[Order 18-285—Filed October 9, 2018, 3:45 p.m., effective November 9, 2018]

Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.

Purpose: The department seeks to make additional amendments to the rules that include a $5 fee for catch record cards that was previously approved by the legislature in ESSB 6127 during the 2018 legislative session. The proposed changes to the current rules are necessary to make the rules consistent with request legislation passed in 2018 and recommendations made by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. The proposed modification to WAC 220-310-020 (6)(a) would facilitate online catch reporting for species in addition to Puget Sound crab, which already has this capability. This would be a more convenient catch reporting method for anglers and could help increase compliance with catch reporting requirements.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 220-220-020 Recreational license, 220-220-200 Valid catch record card, 220-310-010 Description of catch record cards and required information, and 220-310-020 Catch record cards.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.020, 77.04.055, 77.12.045, and 77.12.047.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 18-17-179 on August 22, 2018.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 3, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: October 5, 2018.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 17-05-112, filed 2/15/17, effective 3/18/17)

WAC 220-220-020Recreational license.

A recreational license is ((a license document or)) a valid internet or telephone ((authorization))transaction number issued by the department((. The license document is invalid unless the personal identification information on the license has been completed and the licensee has signed the license except that a temporary fishing license is issued either as a license document requiring personal identification information or as a stamp, which is invalid unless the two-consecutive days for which it is valid are entered, in permanent ink, on the stamp))or a valid license.

With the exception of razor clam licenses and one-day charter boat or guide operator stamp licenses, to be valid, a license must be signed by the licensee, must contain the licensee's personal identification information, and, if a catch record card is required, must be accompanied by a valid catch record card.

To be valid, a razor clam license must be signed by the licensee.

When a catch record card is not required for use with a one-day charter boat or guide operator stamp license, the stamp license is valid only if the issue date is written in ink on the stamp and the stamp is signed by the licensee. When a catch record card is required for use with a one-day charter boat or guide operator stamp license, the license is valid only if the issue date is written in ink on the stamp, the stamp is affixed to the catch record card, the catch record card is signed by the licensee, and the catch record card contains the licensee's completed personal identification information.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 17-05-112, filed 2/15/17, effective 3/18/17)

WAC 220-220-200Valid catch record card.

For a catch record card ((shall be invalid unless))to be valid:

(1) The angler ((has))must have in physical possession the appropriate ((recreational)) license and catch record card for the area in which the angler is participating, if a license and/or a catch record card is required.

(2) The catch record card ((number is written in ink in the appropriate space on the back of the recreational license, if a license is required, and))must contain the personal information ((has been entered on the catch record card as)) required under WAC ((220-310-020, or, if an automated license is issued, the catch record card has attached to it a validation sticker containing the name and license number))220-310-010.

(3) The license issuance date ((is))must be legible and not altered, and the license ((has not been))must not be mutilated.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 17-05-112, filed 2/15/17, effective 3/18/17)

WAC 220-310-010Description of catch record cards and required information.

(1) The department shall prepare and distribute a catch record card for the following:

(a) Anadromous salmon (salmon);

(b) Dungeness crab taken from Catch Record Card Area 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line and Catch Record Card Areas 5-13;

(d) Steelhead; and

(e) Sturgeon.

(2) Each catch record card shall contain space for the following information((, which must be recorded prior to the catch record card being separated from the underlying copy of the catch record card)):

(a) Name of fisher;

(b) Home address, or mailing address for a catch record card issued with a one-day charter boat or guide operator stamp license;

(d) Date of issuance;

(e) ((Or, for automated licenses))When the catch record card is issued with a one-day charter boat or guide operator stamp license, the catch record card shall contain space for ((the appropriate validation sticker))that stamp.

