AN
ACT Relating to commercial salmon licenses; and amending RCW 77.65.160,
77.65.030, and 77.65.070.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
77.65.160 and 2000 c 107 s 37 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The following commercial salmon fishery licenses are required for the license
holder to use the specified gear to fish for salmon in state waters. Only a
person who meets the qualifications of RCW 77.70.090 may hold a license listed
in this subsection. The licenses and their annual fees and surcharges under
RCW 77.95.090 are:
Fishery Resident Nonresident Surcharge
License Fee Fee
(a) Salmon Gill Net‑-Grays $380 $685 plus
$100
Harbor-Columbia river
(b) Salmon Gill Net‑-Puget $380 $685 plus $100
Sound
(c) Salmon Gill Net‑-Willapa $380 $685 plus $100
Bay-Columbia river
(d) Salmon purse seine $530 $985 plus $100
(e) Salmon reef net $380 $685 plus $100
(f) Salmon troll $380 $685 plus $100
(2)
A license issued under this section authorizes no taking or delivery of salmon
or other food fish unless a vessel is designated under RCW 77.65.100.
(3)
Holders of commercial salmon fishery licenses may retain incidentally caught
food fish other than salmon, subject to rules of the department.
(4)
A salmon troll license includes a salmon delivery license.
(5)
A salmon gill net license authorizes the taking of salmon only in the
geographical area for which the license is issued. The geographical
designations in subsection (1) of this section have the following meanings:
(a)
"Puget Sound" includes waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Georgia
Strait, Puget Sound and all bays, inlets, canals, coves, sounds, and estuaries
lying easterly and southerly of the international boundary line and a line at
the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca projected northerly from Cape
Flattery to the lighthouse on Tatoosh Island and then to Bonilla Point on
Vancouver Island.
(b)
"Grays Harbor-Columbia river" includes waters of Grays Harbor and
tributary estuaries lying easterly of a line projected northerly from Point
Chehalis Light to Point Brown and those waters of the Columbia river and
tributary sloughs and estuaries easterly of a line at the entrance to the
Columbia river projected southerly from the most westerly point of the North
jetty to the most westerly point of the South jetty.
(c)
"Willapa Bay-Columbia river" includes waters of Willapa Bay and
tributary estuaries and easterly of a line projected northerly from Leadbetter
Point to the Cape Shoalwater tower and those waters of the Columbia river and
tributary sloughs described in (b) of this subsection.
(6)
A commercial salmon troll fishery license may be renewed under this section if
the license holder notifies the department by May 1st of that year that he or
she will not participate in the fishery during that calendar year. A commercial
salmon gill net, reef net, or seine fishery license may be renewed under this
section if the license holder notifies the department ((by August 1st)) before
the third Monday in September of that year that he or she will not
participate in the fishery during that calendar year. The license holder must
pay the one hundred-dollar enhancement surcharge, plus a fifteen-dollar
handling charge before the third Monday in September, in order to be
considered a valid renewal and eligible to renew the license the following
year.
(7)
Notwithstanding the annual license fees and surcharges established in
subsection (1) of this section, a person who holds a resident commercial salmon
fishery license shall pay an annual license fee of one hundred dollars plus the
surcharge if all of the following conditions are met:
(a)
The license holder is at least seventy-five years of age;
(b)
The license holder owns a fishing vessel and has fished with a resident
commercial salmon fishery license for at least thirty years;
and
(c)
The commercial salmon fishery license is for a geographical area other than the
Puget Sound.
An
alternate operator may not be designated for a license renewed at the one
hundred dollar annual fee under this subsection (7).
Sec.
2. RCW
77.65.030 and 1993 c 340 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
The
application deadline for a commercial license or permit established in this
chapter is December 31st of the calendar year for which the license or
permit is sought. The department shall accept no license or permit
applications after December 31st of the calendar year for which the
license or permit is sought. The application deadline in this section does
not apply to a license or permit that has not been renewed because of the death
of the license or permit holder. The license or permit holder's surviving
spouse, estate, or estate beneficiary must be given a reasonable opportunity to
renew the license or permit.
Sec.
3. RCW
77.65.070 and 1996 c 267 s 27 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
A commercial license issued under this chapter permits the license holder to
engage in the activity for which the license is issued in accordance with this
title and the rules of the department.
(2)
No security interest or lien of any kind, including tax liens, may be created
or enforced in a license issued under this chapter.
(3)
Unless otherwise provided in this title or rules of the department, commercial
licenses and permits issued under this chapter expire at midnight on December
31st of the calendar year for which they are issued. In accordance with this
title, licenses may be renewed annually upon application and payment of the
prescribed license fees. In accordance with RCW 77.65.030, the department
must provide a license or permit holder's surviving spouse, estate, or estate
beneficiary a reasonable opportunity to renew the license or permit.
