[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to state purchase of privately grown trout for planting in state waters; adding new sections to Title 77 RCW; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that declining opportunities to catch anadromous salmon and steelhead trout has resulted in an opportunity to improve trout fishing in order to satisfy the public's demand for recreational fishing. During 1998, a private Okanogan county fish farm supplied sixty thousand one to two-pound rainbow trout to the department of fish and wildlife, Colville Confederated Tribes, and volunteer groups. These catchable trout provided enhanced recreational fishing opportunities in central Washington lakes. The program was viewed as a huge success.

The same private fish farm planted Rufus Woods lake in the Columbia river above Chief Joseph dam with triploid rainbow trout, which resulted in the capture of a new state record rainbow trout of 25.45 pounds in February of 1998. The farmed rainbow trout have the potential to grow to trophy size because they are sterile, feed aggressively, and continue to grow through their life cycle.

A relatively small investment by the legislature in purchasing privately grown catchable triploid trout has the potential to be a major program for rural economic development. Catchable-sized trout between one to one and a half pounds each can be produced by private sector fish farmers for approximately two dollars per fish. Fish farmers can produce these fish in a triploid genetic configuration for the purpose of certifying that the fish are sterile and that they cannot interbreed with wild trout. These privately produced catchable trout are ideally suited to planting into public lakes and ponds to provide immediate recreational fishing at a reasonable cost.

The effect of planting large-sized catchable trout will be increased fishing and hunting license sales, increased angler participation, increased tourism activities, and a boost to local economies. In essence, a catchable trout program will be an economic development measure for rural areas. The planting of catchable trout can be conducted in any water body that has water quality sufficiently high to support fish life.

Additional benefits of the catchable trout program will result from producing additional fishing opportunity without adding to the number of state employees, by providing jobs in the private sector, and by having no adverse impact on wild trout populations.

The state purchase of privately produced trout is not intended to replace trout produced by hatcheries of the department of fish and wildlife. Rather, the purchase of private farmed trout by the department is intended to supplement existing department trout hatchery programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The fish and wildlife commission shall institute a program to purchase catchable-sized trout from private fish farmers in order to increase the recreational fishing opportunities within state waters.

(2) The fish and wildlife commission shall purchase up to one hundred thousand catchable trout during the 1999 calendar year from private fish farmers located within Washington state, for the purpose of planting the trout into public freshwater lakes and ponds to improve recreational fishing.

(3) The fish and wildlife commission shall purchase up to one million catchable trout during calendar year 2000 from private fish farmers located within Washington state, for the purpose of planting the trout into public freshwater lakes and ponds to improve recreational fishing.

(4) The fish and wildlife commission shall not, because of the response to the purchase of privately grown trout, reduce the appropriation for hatcheries operated by the department of fish and wildlife or reduce the number of hatchery employees.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The sum of three million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending July 30, 2001, from the general fund to the department of fish and wildlife for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act are each added to Title 77 RCW.