AN ACT Relating to the
creation of a combined recreational fish and hunting license document; amending
RCW 75.25.091, 75.25.092, 75.25.110, 75.25.120, 75.25.150, 77.32.161,
77.32.101, 77.32.230, and 77.32.256; reenacting and amending RCW 75.08.011 and
75.25.180; adding a new section to chapter 77.32 RCW; adding a new section to
chapter 75.25 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 77 RCW; creating a new
section; and providing effective dates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. A new section is added
to chapter 77.32 RCW to read as follows:
The legislature finds
that it is in the best interest of recreational hunters and fishers in the
state of Washington to be able to purchase all recreational hunting and fishing
licenses as a single document. Under the combined department of fish and
wildlife, there is the opportunity to establish uniform license requirements
and procedures.
There is created a
sport recreational license, to be administered by the department of fish and
wildlife. The sport recreational license shall include the personal use food
fish, game fish, hunting, hound, and eastern Washington upland bird licenses,
for residents and nonresidents. The license shall also include three-day game
fish and food fish licenses, for residents and nonresidents. The license shall
include a warm water game fish surcharge, the funds from which shall be
deposited in the warm water game fish account created under section 18 of this
act.
Sec. 2. RCW 75.08.011 and 1993
sp.s. c 2 s 20 and 1993 c 340 s 47 are each reenacted and amended to read as
follows:
As used in this title
or rules of the director, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(1)
"Director" means the director of fish and wildlife.
(2)
"Department" means the department of fish and wildlife.
(3) "Person"
means an individual or a public or private entity or organization. The term
"person" includes local, state, and federal government agencies, and
all business organizations, including corporations and partnerships.
(4) "Fisheries
patrol officer" means a person appointed and commissioned by the director,
with authority to enforce this title, rules of the director, and other statutes
as prescribed by the legislature. Fisheries patrol officers are peace
officers.
(5) "Ex officio
fisheries patrol officer" means a commissioned officer of a municipal,
county, state, or federal agency having as its primary function the enforcement
of criminal laws in general, while the officer is in the appropriate
jurisdiction. The term "ex officio fisheries patrol officer" also
includes wildlife agents, special agents of the national marine fisheries
service, United States fish and wildlife special agents, state parks
commissioned officers, department of natural resources enforcement officers,
and United States forest service officers, while the agents and officers are
within their respective jurisdictions.
(6) "To
fish," "to harvest," and "to take" and their
derivatives mean an effort to kill, injure, harass, or catch food fish or
shellfish.
(7) "State
waters" means all marine waters and fresh waters within ordinary high
water lines and within the territorial boundaries of the state.
(8) "Offshore
waters" means marine waters of the Pacific Ocean outside the territorial
boundaries of the state, including the marine waters of other states and
countries.
(9) "Concurrent
waters of the Columbia river" means those waters of the Columbia river
that coincide with the Washington-Oregon state boundary.
(10) "Resident"
means a person who has ((for the preceding ninety days)) maintained a
permanent place of abode within the state for at least ninety days
immediately preceding an application for a license, has established by
formal evidence an intent to continue residing within the state, and who
is not licensed to hunt or fish as a resident in another state.
(11)
"Nonresident" means a person who has not fulfilled the qualifications
of a resident.
(12) "Food
fish" means those species of the classes Osteichthyes, Agnatha, and
Chondrichthyes that have been classified and that shall not be fished
for except as authorized by rule of the director. The term "food
fish" includes all stages of development and the bodily parts of food fish
species.
(13)
"Shellfish" means those species of marine and freshwater
invertebrates that have been classified and that shall not be taken
except as authorized by rule of the director. The term "shellfish"
includes all stages of development and the bodily parts of shellfish species.
(14) "Salmon"
means all species of the genus Oncorhynchus, except those classified as game
fish in Title 77 RCW, and includes:
Scientific
Name Common Name
Oncorhynchus
tshawytscha Chinook salmon
Oncorhynchus
kisutch Coho salmon
Oncorhynchus
keta Chum salmon
Oncorhynchus
gorbuscha Pink salmon
Oncorhynchus nerka Sockeye
salmon
(15)
"Commercial" means related to or connected with buying, selling, or
bartering. Fishing for food fish or shellfish with gear unlawful for fishing
for personal use, or possessing food fish or shellfish in excess of the limits
permitted for personal use are commercial activities.
