HOUSE BILL REPORT

SHB 1056

As Amended by the Senate

BYHouse Committee on Fisheries & Wildlife (originally sponsored by Representatives Sayan, R. King, Smith, Vekich and Belcher; by request of Department of Fisheries)

Regulating herring spawn on kelp.

House Committe on Fisheries & Wildlife

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (11)

      Signed by Representatives R. King, Chair; Morris, Vice Chair; S. Wilson, Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Bowman, Brooks, Cole, Haugen, Smith, Spanel and Vekich.

House Staff:Robert Butts (786-7841)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 6, 1989

BACKGROUND:

Two major herring fisheries are conducted in Puget Sound:  a sport bait fishery, and a sac-roe fishery.  A general purpose herring fishery has been conducted in Bellingham Bay, but this fishery has not occurred since 1984.

The sport bait fishery operates primarily in northern Hood Canal and central and south Puget Sound.  The fishery harvests primarily juvenile herring, and an average of approximately 550 tons are harvested each year.

The sac-roe fishery operates in northern Puget Sound where commercial fishers harvest adult herring immediately prior to spawning.  The egg sacs are removed from the females and exported to Japan.  The number of fish available for this fishery has been low since 1983.  From 1983 through 1986, there was no sac-roe fishery, and in 1987 and 1988, only a limited amount of herring were harvested.

Another method of obtaining herring eggs is to have herring lay eggs on kelp, and then harvesting the kelp and eggs.  The egg-  covered kelp is cut into pieces, and sold as an oriental delicacy.

Spawn-on-kelp can be conducted in two ways:  by placing the kelp in bays where the herring are likely to spawn, or by collecting the egg-filled herring and placing them in a closed salt water net pen filled with kelp.  Of the two methods, closed net pens hold the most promise for Puget Sound.

Several Indian tribes have conducted closed pen spawn-on-kelp fisheries in the last two years, and in 1988, the Department of Fisheries conducted a small experimental fishery to better understand the biology and economics of the fishery.  The experiment showed that a closed pen spawn-on-kelp fishery can be very profitable (greater than 100 percent return on investment), and that the biological ramifications are minor if the fishery is permitted only when herring stocks are in abundance.

Spawn-on-kelp fisheries are allowed in Alaska, British Columbia,  and California and in 1987, Oregon allowed an experimental fishery.

Washington's herring fishery is a limited-entry fishery, with a current total of 139 validations.  The validations are transferable,  and the Department of Fisheries may issue additional validations if the herring population would not be jeopardized.

SUMMARY:

A herring spawn-on-kelp permit, issued by the Department of Fisheries, is created.

In addition to a commercial fishing license and a herring validation, a herring spawn-on-kelp permit is required to commercially take herring eggs that have been deposited on vegetation of any type.

Herring spawn-on-kelp permits shall be sold at an auction to the highest bidder.  Since a herring validation is required to participate in the spawn-on-kelp fishery, only fishers with a herring validation may participate in the auction.

If the proceeds from the auction exceed estimates made in the department's legislatively approved budget, the excess proceeds may be allocated as unanticipated receipts under RCW 43.79.270.  These excess proceeds shall be used only for herring management, enhancement, and enforcement.

Spawn-on-kelp products are specifically exempted from the definition of "private sector cultured aquatic products" and, therefore, are not subject to oversight by the Department of Agriculture.

EFFECT OF SENATE AMENDMENTS:  The amendment places a limit of five on the number of herring spawn on kelp permits that may be issued annually by the Department of Fisheries.  The House substitute does not limit the number of permits that may be issued.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 31, 1989.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Mark Peterson & Loren Stern, Department of Fisheries; Stan Biles, Department of Natural Resources.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Marty Sanbeck and Don Thurston, commercial fishermen.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The bill will enable the Department of Fisheries to better utilize and manage the state's herring resource.  The auction will have the permittees pay for the cost of the state's herring management program.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      Concerned about the potential impact of large-scale spawn-on- kelp harvests on herring populations, and the requirement that the permits be auctioned.

VOTE ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      Yeas 96; Absent 1; Excused 1

Absent:     Representative Grant

Excused:    Representative Appelwick