EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: May 3, 2000.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-04000R, 220-52-04000S, and 220-52-04600A; 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: Recent state and tribal crab test fishing indicate that the overall crab shell condition in this area meet the criteria to conduct crab harvest by pot gear and there is a harvestable surplus of crab in the area opened by this regulation. A reduced pot limit is necessary to avoid exceeding the allocation. There is insufficient time to promulgate permanent rules.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 3.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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.
May 3, 2000
Evan Jacoby
for Jeff P. Koenings
Director
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-040, effective 10:00 a.m. May 11, until 10:00 a.m. May 12, 2000, it is unlawful for any person to take or fish for crab for commercial purposes in the Puget Sound licensing district using, operating, or controlling any more than an aggregate total of 25 shellfish pots or ring nets. This limit shall apply to each license. However, this shall not preclude a person holding two Puget Sound crab licenses from designating and using the licenses from one vessel as authorized by RCW 75.28.048(4).
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Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-52-046, effective 10:00 a.m. May 11, until 10:00 a.m. May 12, 2000, it is lawful to fish for Dungeness crab for commercial purposes from
the following Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Areas:
(1) Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 24B, except those waters inside a line projected from Priest Point to the five-meter tower between Gedney Island and Priest Point, thence northwesterly on a line between the five-meter tower and Barnum Point to the intersection with a line projected true west from Kayack Point, thence east to shore remain closed.
(2) That portion of Marine Fish/Shellfish Catch Reporting Area 26A north of a line drawn from Possession Point on the southern tip of Whidbey Island to the shipwreck north of Picnic Point. Those waters south and east of a line projected from the 3A buoy at the Snohomish River mouth to the outermost tip of the ferry dock at Muckilteo remain closed.
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Reviser's note: The spelling errors in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appear in the Register pursuant to
the requirements of RCW 34.08.040..
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:
| WAC 220-52-04000R | Commercial crab fishery--Lawful and unlawful gear, methods, and other unlawful acts. Exceptions to Permanent Rules. (99-14) |
The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed effective 10:01 a.m. May 12, 2000:
| WAC 220-52-04000S | Commercial crab fishery--25 pot per license limit. |
| WAC 220-52-04600A | Commercial crab fishery--Areas and seasons. |