(16) "To
process" and its derivatives mean preparing or preserving food fish or
shellfish.
(17) "Personal
use" means for the private use of the individual taking the food fish or
shellfish and not for sale or barter.
(18) "Angling
gear" means a line attached to a rod and reel capable of being held in
hand while landing the fish or a hand-held line operated without rod or reel ((to
which are attached no more than two single hooks or one artificial bait with no
more than four multiple hooks)).
(19) "Open
season" means those times, manners of taking, and places or waters
established by rule of the director for the lawful fishing, taking, or
possession of food fish or shellfish. "Open season" includes the
first and last days of the established time.
(20)
"Fishery" means the taking of one or more particular species of food
fish or shellfish with particular gear in a particular geographical area.
(21)
"Limited-entry license" means a license subject to a license
limitation program established in chapter 75.30 RCW.
(22)
"Seaweed" means marine aquatic plant species that are dependent upon
the marine aquatic or tidal environment, and exist in either an attached or
free floating form, and includes but is not limited to marine aquatic plants in
the classes Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta, and Rhodophyta.
Sec. 3. RCW 75.25.091 and 1993
sp.s. c 17 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A personal use food
fish license is required for all persons other than residents under fifteen
years of age((, honorably discharged veterans with service-connected
disabilities of thirty percent or more who have resided in the state for one
year or more, or residents seventy years of age or older)) to fish for,
take, or possess food fish for personal use from state waters or offshore
waters. A personal use food fish license is not required under this section to
fish for, take, or possess carp, smelt, or albacore.
(2) The fees for annual
personal use food fish licenses include the one dollar regional fisheries
enhancement surcharge imposed in RCW 75.50.100 and are as follows:
(a) For a resident fifteen
years of age or older and under seventy years of age, ((seven)) eight
dollars; ((and))
(b) For a resident
seventy years of age or older, three dollars; and
(c) For a
nonresident, ((nineteen)) twenty dollars.
(3) The fee for a ((two-consecutive-day))
three-consecutive-day personal use food fish license is ((four)) five
dollars, and includes the one-dollar regional fishery enhancement group
surcharge imposed in RCW 75.50.100.
(4) An annual
personal use food fish license is valid for a maximum catch of fifteen salmon,
after which another annual personal use food fish license may be purchased.
(5) An annual
personal use food fish license is valid for an annual maximum catch of fifteen
sturgeon. No person may take more than fifteen sturgeon in any calendar year.
Sec. 4. RCW 75.25.092 and 1993
sp.s. c 17 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A personal use
shellfish and seaweed license is required for all persons other than
residents under fifteen years of age ((or honorably discharged veterans with
service-connected disabilities of thirty percent or more who have resided in
the state for one year or more)) to fish for, take, dig for, or possess seaweed
or shellfish except crawfish (Pacifastacus sp.) for personal use
from state waters or offshore waters including national park beaches.
(2) The fees for annual
personal use shellfish and seaweed licenses are:
(a) For a resident
fifteen years of age or older and under seventy years of age, five dollars;
(b) For a resident
seventy years of age or older, three dollars; and
(c) For a nonresident,
twenty dollars.
(3) The fee for a ((two-consecutive-day))
three-consecutive-day personal use shellfish and seaweed license
is five dollars.
Sec. 5. RCW 75.25.110 and 1993
sp.s. c 17 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Any of the
recreational fishing licenses required by this chapter shall, upon ((request))
written application, be issued without charge to the following
individuals ((upon request)):
(a) ((Residents
under fifteen years of age;
(b))) Residents who ((submit applications
attesting that they)) are ((a person sixty-five years of age or older
who is an)) honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed
forces and who are sixty-five years of age or older with a
service-connected disability ((and who has been a resident of this state for
the preceding ninety days));
(b) Residents who
are honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces with a thirty
percent or more service-connected disability;
(c) A ((blind))
person who is blind;
(d) A person with a
developmental disability as defined in RCW 71A.10.020 with documentation of the
disability from the department of social and health services; and
(e) A person who is
physically handicapped and confined to a wheelchair.
