S-3585.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6150

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1998 Regular Session

By Senator Swecker

Read first time 01/12/98.  Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.

Requiring recommendations concerning selective fishing strategies.

    AN ACT Relating to evaluating selective fishing methods; and amending RCW 75.28.770.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 75.28.770 and 1994 c 264 s 46 are each amended to read as follows:

    The ((department shall)) fish and wildlife commission shall jointly evaluate and recommend, ((in consultation)) with the Indian tribes in consultation with the non-Indian commercial and recreational fishing industries, salmon fishery management strategies and gear types, as well as a schedule for implementation, that will minimize the impact of commercial and recreational fishing in the mixed stock fishery on critical and depressed wild stocks of salmonids.  ((As part of this evaluation, the department, in conjunction with the commercial and recreational fishing industries, shall evaluate commercial and recreational salmon fishing gear types developed by these industries.  The department shall present status reports to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 31 of each year in 1993, 1994, and 1995, and shall present the final evaluation and recommendations by December 31, 1996.)) These selective fishing strategies shall minimize impacts upon weak fish stocks in order to assist species recovery under the endangered species act.  Fishing gear and fishing methods that cannot be made compatible with the protection of weak stocks shall be recommended for prohibition.  The commission shall present final recommendations to the appropriate legislative committees by December 31, 1998.

If the commission fails to produce a report by December 31, 1998, then a written explanation shall be provided to the office of financial management and to the appropriate legislative committees documenting the reasons why selective fishing recommendations could not be developed in a timely manner.

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