(3) Each catch record card shall contain space for the following information:

(a) Month of catch;

(b) Day of catch;

(c) ((Catch record card area, river code, or stream: Location of catch;))Location of catch by Marine Area, River, or Lake Code;

(d) A species code for salmon and sturgeon and a marked or unmarked space for salmon;

(e) A space for designating the type of vessel from which halibut was taken, either charter ("c") or ((personal/kicker (k) boat))private ("p");

(f) A space for the length of sturgeon;

(g) For Dungeness crab:

(i) The type of crab fishery as described on the Dungeness crab catch record card;

(ii) The total crab retained by fishery type;

(iii) A tally mark for each crab retained.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 17-05-112, filed 2/15/17, effective 3/18/17)

WAC 220-310-020Catch record cards.

It is unlawful for any person to fail to comply with the catch record requirements as provided for in this section:

(1) An angler must obtain and have in his or her personal possession a valid and appropriate Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card as described in WAC 220-310-010 to fish for or possess for personal use any Dungeness crab in Catch Record Card Area 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh Line, and in Catch Record Card Areas 5-13.

(2) An angler must obtain and have in his or her personal possession a valid and appropriate catch record card as described in WAC 220-310-010 to fish for or possess for personal use any anadromous salmon, sturgeon, halibut, or steelhead except a catch record card is not required for:

(a) Commercially caught salmon retained for personal use, as provided in WAC 220-354-030, and commercially caught sturgeon retained for personal use, as provided in WAC 220-353-110; and

(b) Landlocked steelhead or for salmon in waters designated as "landlocked salmon rules apply" in WAC 220-312-010 through 220-312-060.

(3) Unless the catch record card is issued by the automated licensing system, anglers must completely, accurately, and legibly complete all personal identification information in ink on the catch record card ((before detaching the card from its underlying copy or, for automated licenses, affixing the appropriate validation sticker to the catch record card to validate a catch record card)). A catch record card remains valid as long as there is one or more unfilled spaces available for the species being fished for, except:

(a) A catch record card remains valid for catch-and-release sturgeon fishing when the sturgeon portion of the card is full in the mainstem Columbia River downstream from where the river forms the common boundary between Oregon and Washington.

(b) It is unlawful to use a second or subsequent catch record card to retain halibut, sturgeon, or wild steelhead after the first card is full.

(4) The fee for a catch record card for halibut is five dollars when purchased with an annual saltwater fishing license, an annual combination fishing license, or an annual fish Washington license. There is no charge for a catch record card for halibut with a temporary combination fishing license that is valid for one to three consecutive days, or with a one-day charter boat or guide operator stamp license, or with a youth license.

(5) Immediately upon catching and possessing a salmon, steelhead, sturgeon or halibut, anglers must enter, in ink, in the appropriate space on the card, the place, date of catch, and species (catch type). For sturgeon, anglers also must record the length of the fish; for halibut, anglers also must record the vessel type; and for salmon, anglers also must indicate whether or not the fish was marked by having a clipped adipose fin((s)).

(((5)))(6) Immediately upon retaining a Puget Sound Dungeness crab aboard a vessel or on the shore, fishers must enter, in ink, in the appropriate space on the Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card, the place and date of catch, the fishery type, and a tally mark for each Dungeness crab retained from each catch record card area fished. At the end of the fishing day, the fisher must enter the total number of crab tally marks for each fishery type.

(((6)))(7)(a) Every person issued a catch record card must, by April 30 of the year after they used the card, return the card to the department of fish and wildlife or report the card information at the designated internet site by dates indicated on the card. People issued a Puget Sound Dungeness crab catch record card must return the card to the Washington department of fish and wildlife or report the card information at the designated internet site by the dates indicated on the card.

(b) Failure to return a Dungeness crab catch record card or to report the Dungeness crab catch record card information at the designated internet site by the dates indicated on the card will result in a ten-dollar administrative fee. The administrative fee will be collected from anglers when they acquire a subsequent Puget Sound Dungeness crab endorsement.

(((7)))(8) Any person possessing a catch record card must show the card to any law enforcement officer or authorized department employee who asks to inspect the card.

(((8)))(9) A catch record card must not be transferred, borrowed, altered, or loaned to another person, except as authorized under RCW 77.32.565.