H-0907.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 1612
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By Representatives Eickmeyer, Huff, Haigh, Alexander, Rockefeller, Anderson, Pennington, Ericksen, Talcott, Lantz, Stensen and Romero
Read first time 02/01/1999. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources.
AN ACT Relating to geoduck diver licenses; and amending RCW 75.28.750.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 75.28.750 and 1993 c 340 s 24 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Every diver engaged in the commercial harvest of geoduck clams shall obtain a
((nontransferable)) geoduck diver license.
(2) After July 1, 1999, the director shall issue no new geoduck diver licenses unless fewer than fifty persons are eligible for renewal. A person may renew an existing license only if the person held a geoduck diver license for five of the eight years 1991 through 1998 or acquired the license by transfer from someone who held it during the previous year, and if the person has not subsequently transferred the license to another person.
(3) If fewer than fifty persons are eligible to renew a geoduck diver license, the director may accept applications for new licenses. The department shall adopt rules and procedures to determine whether additional diver licenses will be issued and the application procedure. The director shall determine by random selection, from all otherwise qualified applicants, the successful applicants for any additional licenses.
(4) When the person failed to obtain the license during the previous year because of a license suspension, the person may qualify for a license by establishing that the person held such a license during the last year in which the license was not suspended.
(5) Geoduck diver licenses are transferable only to a natural person. The license holder must perform the actual harvesting.
(6) Licensed geoduck harvesters will bear the responsibility for providing the labor to plant onto state commercial beds geoduck seed provided by the state hatchery.
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