WSR 24-02-093
PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
DEPARTMENT OF
FISH AND WILDLIFE
[Order 24-01—Filed January 3, 2024, 10:04 a.m.]
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Establish logbook requirements for Columbia River commercial fishing downstream of Bonneville Dam.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: To collect fishing effort, catch and release information from Columbia River commercial fisheries to assist in management purposes. The information collected would provide additional updates to established observation and voluntary logbook datasets to inform modeling and management of fisheries for the department.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: These rules would expand on the data available for planning and assessing commercial fishery catch statistics in the Columbia River. The parties to the
US v. Oregon Management Agreement jointly manage harvest of salmon and steelhead throughout most of the Columbia River and its tributaries. Washington also coordinates Columbia River fisheries with the state of Oregon under the Columbia River Compact under RCW
77.75.010.
Process for Developing New Rule: Agency study.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting phone 855-925-2801, project code #6378, email columbiariverlogbook@publicinput.com; or Bethany Deacy, 5525 South 11th Street, Ridgefield, WA 98642, phone 360-600-7069, email Bethany.Deacy@dfw.wa.gov.
January 3, 2024
Scott Bird
Rules Coordinator