(2) A ((blind))
person who is blind or a physically handicapped person confined to a
wheelchair who has been issued a card for a permanent disability under RCW
46.16.381 may use that card in place of a fishing license.
(3) Licenses issued
at no charge under this section shall be issued from Olympia as provided by
rule of the director.
Sec. 6. RCW 75.25.120 and 1993
sp.s. c 17 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
In concurrent waters of
the Columbia river and in Washington coastal territorial waters from the
Oregon-Washington boundary to a point five nautical miles north, an Oregon
angling license comparable to the Washington personal use food fish license or
((two-consecutive-day)) three-consecutive-day personal use food
fish license is valid if Oregon recognizes as valid the Washington personal use
food fish license or ((two-consecutive-day)) three-consecutive-day
personal use food fish license in comparable Oregon waters.
If Oregon recognizes as
valid the Washington personal use food fish license or ((two-consecutive-day))
three-consecutive-day personal use food fish license southward to Cape
Falcon in the coastal territorial waters from the Washington-Oregon boundary
and in concurrent waters of the Columbia river then Washington shall recognize
a valid Oregon license comparable to the Washington personal use food fish
license or ((two-consecutive-day)) three-consecutive-day personal
use food fish license northward to Leadbetter Point.
Oregon licenses are not
valid for the taking of food fish when angling in concurrent waters of the
Columbia river from the Washington shore.
Sec. 7. RCW 75.25.150 and 1993
sp.s. c 17 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
It is unlawful to dig
for, fish for, harvest, or possess shellfish ((or)), food
fish, or seaweed without the licenses required by this chapter.
Sec. 8. RCW 75.25.180 and 1993
sp.s. c 17 s 10 and 1993 sp.s. c 2 s 44 are each reenacted and amended to read
as follows:
Recreational licenses
issued by the department under this chapter are valid for the following
periods:
(1) Recreational
licenses issued without charge to persons designated by this chapter are valid
for a period of five years((:
(a) For blind
persons;
(b) For the period
of continued state residency for qualified disabled veterans;
(c) For persons with
a developmental disability; and
(d) For handicapped
persons confined to a wheelchair who have been issued a permanent disability
card)).
(2) ((Two-consecutive-day))
Three-consecutive-day personal use food fish and shellfish and
seaweed licenses expire at midnight on the second day following the
validation date written on the license by the license dealer, except ((two-consecutive-day))
three-consecutive-day personal use food fish and shellfish and
seaweed licenses validated for December 30 or 31 expire at midnight
on ((that date)) December 31.
(3) ((A personal use
food fish license is valid for a maximum catch of fifteen salmon, after which
another personal use food fish license may be purchased. A)) An annual
personal use food fish license or annual personal use shellfish and seaweed
license is valid only for the calendar year for which it is issued.
(((4) A personal use
food fish license is valid for an annual maximum catch of fifteen sturgeon.
(5) Personal use
shellfish licenses are valid for the calendar year for which they are issued.))
NEW SECTION. Sec.
9. A new section is added
to chapter 75.25 RCW to read as follows:
The director shall by
rule establish the conditions for issuance of duplicate licenses, permits,
tags, stamps, and catch record cards required by this chapter. The fee for a
duplicate provided under this section is ten dollars for those licenses that
are ten dollars and over, and for those licenses under ten dollars the
duplicate fee is the value of the license.
Sec. 10. RCW 77.32.161 and 1991
sp.s. c 7 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
A nonresident or
resident may obtain a temporary fishing license, which allows the holder to
fish for game fish throughout the state for either three ((consecutive))
days or for one day. The fee for ((this)) a three-day
license is nine dollars for residents and seventeen dollars for nonresidents. The
fee for a one-day license is three dollars for residents and seven dollars for
nonresidents. The resident temporary fishing license is not valid for an
eight consecutive day period beginning on the opening day of the lowland lake
fishing season.
Sec. 11. RCW 77.32.101 and 1991
sp.s. c 7 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A combination
hunting and fishing license allows a resident holder to hunt, and to
fish for game fish throughout the state. The fee for this license is
twenty-nine dollars.
