_______________________________________________
HOUSE
BILL 2625
_______________________________________________
Passed
Legislature - 2002 Regular Session
State
of Washington 57th Legislature 2002 Regular Session
By
Read
first time 01/23/2002. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources.
Allowing the use of purse seine and other lawful fishing
gear in certain waters.
AN
ACT Relating to eliminating the exclusivity of gill net gear in certain waters;
amending RCW 77.50.010; creating a new section; and providing an effective
date.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature finds that the economic well-being and stability of the fishing
industry and the conservation of the food fish resources of the state of
Washington are best served by providing managers with all available tools to
stabilize and distribute the commercial harvest of targeted Puget Sound salmon
stocks. In recent years, segments of the industry in cooperation with the
department of fish and wildlife have funded studies examining modification of
harvest practices and fishing gear, particularly purse seine gear, to minimize
or avoid impacts on nontargeted Puget Sound salmon stocks.
The
legislature finds that the new Pacific salmon treaty agreement of 1999 will
drastically reduce the commercial harvest of Fraser river sockeye salmon while
likely providing increased harvest opportunities in areas of Puget Sound where
only gill net gear is now authorized. This exclusive limitation is contrary to
the long-term needs of the fishing industry and inconsistent with the legislature's
intent to stabilize harvest levels while selectively targeting healthy salmon
stocks.
Sec.
2. RCW
77.50.010 and 1998 c 190 s 75 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The commission may authorize commercial fishing for sockeye salmon within the
waters described in subsection (2) of this section only during the period June
10th to July 25th and for other salmon only from the second Monday of September
through November 30th, except during the hours between 4:00 p.m. of Friday and
4:00 p.m. of the following Sunday.
(2)
All waters east and south of a line commencing at a concrete monument on
Angeles Point in Clallam county near the mouth of the Elwha River on which is
inscribed "Angeles Point Monument" (latitude 48E 9'
3" north, longitude 123E 33'
01" west of Greenwich Meridian); thence running east on a line 81E 30'
true across the flashlight and bell buoy off Partridge Point and thence
continued to longitude 122E 40'
west; thence north to the southerly shore of Sinclair Island; thence along the
southerly shore of the island to the most easterly point of the island; thence
46E true to Carter Point, the
most southerly point of Lummi Island; thence northwesterly along the westerly
shore line of Lummi Island to where the shore line intersects line of longitude
122E 40' west; thence north to
the mainland, including: The southerly portion of Hale Passage, Bellingham
Bay, Padilla Bay, Fidalgo Bay, Guemes Channel, Skagit Bay, Similk Bay, Saratoga
Passage, Holmes Harbor, Possession Sound, Admiralty Inlet, Hood Canal, Puget
Sound, and their inlets, passages, waters, waterways, and tributaries.
(3)
The commission may authorize commercial fishing for salmon with gill net,
purse seine, and other lawful gear prior to the second Monday in September
within the waters of Hale Passage, Bellingham Bay, Samish Bay, Padilla Bay,
Fidalgo Bay, Guemes Channel, Skagit Bay, and Similk Bay, to wit: Those waters
northerly and easterly of a line commencing at Stanwood, thence along the south
shore of Skagit Bay to Rocky Point on Camano Island; thence northerly to
Polnell Point on Whidbey Island.
(4)
Whenever the commission determines that a stock or run of salmon cannot be
harvested in the usual manner, and that the stock or run of salmon may be in
danger of being wasted and surplus to natural or artificial spawning
requirements, the commission may authorize units of gill net and purse seine
gear in any number or equivalents, by time and area, to fully utilize the
harvestable portions of these salmon runs for the economic well being of the
citizens of this state. Gill net and purse seine gear other than emergency and
test gear authorized by the director shall not be used in Lake Washington.
(5)
The commission may authorize commercial fishing for pink salmon in each
odd-numbered year from August 1st through September 1st in the waters lying
inside of a line commencing at the most easterly point of Dungeness Spit and
thence projected to Point Partridge on Whidbey Island and a line commencing at
Olele Point and thence projected easterly to Bush Point on Whidbey Island.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3.
Section 2 of this act takes effect July 1, 2002.
Passed the House February 11, 2002.
Passed the Senate March 2, 2002.
Approved by the Governor
April 2, 2002.
Filed
in Office of Secretary of State April 2, 2002.
