WSR 18-10-048 EMERGENCY RULES DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE [Order 18-82—Filed April 26, 2018, 1:37 p.m., effective May 1, 2018, 8:00 a.m.] Effective Date of Rule: May 1, 2018, 8:00 a.m. Purpose: Amends coastal commercial crab rules. Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-340-45000E; and amending WAC 220- [220-340-450]. 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: This rule opens the Quileute Special Management Area to state fishers and implements a one hundred pot limit for the first thirty days in the newly opened area as provided in the State-Quileute Harvest Management Agreement. This emergency rule also continues the closure of the Quinault Special Secondary Management Area to state fishers as provided in the State-Quinault Harvest Management Agreement. There is insufficient time to adopt 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 Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1. Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Date Adopted: April 26, 2018. Joe Stohr Director
NEW SECTION
WAC 220-340-45000F Commercial crab fishery—Seasons and areas—Coastal.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-450, effective immediately until further notice, it is unlawful to fish for Dungeness crab in Washington coastal waters, the Pacific Ocean, Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, or the Columbia River, except as provided for in this section.
(1) The area from and the U.S./Canada border to the WA/OR border (46°15.00) and Willapa Bay is open.
(2) For the purposes of this section, the waters of Willapa Bay are defined to include the marine waters east of a line connecting 46°44.76 N, 124°05.76 W and 46°38.93 N, 124°04.33 W.
(3) The Quileute Special Management Area (SMA) will open to fishing for Dungeness crab at 8:00 a.m. on May 1, 2018. The SMA includes the area shoreward of a line approximating the 30-fathom depth curve between Destruction Island and Cape Johnson according to the following points:
(4) It is unlawful for a vessel to use more than 100 pots in the Quileute SMA from 8:00 a.m. May 1, 2018, until 8:00 a.m. June 1, 2018. Fishers must pre-register with the Department of Fish and Wildlife 24 hours prior to deploying gear in this area by one of the three following methods:
(5) The Quinault Secondary Special Management Area (SSMA) remains closed to fishing for Dungeness crab, from the area shoreward of a line approximating the 27-fathom depth curve between the mouth of the Copalis River (47º08.00) and Split Rock (47º24.50). This area will be closed until further notice. This SSMA is described by the following coordinates:
(6) All other provisions of the permanent rule remain in effect.
Reviser's note: The unnecessary underscoring in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040. REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed 8:00 a.m. May 1, 2018:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||