_______________________________________________
SECOND
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5120
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AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 1997 Regular Session
State of Washington 55th
Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By
Read first time 03/10/97.
Providing
for fish enhancement with remote site incubators.
AN
ACT Relating to fish enhancement with remote site incubators; adding a new
chapter to Title 75 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature finds that trout and salmon population levels are greatly below the
carrying capacity of many state waters, and that reintroduction of both trout
and salmon can be accomplished with the use of remote site incubators. Remote
site incubators have been shown to be a cost-effective means of bypassing the
early period of high mortality that is often experienced by salmonid eggs that
are naturally spawned in streams with degraded habitat. In addition, remote
site incubators provide an efficient method for reintroduction of fish into
areas that are not fully seeded by natural spawn. The technology for remote
site incubators is well developed, and their application is easily accomplished
in a wide variety of habitat by persons with a moderate level of training.
It
is a goal of the remote site incubator program to assist reestablishment of
sustainable fish populations so that the populations may become naturally
spawning in many cases. In other cases, primarily where spawning conditions
are not optimal or where numbers of spawners are chronically low, the remote
site incubator program may become a cost-effective long-term solution for
supplementation and restoration of fish populations.
Another
goal of the remote site incubator program is to provide a means of utilizing
excess or surplus salmonid eggs which in the past would have been destroyed or
not used in a way that would have rebuilt fish populations.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. (1)
The department shall identify potential sites throughout the state and
potential fish species for each site that are suitable for remote site
incubators. The initial selection of sites shall be completed by July 1,
1998. Thereafter the site selection list shall be updated at least on an annual
basis.
(2)(a)
The director may use employees of the fish and wildlife construction crew to
construct remote site incubators.
(b)
The director shall purchase commercially available remote site incubators in
cases in which it would be more economical to purchase remote site incubators
rather than to build them with the construction crew.
(c)
The director of fish and wildlife and the secretary of the department of
corrections shall jointly investigate the potential of producing remote site
incubators through the prison industries program of the department of
corrections, and shall jointly report their finding to the natural resources
committees of the house of representatives and the senate by December 1, 1998.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. (1)
The department shall coordinate the implementation of the remote site incubator
program throughout the state and shall make annual reports to the fish and
wildlife commission on the progress of the program.
(2)
The department shall fully involve and depend chiefly upon volunteer efforts to
implement the remote site incubator program through the regional fisheries
enhancement groups, volunteer cooperative groups, private nonprofit groups,
treaty Indian tribes, and interested individuals.
(3)
The director shall approve a remote site incubator project unless it is a
direct threat to the salmonid resource. The director may prioritize remote
site incubator projects within regional enhancement areas.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. (1)
The director shall make every effort to utilize appropriate salmonid eggs in
remote site incubators if the eggs are not allocated for other fish culture
uses or would otherwise be sold or donated.
(2)
The director may purchase or accept as a gift to the state viable salmonid eggs
from private fish farmers for purposes of stocking remote site incubators and
for the stocking of all public waters.
(3)
As required to carry out the purposes of this chapter, the director shall
contact the treaty Indian tribes, the federal fish and wildlife service, and
the state fish management agencies of Oregon and Idaho for the purpose of
obtaining donations of viable salmonid eggs for stocking remote site
incubators.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. The
director shall direct the warm water fish enhancement program of the department
to investigate ways for applying the remote site incubator technology to the
production of warm water fish.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.
Sections 2 through 5 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 75 RCW.
