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SUBSTITUTE
SENATE BILL 5442
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AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 2001 Regular Session
State
of Washington 57th Legislature 2001 Regular Session
By
READ
FIRST TIME 02/21/01.
Allowing the use of certain salmon fishing gear with an
experimental fishery permit.
AN
ACT Relating to salmon fishing gear; amending RCW 77.50.030 and 77.70.180; and
adding a new section to chapter 77.50 RCW.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. A
new section is added to chapter 77.50 RCW to read as follows:
It
is the intent of the legislature to ensure that a sustainable level of salmon
is made available for harvest for commercial fishers in the state. Maintaining
consistent harvest levels has become increasingly difficult with the listing of
salmonid species under the federal endangered species act. Without a stable
level of harvest, fishers cannot develop niche markets that maximize the
economic value of the harvest. New tools and approaches are needed by fish
managers to bring increased stability to the fishing industry.
In
the short term, it is the legislature's intent to provide managers with tools
to assure that commercial harvest of targeted stocks can continue and expand
under the constraints of the federal endangered species act. There are
experimental types of commercial fishing gear that could allow fishers to
stabilize harvest levels by selectively targeting healthy salmon stocks.
For
the longer term, the department of fish and wildlife shall proceed with changes
to the operation of certain hatcheries in order to stabilize harvest levels by
allowing naturally spawning and hatchery origin fish to be managed as a single
run. Scientific information from such hatcheries would guide the department's
approach to reducing the need to mass mark hatchery origin salmon where
appropriate.
Sec.
2. RCW
77.50.030 and 1998 c 190 s 77 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
A person shall not use, operate, or maintain a gill net which exceeds ((1500))
one thousand five hundred feet in length or a drag seine in the waters
of the Columbia river for catching salmon.
(2)
A person shall not construct, install, use, operate, or maintain within state
waters a pound net, round haul net, lampara net, fish trap, fish wheel, scow
fish wheel, set net, weir, or fixed appliance for catching salmon or steelhead except
under the authority of a trial or experimental fishery permit, when an emerging
commercial fishery has been designated allowing use of one or more of these
gear types. The director must consult with the commercial fishing interests
that would be affected by the trial or experimental fishery permit. The
director may authorize the use of this gear for scientific investigations.
(3)
The department, in coordination with the Oregon department of fish and
wildlife, shall adopt rules to regulate the use of monofilament in gill net
webbing on the Columbia river.
Sec.
3. RCW
77.70.180 and 1993 c 340 s 43 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Within five years after adopting rules to govern the number and qualifications
of participants in an emerging commercial fishery, the director shall provide
to the appropriate senate and house of representatives committees a report
which outlines the status of the fishery and a recommendation as to whether a
separate commercial fishery license, license fee, or limited harvest program
should be established for that fishery.
(2)
For any emerging commercial fishery designated under RCW 77.50.030, the report
must also include:
(a)
Information on the extent of the program, including to what degree mass marking
and supplementation programs have been utilized in areas where emerging
commercial fisheries using selective fishing gear have been authorized;
(b)
Information on the benefit provided to commercial fishers including information
on the effectiveness of emerging commercial fisheries using selective fishing
gear in providing expanded fishing opportunity within mixed stocks of salmon;
(c)
Information on the effectiveness of selective fishing gear in minimizing
postrelease mortality for nontarget stocks, harvesting fish so that they are
not damaged by the gear, and aiding the creation of niche markets; and
(d)
Information on the department's efforts at operating hatcheries in an
experimental fashion by managing wild and hatchery origin fish as a single run
as an alternative to mass marking and the utilization of selective fishing
gear. The department shall consult with commercial fishers, recreational
fishers, federally recognized treaty tribes with a fishing right, regional
fisheries enhancement groups, and other affected parties to obtain their input
in preparing the report under this subsection (2).
