H-3921.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2528
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State of Washington 54th Legislature 1996 Regular Session
By Representatives Buck, Hatfield, Pennington and Basich
Read first time 01/12/96. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to studying harbor seal and sea lion predation on anadromous fish; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The fish and wildlife commission shall contract with the University of Washington, Washington State University, a Native American tribe with fishing rights in the Boldt case area, or a private consulting firm for the purpose of determining the food habits and population estimates of harbor seals and sea lions. The commission shall award the contract, oversee the performance of the contract, and receive the final report of the contractor's findings. In addition, the commission shall make application to the national marine fisheries service for the necessary permits to perform sampling of the harbor seal and sea lion population for food habit analysis.
The food habit study shall be conducted with statistically valid sample sizes of harbor seals and sea lions that will be collected by lethal capture methods and necropsied for the purpose of determining food habits. The study shall focus upon the occurrence of various life stages of anadromous salmonid fish in the stomach contents of the sampled marine mammals, but shall also record occurrences of other life forms.
The study shall include a sampling program to determine the effects of harbor seals and sea lions on the levels of fecal coliform bacteria in commercial shellfish growing areas. The proportion of fecal coliform bacterial contamination due to harbor seals and sea lions shall be estimated for important shellfish production areas, such as, but not limited to, Willapa Bay, Hood Canal, southern Puget Sound and northern Puget Sound.
A population estimate shall be made for harbor seals and sea lions in Washington state waters.
Results of the population estimate and the seal and sea lion food habit study shall be provided to the appropriate committees of the legislature, the national marine fisheries service, Native American tribes with fishing rights to anadromous fish, the fisheries management agencies of the states of Oregon and Alaska, and the province of British Columbia.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The sum of three hundred fifty thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1997, from the state general fund to the fish and wildlife commission for the purpose of the study in section 1 of this act.
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