HOUSE BILL REPORT

SSB 5348

BYSenate Committee on Environment & Natural Resources (originally sponsored by Senator Owen)

Relating to the regulating of fishing.

House Committe on Fisheries & Wildlife

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (8)

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

House Staff:Robert Butts (786-7841)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 13, 1989

BACKGROUND:

In 1376, the House of Commons petitioned the King of England over its concern of the destruction of underwater vegetation caused by trawling.  Six hundred-years later, concerns continue to exist.

Trawling for fish involves pulling a cone-shaped net behind a boat. Mid-water trawls in Puget Sound target walleye pollock and Pacific whiting, while bottom trawling targets primarily bottom-fish, including flatfish, Pacific cod, lingcod, dogfish, rockfish, and other bottom dwelling fishes of economic importance.  In 1987, 150 trawl licenses were issued for Puget Sound, and 2,200 tons of bottom fish with a value of $1,230,000 were harvested.

In 1987, approximately 85 percent of the bottom trawl catch in Puget Sound was caught in northern Puget Sound and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with 15 percent of the catch occurring in Hood Canal and south and east of Camano and Whidbey Islands.

As a result of public and legislative concern, the Department of Fisheries completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 1985 on commercial bottom-fish trawling in Puget Sound.  Adverse impacts identified in the EIS included the disturbance of the sea bottom; the shearing of eel grass and kelp; the wastage of bottomfish, crab, and a small amount of salmon resources; a negative impact on recreational fisheries for bottomfish; and a negative impact on pot fisheries for dungeness crab.

Beneficial impacts identified included the annual harvest of several million pounds of seafood for consumers; the generation of $1.7 million in ex-vessel value annually; the employment of approximately 250 persons in direct jobs; and the removal of millions of pounds of dogfish and ratfish annually, which are considered a nuisance by most recreational fishermen.

Since the EIS was completed, the Department of Fisheries has taken steps to reduce the impacts of bottom trawling on crab, eel grass, kelp, and recreational fishing.

SUMMARY:

Commercial bottom trawling for food fish and shellfish is unlawful in Hood Canal, and in Puget Sound south of a line from Foulweather Bluff to Double Bluff and including marine waters east of Whidbey and Camano Islands.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Senator Owen, Prime Sponsor; Tom Fitchitt, Tacoma resident; Duane Linkmeyer, Kitsap Poggie Club; Dennis McBreen, Save Our Salmon.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Mark Pedersen, Department of Fisheries.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Bottom trawling destroys sea floor vegetation and has seriously depleted bottom fish populations.  Bottom trawling also destroys crab pots.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      The department has addressed the concerns raised by opponents of bottom trawling.  This bill would interfere with the rationale management of the fishery resources in Hood Canal and southern Puget Sound.