S-0343.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5026
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State of Washington 56th Legislature 1999 Regular Session
By Senator Swecker
Read first time 01/11/1999. Referred to Committee on Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation.
AN ACT Relating to fisheries; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) It is the purpose of the individual fishery quota system to award to individual fishers shares for salmon harvest numbers based on the previous record of fishing in the fishery. If an individual fisher does not receive an initial quota or share allocation or does not receive shares by transfer in the future, that fisher will not be able to participate in the salmon fishery. The quota share is a permit that awards a fisher the privilege to fish in the common property of the state. The quota shares will determine each fisher's individual quota, which is the amount of salmon that the fisher is entitled to catch each year. The fisher may catch the quota at any time during the appropriate season but may not exceed imposed limits in any given area. With this act, the legislature intends to decrease pressure to fish in rough weather and to improve safety in the fisheries.
(2) The fish and wildlife commission shall design an individual fisheries quota program based upon a federal program outlined in the federal register, volume 50, page 59375, published on November 9, 1993. The commission shall ensure that the program includes ownership restrictions to prevent quota shares for the fishery being held by too few fishers, and vessel restrictions to prevent too few fishers from catching all the fish.
(3) The commission shall ensure that the quota share system is based upon qualified filings that would represent a percentage of the harvest for certain seasons and regulatory areas. The commission shall, after a public hearing, set poundage or individual fish quotas for each year. The commission shall ensure that the quotas are based upon each management area, allowing variance from year to year in accord with the harvest guidelines established by the federal department of fish and wildlife.
(4) The commission shall ensure that qualifying areas are grouped as follows: (a) San Juan/Point Roberts areas 7 and 7a; (b) areas 10, 11, and 12 (Hood Canal); (c) areas 8 (Everett) and 9.
(5) The commission shall issue quotas to permit owners each year beginning in the year 2000.
(6) The commission shall ensure that share requirements apply to Washington state gill net and purse seine permits and are upon individuals not vessels.
(7) The commission, in conjunction with the department, shall set historical harvest levels for gill net and purse seine uses based on the last five years for each grouped area. The commission shall develop methods to make the program functional after conducting public hearings with interested parties prior to the adoption of formal rules.
(8) The commission shall ensure that permits are issued not to vessels but to individuals and shall require that the individual permit holder be aboard the vessel when the vessel is fishing.
(9) Following the initial issue of shares by the department, the commission shall provide that gill net and purse seine shares are interchangeable between vessel owners in the same fishery. The commission shall consider vessel restrictions and limitations on individual control of shares.
(10) The commission shall report back to the legislature on the proposed program and rules by December 1, 1999.
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