BILL REQ. #:  H-1388.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/07/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to commercial fishing violations; amending RCW 77.15.700; adding new sections to chapter 77.15 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1)(a) The legislature finds that existing law as it relates to the suspension of commercial fishing licenses does not take into account the real-life circumstances faced by the state's commercial fishing fleets. The nature of the commercial fishing industry, together with the complexity of fisheries regulations, is such that honest mistakes can be made by well-meaning and otherwise law-abiding fishers. Commercial fishing violations that occur within an acceptable margin of error should not result in the suspension of fishing privileges. Likewise, fishers facing the possibility of license suspension or revocation deserve the opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances prior to having his or her professional privileges suspended.
     (b) The legislature intends, by creating the license suspension review committee, to provide a fisher with the opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that led to a commercial fishing violation. The legislature intends for the license suspension review committee to give serious considerations to the case-specific facts and scenarios leading up to a violation, and for the license suspension review committee to only issue license suspensions when the facts indicate a willful act that undermines the conservation of fish stocks. Frivolous violations should not result in the suspension of privileges, and should be punished only by the criminal sanctions attached to the underlying crime.
     (2)(a) The legislature further finds that gross abuses of fish stocks should not be tolerated. Individuals convicted of even one violation that is egregious in nature, causing serious detriment to a fishery or the competitive disposition of other fishers, should have his or her license suspended and revoked.
     (b) The legislature intends for the license suspension review committee to take egregious fisheries' violations seriously. When dealing with individuals convicted of only one violation, the license suspension review committee should only consider suspension for individuals that are convicted of violations that are of a severe magnitude and show a wanton disregard for the public's resource.

Sec. 2   RCW 77.15.700 and 2001 c 253 s 46 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department shall impose revocation and suspension of privileges upon conviction in the following circumstances:
     (1) If directed by statute for an offense;
     (2) If the department finds that actions of the defendant demonstrated a willful or wanton disregard for conservation of fish or wildlife. Such suspension of privileges may be permanent. This subsection (2) does not apply to violations involving commercial fishing;
     (3) If a person is convicted twice within ten years for a violation involving unlawful hunting, killing, or possessing big game, the department shall order revocation and suspension of all hunting privileges for two years. RCW 77.12.722 or 77.16.050 as it existed before June 11, 1998, may comprise one of the convictions constituting the basis for revocation and suspension under this subsection;
     (4) If a person is convicted three times in ten years of any violation of recreational hunting or fishing laws or rules, the department shall order a revocation and suspension of all recreational hunting and fishing privileges for two years((;
     (5) If a person is convicted twice within five years of a gross misdemeanor or felony involving unlawful commercial fish or shellfish harvesting, buying, or selling, the department shall impose a revocation and suspension of the person's commercial fishing privileges for one year. A commercial fishery license revoked under this subsection may not be used by an alternate operator or transferred during the period of suspension)).

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) If a person is convicted of two or more qualifying commercial fishing violations within a three-year period, the person's privileges to participate in the commercial fishery to which the violations applied may be suspended by the director for up to one year. A commercial fishery license that is suspended under this section may not be transferred after the director issues a notice of suspension, or used by an alternative operator or transferred during the period of suspension, if the person who is the subject of the suspension notice is the person who owns the commercial fishery license.
     (2) For the purposes of this section only, "qualifying commercial fishing violation" means either:
     (a) A conviction under RCW 77.15.500, 77.15.510, 77.15.520, 77.15.530, 77.15.550(1)(a), 77.15.570, 77.15.580, or 77.15.590;
     (b) A gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial fish harvesting, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued pursuant to this title, if the quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold fish, other than shellfish, groundfish, or coastal pelagic species of baitfish totals greater than six percent, by weight, of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation and the cumulative value of the unlawfully harvested fish is more than two hundred fifty dollars at the time of citation;
     (c) A gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial groundfish or coastal pelagic baitfish harvest, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued under this title, if: (i) The quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold groundfish or coastal pelagic baitfish totals greater than ten percent, by weight, of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation and has a cumulative value greater than five hundred dollars; or (ii) the quantity, by weight, of the unlawfully commercially harvested groundfish or coastal pelagic baitfish is ten percent greater than the landing allowances provided under rules adopted by the department for species categorized as over-fished by the national marine fisheries service; or
     (d) A gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial shellfish harvesting, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued pursuant to this title, if the quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold shellfish: (i) Totals greater than six percent of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation; and (ii) totals fifty or more individual shellfish.
