been taken, whichever comes first.

(c) The waters of south Lopez Sound (the portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 22A south of a line projected east and west from the northern tip of Trump Island) is open effective immediately, until October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. or the State share has been taken, whichever comes first.

(d) The remaining portion of Shrimp Management Area 1B and Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Areas 20B and 22A outside the area described in sections 4 (b, c) above is open effective immediately, until October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. or the State share has been taken, whichever comes first.

(e) Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 21A (north and west of a line from the southern tip of Sinclair Island to Carter Point on Lummi Island) is open effective immediately, until October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. or the State share has been taken, whichever comes first.

(f) Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 20A (west of a line from the southwest corner of Point Roberts to Sandy Point) is open effective immediately, until October 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. or the State share has been taken, whichever comes first.

(g) Trawling is allowed only in waters deeper than 120 feet in Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 20A.

(5) All shrimp taken under this section must be sold to licensed Washington State wholesale fish dealers.

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.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-030, effective immediately, until further notice, or until they expire pursuant to RCW 34.05.350, it is unlawful for vessel operators engaged in commercial harvest of shrimp from Puget Sound with shellfish pot gear to fail to report their daily catch by text message, e-mail or FAX to WDFW by 10:00 a.m. the day after the shrimp are harvested. Text message and e-mail daily catch reports must be submitted to shrimp.report@dfw.wa.gov, and FAX reports must be transmitted to FAX number 360-302-3031. Daily catch reports must include the following information as it is recorded on the fish receiving ticket: fisher name, buyer name, pounds landed per shrimp species, catch area, date of harvest, date of sale, and complete fish ticket serial number, including the first alphanumeric letter. If the fish receiving ticket is faxed as the daily harvest report, the date of harvest must be recorded on the bottom half of the ticket.