(1) The department will issue a wild seed permit to a person to move shellfish from a harvest site in a growing area classified by the department as "conditionally approved" in closed status, "restricted," or "prohibited," if all of the following conditions are met.

(a) The person possesses a valid shellfish operation license.

(b) The person possesses a harvest site certificate listing both the initial harvest site for the seed and the grow-out site.

(c) The original harvest site has acceptable levels of poisonous chemicals, is not in an area known to be a hazardous chemical disposal site, and is not in a closure zone of a wastewater treatment plant or marina.

(d) The grow-out site is in a natural body of water classified by the department as "approved" or "conditionally approved."

(e) The person submits a completed written application and plan of operations approved by the department completely describing the procedures of the wild seed operation, including the size distribution of the seed.

(f) The person pays the department a wild seed permit application fee or renewal fee as required by this chapter.

(2) A person operating under a wild seed permit must:

(a) Follow all procedures in the plan of operations approved by the department;

(b) Harvest seed from an area classified as "prohibited" only during daylight hours;

(c) Harvest seed from an area classified as "prohibited" only under direct monitoring by a person approved by the department;

(d) Leave seed in a grow-out site for a minimum of six months before final harvest;

(e) Limit harvest of live shellfish larger than seed size attached to, or commingled with, the seed to less than five percent of the total number of the shellfish harvested from the site;

(f) Place any live shellfish larger than seed size attached to, or commingled with, the seed in the grow-out site for a minimum of six months after initial harvest;

(g) Stake or mark the grow-out site to be easily identified by the person for a minimum of six months from the time of moving to the site any seed attached to, or commingled with, shellfish larger than seed size; and

(h) Keep records for each lot of seed harvested that show a lot identification number; the species, location, date, and quantity moved from the initial harvest site; the grow-out location; and the date of first harvest of any of those shellfish from the grow-out site.

(3) A person's wild seed permit expires on the same date as the person's shellfish operation license.

(4) A person is exempt from the requirements of this section for the activity of harvesting seed attached to containerized empty shellfish shells or other cultch material, provided that the person:

(a) Meets the conditions of subsection (1)(a) through (d) of this section;

(b) Leaves the seed in the grow-out site for a minimum of six months before final harvest; and

(c) Fully describes the seed harvest and grow-out activities in a written plan of operations approved by the department for the person's shellfish operation license.