     (3)(a) The director may refer a person convicted of one qualifying commercial fishing violation to the license suspension review committee if the director feels that the qualifying commercial fishing violation was of a severe enough magnitude to justify suspension of the individual's license renewal privileges.
     (b) The director may refer any person convicted of one egregious shellfish violation to the license suspension review committee.
     (c) For the purposes of this section only, "egregious shellfish violation" means a gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial shellfish harvesting, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued pursuant to this title, if the quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold shellfish: (i) Totals more than twenty percent of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation; (ii) totals five hundred or more individual shellfish; and (iii) is valued at two thousand five hundred dollars or more.
     (4) A person who has a commercial fishing license suspended or revoked under this section may file an appeal with the license suspension review committee pursuant to section 4 of this act. An appeal must be filed within thirty-one days of notice of license suspension or revocation. If an appeal is filed, the suspension or revocation issued by the department does not take effect until after the license suspension review committee has come to a final conclusion. If no appeal is filed within thirty-one days of notice of license suspension or revocation, the right to an appeal is considered waived. All suspensions ordered under this section take effect either thirty-one days following the conviction for the second qualifying commercial fishing violation, or upon a final decision ordered by the license suspension review committee, whichever is later.
     (5) A fishing privilege suspended under this section is in addition to the statutory penalties assigned to the underlying crime.
     (6) For the purposes of this section only, the burden is on the state to show the dollar amount or the percent of a harvest that is comprised of unlawfully harvested, bought, or sold individual fish or shellfish.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 77.15 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The license suspension review committee is created. The license suspension review committee may only hear appeals from commercial fishers who have had a license revoked or suspended pursuant to section 3 of this act.
     (2)(a) The license suspension review committee is composed of five voting members and up to four alternates.
     (b) Two of the members must be appointed by the director and may be department employees.
     (c) Three members, and up to four alternates, must be peer-group members, who are individuals owning a commercial fishing license issued by the department. If a peer-group member appears before the license suspension review committee because of a qualifying commercial fishing violation, the member must recuse himself or herself from the proceedings relating to that violation. No two voting peer-group members may reside in the same county. All peer-group members must be appointed by the commission, who may accept recommendations from professional organizations that represent commercial fishing interests or from the legislative authority of any Washington county.
     (d) All license suspension review committee members serve a two-year renewable term.
     (e) The commission may develop minimum member standards for service on the license suspension review committee, and standards for terminating a member before the expiration of his or her term.
     (3) The license suspension review committee must convene and make a final decision on a license renewal suspension within three months of referral from the department.
     (4) The license suspension review committee shall collect the information and hear the testimony that it feels necessary to decide on the proper length, if any, of a suspension of a commercial license. The decisions may be based on extenuating circumstances presented by the individual convicted of the qualifying commercial fishing violation or considerations of the type and magnitude of violations that have been committed by the individual. The maximum length of any suspension may not exceed one year.
     (5) All decisions of the license suspension review committee must be decided by a majority vote of all voting members. Alternate committee members may only vote when one of the voting members is unavailable, has been recused, or has decided not to vote on the case before the committee. Nonvoting alternates may be present and may participate at all license suspension review committee meetings.
     (6) All decisions of the license suspension review committee are final, except for judicial review.
     (7) Members of the license suspension review committee serve as volunteers, and are not eligible for compensation other than travel expenses pursuant to RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.
     (8) Staff of the license suspension review committee must be provided by the department.