EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: February 1, 2000.
Purpose: Commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-04000Q and 220-52-04600V; and amending WAC 220-52-040 and 220-52-046.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 75.08.080.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.
Reasons for this Finding: The area closures and pot limits in this emergency rule are necessitated by federal court order. The state may not authorize commercial shellfish harvests absent agreed planning or compliance with a process. Agreed plans with applicable tribes have been entered as required by the court order. Such plans have the effect of a federal court order. 898 F. Supp. 1453, 1466, 3.1. The state/tribal crab allocation balance in Management Region 2 West (Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 25B, 25D and a portion of 26A) has changed. The seventy pot limit which was in effect for this area beginning on October 1 can be increased to one hundred pots per boat to provide more opportunity while remaining in compliance with requirements of state/tribal plans and court orders.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 2.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: Immediately.
February 1, 2000
J. P. Koenings
Director
Exceptions to Permanent Rules.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-040, effective February 1, 2000 until further notice:
(1) The following Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas are restricted in the number of pots fished, operated, or used by a person or vessel and it is unlawful for any person to use, maintain, operate, or control pots in excess of the following limits regardless of whether one or two licenses are designated on a vessel:
(a) 10 pots in that portion of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 23D west of a line from the eastern tip of Ediz Hook to the ITT Rayonier dock.
(b) 20 pots in that portion of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25A west of a line projected from the new Dungeness Light to the mouth of Cooper Creek and east of a line projected from the new Dungeness Light to the outermost end of the abandoned dock at the Three Crabs Restaurant on the southern shore of Dungeness Bay.
(c) A combined total not to exceed 100 pots in the following areas and in any combination: Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 25B, the open portion of 25D, and that portion of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 26A south and west of a line from Possession Point on Whidbey Island projected 110 degrees true to the shipwreck on the opposite shore.
(d) It is lawful for licensed wholesale dealers to possess male Dungeness crab measuring greater than 6 inches across the back immediately in front of the tips if those crab were taken by a treaty Indian fisher fishing in a tribal authorized commercial fishery scheduled in conformity with a state-tribal management plan that allows for the commercial harvest of crab greater than six inches in width.
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Exceptions to Permanent Rules
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-046, effective February 1, 2000 until further notice:
(1) The following areas are closed to commercial crab fishing:
(a) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25A west of a line from the new Dungeness Light to the outermost tip of the abandoned dock at the Three Crabs Restaurant.
(b) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25E south of a line from Contractors Point to Tukey Point.
(2) All waters of Marine Fish/Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D, and the portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Area 26A north of line from the south tip of Possession Point on Whidbey Island to the shipwreck north of Picnic Point.
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The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:
| WAC 220-52-04000Q | Commercial crab size restriction. (99-212) |
| WAC 220-52-04600V | Commercial crab fishing--Allocation/softshell closures. (99-220) |