(2) A hunting license
allows the holder to hunt throughout the state. The fee for this license is
fifteen dollars for residents and one hundred fifty dollars for nonresidents.
(3) A fishing license
allows the holder to fish for game fish throughout the state. The fee
for this license is seventeen dollars for residents fifteen years of age or
older and under seventy years of age, three dollars for residents seventy years
of age or older, twenty dollars for nonresidents under fifteen years of age,
and forty-eight dollars for nonresidents fifteen years of age or older.
(4) A steelhead
fishing license allows the holder of a combination hunting and fishing license
or a fishing license issued under this section to fish for steelhead throughout
the state. The fee for this license is eighteen dollars.
(5) A juvenile
steelhead license allows residents under fifteen years of age and nonresidents
under fifteen years of age who hold a fishing license to fish for steelhead
throughout the state. The fee for this license is six dollars and entitles the
holder to take up to five steelhead at which time another juvenile steelhead
license may be purchased. Any person who purchases a juvenile steelhead
license is prohibited from purchasing a steelhead license for the same calendar
year.
Sec. 12. RCW 77.32.230 and 1991
sp.s. c 7 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) A person sixty-five
years of age or older who is an honorably discharged veteran of the United
States armed forces having a service-connected disability and who ((has been))
is a resident ((for five years)) may receive upon written
application a ((state)) hunting and fishing license free of charge.
(2) Residents who
are honorably discharged veterans of the United States armed forces with a
thirty percent or more service-connected disability may receive upon written
application a hunting and fishing license free of charge.
(3) An honorably
discharged veteran who is a resident and is confined to a wheelchair shall
receive upon application a hunting license free of charge.
(4) A ((blind))
person who is blind, or a person with a developmental disability as
defined in RCW 71A.10.020 with documentation of the disability from the
department of social and health services, or a physically handicapped person
confined to a wheelchair may receive upon written application a fishing
license free of charge.
(((3))) (5)
A ((blind)) person who is blind or a physically handicapped
person confined to a wheelchair who has been issued a card for a permanent
disability under RCW 46.16.381 may use that card in place of a fishing license
((unless tags, permits, stamps, or punchcards are required by this chapter)).
(((4))) (6)
A fishing license is not required for ((persons)) residents under
the age of fifteen.
(((5))) (7)
Tags, permits, stamps, and ((punchcards)) steelhead licenses
required by this chapter shall be purchased separately by persons receiving a
free or reduced-fee license.
(8) Licenses issued
at no charge under this section shall be issued from Olympia as provided by
rule of the director, and are valid for five years.
Sec. 13. RCW 77.32.256 and 1991
sp.s. c 7 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
The director shall by
rule establish the conditions for issuance of duplicate licenses, rebates,
permits, tags, stamps, and ((punchcards)) catch record cards
required by this chapter. The fee for a duplicate provided under this section
is ten dollars for those licenses that are ten dollars and over, and for
those licenses under ten dollars the duplicate fee is the value of the license.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
14. All licenses issued by
the department of fisheries under Title 75 RCW or issued by the department of
wildlife under Title 77 RCW shall be recognized as valid by the department of
fish and wildlife until the stated expiration date.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
15. A warm water game fish
enhancement program is created in the department to be funded from the sale of
a warm water game fish surcharge and the revenue attributed to the sale of
department fishing licenses that are purchased by fishers who fish for certain
warm water game fish species. The enhancement program shall be designed to
increase the opportunities to fish for and catch warm water game fish
including: Largemouth black bass, smallmouth black bass, channel catfish,
black crappie, white crappie, walleye, and tiger musky, and other species as
defined by the department. The program shall be designed to use a practical
applied approach to increasing warm water fishing. The department shall use
the funds available efficiently to assure the greatest increase in the fishing
for warm water fish at the lowest cost. This approach shall involve the
minimization of overhead and administrative costs and the maximization of
productive in-the-field activities.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
16. In order to fish
throughout the state for warm water game fish, a person fifteen years of age or
older shall pay to the department an annual warm water game fish surcharge.
