[Order 24-31—Filed February 29, 2024, 3:42 p.m., effective March 1, 2024]

Effective Date of Rule: March 1, 2024.

Purpose: The purpose of this emergency rule is to modify salmon seasons for Cowlitz River, Drano Lake, Kalama River, Klickitat River, and Wind River.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-312-030.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.020, 77.12.045, and 77.12.047.

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 emergency rule is necessary to adjust salmon seasons for Cowlitz River, Drano Lake, Kalama River, Klickitat River, and Wind River to meet the needs predicated by 2024 spring Chinook run expectations:

Cowlitz River: A reduction in the adult salmon daily limit with additional retention requirements of a clipped adipose and ventral fin is necessary because of reduced Cowlitz spring Chinook smolt releases in 2022. This release was supplemented with Kalama origin spring Chinook juveniles marked with an adipose and ventral clip intended for harvest. This will provide harvest opportunities while optimizing hatchery broodstock collection and reintroduction of spring Chinook to the upper Cowlitz basin.

Drano Lake: A reduction in the salmon daily limit is necessary because the preseason forecast of 5,273 adult spring Chinook is lower than the previous year. The reduced limit will provide spring Chinook angling opportunity while helping ensure broodstock goals at Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery are met.

Kalama River: A reduction in the salmon daily limit is necessary to provide spring Chinook angling opportunity while helping ensure broodstock goals are met.

Klickitat River: A reduction in the salmon daily limit and early closures/late openings are necessary because the estimated return of adult spring Chinook (1,254) to the Klickitat River for 2024 is among the lowest since 2009. Hatchery spring Chinook releases in 2022 were well below program goals. These fish will return as four-year-olds in 2024, which represent the largest age group of spring Chinook runs. Additionally, PIT tagging operations for the 2022 release group were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will diminish managers' ability to monitor the return inseason. This conservative approach will help ensure that hatchery broodstock collection is achieved and provide some initial opportunity to harvest spring Chinook in the lower river.

Wind River: The preseason forecast of spring Chinook returning to the Wind River (4,156 adults) indicates that a reduced adult salmon daily limit is needed to provide spring Chinook angling opportunity and help ensure broodstock collection goals at Carson National Fish Hatchery.

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: February 29, 2024.

WAC 220-312-03000JFreshwater exceptions to statewide rules—Southwest.

Effective March 1, 2024, until further notice, the provisions of WAC 220-312-030 regarding Cowlitz River, Drano Lake, Kalama River, Klickitat River, and Wind River salmon and steelhead seasons shall be modified during times and as described below. All other provisions of WAC 220-312-030 not addressed herein remain in effect unless otherwise amended by emergency rule:

(1) Cowlitz River (Cowlitz/Lewis Co.): From boundary markers at the mouth to the fishing boundary markers below Barrier Dam: Effective March 1, 2024, until further notice:

Salmon: Daily limit 6 including no more than 1 adult. Release all salmon other than hatchery jack Chinook, adult Chinook with both the adipose fin and a ventral fin clipped with healed scars, and hatchery coho.

(2) Drano Lake (Skamania Co.): Waters downstream of markers on point of land downstream and across from Little White Salmon National Fish Hatchery and upstream of the Hwy. 14 bridge: Effective March 16, 2024, until further notice:

Salmon and steelhead: Daily limit 2 including no more than 1 adult salmon. Release all salmon other than hatchery Chinook. Release all wild steelhead.

(3) Kalama River (Cowlitz Co.): From mouth to 1,000' downstream of fishway at Kalama Falls Hatchery: Effective March 1, 2024, until further notice:

Salmon: Daily limit 6 including no more than 1 adult. Release all salmon other than hatchery Chinook and hatchery coho.

(4) Klickitat River (Klickitat Co.):

(a) From the mouth (Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge) to Fisher Hill Bridge:

(i) Effective April 1 through May 22, 2024: Salmon and steelhead:

(A) Open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays only.

(B) Salmon and steelhead: Daily limit 2 including no more than 1 adult salmon. Release wild Chinook. Release wild steelhead.

(ii) Effective May 23, 2024, until further notice: Salmon: Closed

(b) From 400 feet upstream from #5 fishway to boundary markers below Klickitat Salmon hatchery: Effective May 25, 2024, until further notice: Salmon: Closed.

(5) Wind River (Skamania Co.): From the mouth (line of buoy markers south of the Hwy. 14 bridge) to 800 yards downstream of Carson National Fish Hatchery: Effective March 16, 2024, until further notice:

Salmon and steelhead: Daily limit 6. Up to 1 adult salmon and 1 hatchery steelhead, or up to 2 hatchery steelhead may be retained. Release all salmon other than hatchery Chinook and hatchery coho. Release wild steelhead.

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.