S-247                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5146

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Senators Owen, Craswell, Kreidler, Lee, Stratton, Sellar and Conner

Read first time 1/16/89 and referred to Committee on Environment & Natural Resources.

AN ACT Relating to a Hood Canal marine fish preservation area; and adding a new section to chapter 75.08 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 75.08 RCW to read as follows:

          All marine fishing areas in Hood Canal south of the Hood Canal floating bridge are established as a marine fish preservation area. This designation is intended to preserve, protect, and enhance the marine fish resource, to restore the historic productivity of the fish resource, and to encourage the full development of recreational fishing opportunities.

          The director of fisheries shall incrementally reduce the commercial fishery harvest of all food fish within the Hood Canal recreational fishing waters to achieve a total commercial fishing prohibition within four years of the effective date of this act.  The reduction in commercial food fish catch shall be twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, and one hundred percent in the first, second, third, and fourth years, respectively.