For the purposes of this section, "warm water game fish" means largemouth
black bass, smallmouth black bass, walleye, black crappie, white crappie,
channel catfish, and tiger musky. The department shall use the most
cost-effective format in designing and administering the surcharge. Revenues
from the surcharge shall be deposited in the warm water game fish account
created under section 18 of this act. The annual surcharge shall be in the
following amounts:
(1) For residents and
nonresidents between fifteen and sixty-nine years of age and for nonresidents
seventy years of age or older who hold an annual fishing license issued under
RCW 77.32.101, five dollars;
(2) For residents
seventy years of age or older who hold an annual fishing license issued under
RCW 77.32.101, one dollar; and
(3) For residents and
nonresidents between fifteen and sixty-nine years of age and nonresidents
seventy years of age and older who hold a temporary fishing license under RCW
77.32.161, two dollars.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
17. The goals of the warm
water game fish enhancement program are to improve the fishing for warm water
game fish using cost-effective management. Development of new ponds and lakes
shall be an important and integral part of the program. The department shall
work with the department of natural resources to coordinate the reclamation of
surface mines and the development of warm water game fish ponds. Improvement
of warm water fishing shall be coordinated with the protection and conservation
of cold water fish populations. This shall be accomplished by carefully
designing the warm water projects to have minimal adverse effects upon the cold
water fish populations. New pond and lake development should have beneficial
effects upon wildlife due to the increase in lacustrine and wetland habitat
that will accompany the improvement of warm water fish habitat. The department
shall not develop projects that will increase the populations of undesirable or
deleterious fish species such as carp, squawfish, walking catfish, and others.
Fish culture programs
shall be used in conditions where they will prove to be cost-effective.
Consideration should be made for development of urban area enhancement of
fishing opportunity for put-and-take species, such as channel catfish, which
are amenable to production by low-cost fish culture methods. Fish culture
shall also be used for stocking of high value species, such as walleye,
smallmouth bass, and tiger musky. Introduction of special genetic strains that
show high potential for recreational fishing improvement, including Florida
strain largemouth bass, shall be considered.
Transplantation and
introduction of exotic warm water fish shall be carefully reviewed to assure
that adverse effects to native fish and wildlife populations do not occur.
This review shall include an analysis of consequences from disease and parasite
introduction.
Population management
through the use of fish toxicants, including rotenone or derris root, shall be
considered as a management option in the warm water game fish enhancement
program. However, any use of fish toxicants shall be subject to a thorough
review to prevent adverse effects to cold water fish, desirable warm water
fish, and other biota. Eradication of deleterious fish species shall be a goal
of the program.
Habitat improvement
shall be a major aspect of the warm water enhancement program. Habitat
improvement opportunities shall be defined with scientific investigations,
field surveys, and by using the extensive experience of other state management
entities. Installation of cover, structure, water flow control structures,
screens, spawning substrate, vegetation control, and other management
techniques shall be fully used. The department shall work to gain access to
privately owned waters that can be developed with habitat improvements to
improve the warm water resource for public fishing. Habitat improvements shall
be conducted in such a manner as to have secondary benefits to waterfowl, other
wildlife, and cold water fish.
The program may include
research if necessary to achieve overall program goals.
The department shall
use the resources of cooperative groups to assist in the planning and
implementation of the warm water game fish enhancement program. In the
development of the program the department shall actively involve the organized
fishing clubs that primarily fish for warm water fish.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
18. The warm water game fish
account is hereby created in the state wildlife fund. Moneys in the account
are subject to legislative appropriation and shall be used for the purpose of
funding the warm water game fish enhancement program under section 15 of this
act. Revenues from the warm water game fish surcharge established under
section 16 of this act shall be deposited into the account.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
19. The director shall make
every effort to allocate funding among department fish management programs
proportional to the revenues from the sale of fishing licenses issued under RCW
77.32.101 and attributable to fishing for the species managed within each of
the programs.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
20. Sections 15 through 19 of
this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 77 RCW.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
21. (1) Sections 15 and 17
through 19 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1994.
(2) Section 16 of this
act shall take effect January 1, 1995.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
22. Section 14 of this act
shall take effect July 1, 1994.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 23. Sections 1 through 13 of
this act shall take effect January 1, 1995.
