S-1983

AN ACT Relating to regulation of geoduck harvesting; and amending RCW 75.30.050, 75.30.280, and 79.96.085.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 75.30.050 and 1995 c 269 s 3101 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The director shall appoint three-member advisory review boards to hear cases as provided in RCW 75.30.060. Members shall be from:

(a) The commercial crab fishing industry in cases involving Dungeness crabCPuget Sound fishery licenses;

(b) The commercial herring fishery in cases involving herring fishery licenses;

(c) The commercial sea urchin and sea cucumber fishery in cases involving sea urchin and sea cucumber dive fishery licenses;

(d) The commercial ocean pink shrimp industry (Pandalus jordani) in cases involving ocean pink shrimp delivery licenses; ((~~and~~))

(e) The commercial coastal crab fishery in cases involving Dungeness crabCcoastal fishery licenses and Dungeness crabCcoastal class B fishery licenses. The members shall include one person from the commercial crab processors, one Dungeness crabCcoastal fishery license holder, and one citizen representative of a coastal community; and

(f) The commercial geoduck fishing industry in cases involving geoduck fishery licenses.

(2) Members shall serve at the discretion of the director and shall be reimbursed for travel expenses as provided in RCW 43.03.050, 43.03.060, and 43.03.065.

Sec. 2. RCW 75.30.280 and 1993 c 340 s 46 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) It is unlawful to harvest geoduck clams commercially without a geoduck fishery license. This section does not apply to the harvest of private sector cultured aquatic products as defined in RCW 15.85.020.

(2) Only a person who has entered into a geoduck harvesting agreement with the department of natural resources under RCW 79.96.080 may hold a geoduck fishery license.

(3) A geoduck fishery license authorizes no taking of geoducks outside the boundaries of the public lands designated in the underlying harvesting agreement, or beyond the harvest ceiling set in the underlying harvesting agreement.

(4) A geoduck fishery license expires when the underlying geoduck harvesting agreement terminates.

(5) The director shall determine the number of geoduck fishery licenses that may be issued for each geoduck harvesting agreement, the number of units of gear whose use the license authorizes, and the type of gear that may be used, subject to RCW 75.24.100. In making those determinations, the director shall seek to conserve the geoduck resource and prevent damage to its habitat.

(6) The holder of a geoduck fishery license and the holder's agents and representatives shall comply with all applicable commercial diving safety regulations adopted by the federal occupational safety and health administration established under the federal occupational safety and health act of 1970 as such law exists on May 8, 1979, 84 Stat. 1590 et seq.; 29 U.S.C. Sec. 651 et seq. A violation of those regulations is a violation of this subsection. For the purposes of this section, persons who dive for geoducks are "employees" as defined by the federal occupational safety and health act. A violation of this subsection is grounds for suspension or revocation of a geoduck fishery license following a hearing under the procedures of chapter 34.05 RCW. The department shall not suspend or revoke a geoduck fishery license if the violation has been corrected within ten days of the date the license holder receives written notice of the violation. If there is a substantial probability that a violation of the commercial diving standards could result in death or serious physical harm to a person engaged in harvesting geoduck clams, the department shall suspend the license immediately until the violation has been corrected. If the license holder is not the operator of the harvest vessel and has contracted with another person for the harvesting of geoducks, the department shall not suspend or revoke the license if the license holder terminates its business relationship with that person until compliance with this subsection is secured.

(7) After July 1, 1997, the director may not issue new geoduck fishery licenses. Only a person who has held the geoduck fishery license sought to be renewed for at least three of the six years 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996 may renew an existing license.

(8) If fewer than fifty persons are eligible for a geoduck fishery license, the director may accept applications for new licenses. The director shall determine by random selection the successful applicants for the additional licenses. The director shall adopt rules governing the application, selection, and issuance procedures for new geoduck fishery licenses, based upon recommendations of a board of review established under RCW 75.30.050.

(9) Geoduck fishery licenses are not transferable from one license holder to another except from parent to child, from spouse to spouse during marriage or as a result of marriage dissolution, or upon death of the license holder.

Sec. 3. RCW 79.96.085 and 1990 c 163 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department of natural resources shall designate the areas of aquatic lands owned by the state that are available for geoduck harvesting by licensed geoduck harvesters ((~~in accordance with chapter 79.90 RCW~~)).

(2) Once a harvest ceiling is established for each harvest area, the ceiling must be divided equally between the number of geoduck fishery license holders, within each geoduck harvesting agreement, to establish individual fishing quotas for each area.