5442-S AMH NR H2440.1

5442-S AMH NR H2440.1

SSB 5442 - H COMM AMD ADOPTED 4/5/01

By Committee on Natural Resources

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 77.50 RCW to read as follows:

It is the intent of the legislature to ensure that a sustainable level of salmon is made available for harvest for commercial fishers in the state. Maintaining consistent harvest levels has become increasingly difficult with the listing of salmonid species under the federal endangered species act. Without a stable level of harvest, fishers cannot develop niche markets that maximize the economic value of the harvest. New tools and approaches are needed by fish managers to bring increased stability to the fishing industry.

In the short term, it is the legislature's intent to provide managers with tools to assure that commercial harvest of targeted stocks can continue and expand under the constraints of the federal endangered species act. There are experimental types of commercial fishing gear that could allow fishers to stabilize harvest levels by selectively targeting healthy salmon stocks.

For the longer term, the department of fish and wildlife shall proceed with changes to the operation of certain hatcheries in order to stabilize harvest levels by allowing naturally spawning and hatchery origin fish to be managed as a single run. Scientific information from such hatcheries would guide the department's approach to reducing the need to mass mark hatchery origin salmon where appropriate.

Sec. 2. RCW 77.50.030 and 1998 c 190 s 77 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A person shall not use, operate, or maintain a gill net which exceeds ((~~1500~~)) one thousand five hundred feet in length or a drag seine in the waters of the Columbia river for catching salmon.

(2) A person shall not construct, install, use, operate, or maintain within state waters a pound net, round haul net, lampara net, fish trap, fish wheel, scow fish wheel, set net, weir, or fixed appliance for catching salmon or steelhead except under the authority of a trial or experimental fishery permit, when an emerging commercial fishery has been designated allowing use of one or more of these gear types. The director must consult with the commercial fishing interests that would be affected by the trial or experimental fishery permit. The director may authorize the use of this gear for scientific investigations.

(3) The department, in coordination with the Oregon department of fish and wildlife, shall adopt rules to regulate the use of monofilament in gill net webbing on the Columbia river.

Sec. 3. RCW 77.70.180 and 1993 c 340 s 43 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Within five years after adopting rules to govern the number and qualifications of participants in an emerging commercial fishery, the director shall provide to the appropriate senate and house of representatives committees a report which outlines the status of the fishery and a recommendation as to whether a separate commercial fishery license, license fee, or limited harvest program should be established for that fishery.

(2) For any emerging commercial fishery designated under RCW 77.50.030, the report must also include:

(a) Information on the extent of the program, including to what degree mass marking and supplementation programs have been utilized in areas where emerging commercial fisheries using selective fishing gear have been authorized;

(b) Information on the benefit provided to commercial fishers including information on the effectiveness of emerging commercial fisheries using selective fishing gear in providing expanded fishing opportunity within mixed stocks of salmon;

(c) Information on the effectiveness of selective fishing gear in minimizing postrelease mortality for nontarget stocks, harvesting fish so that they are not damaged by the gear, and aiding the creation of niche markets; and

(d) Information on the department's efforts at operating hatcheries in an experimental fashion by managing wild and hatchery origin fish as a single run as an alternative to mass marking and the utilization of selective fishing gear. The department shall consult with commercial fishers, recreational fishers, federally recognized treaty tribes with a fishing right, regional fisheries enhancement groups, and other affected parties to obtain their input in preparing the report under this subsection (2)."

Correct the title.