BILL REQ. #:  S-0652.1 

Read first time 01/29/2003.   Referred to Committee on Parks, Fish & Wildlife.

     AN ACT Relating to recovery of orca whales in Washington waters; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the resident population of orca whales in Washington waters, commonly referred to as the "southern residents," are enormously significant to the state. These highly social, intelligent, and playful marine mammals are a totem of the entire Pacific Northwest and wonderfully illustrate the biological diversity and rich natural heritage that all Washington citizens and its visitors enjoy. However, the southern resident orcas are currently in a serious decline, likely from multiple causes including PCB poisoning, declines in salmon, which are favorite orca prey species, general ecosystem deterioration, growing whale watching pressure, and the lingering effects of many whales being captured for display in the 1960s and 1970s. There are additional threats to the survival of the existing orca whale populations from oil spills, boat collisions, fishing net entanglement, strandings, and disease. The small size of the southern resident population and its recent catastrophic decline qualify it for listing as "endangered" under the strict scientific criteria established by the international union for the conservation of nature, but the United States government has declined to list this population under the federal endangered species act. It was listed as "threatened" by the government of British Columbia in 1999.
     Therefore, it is important that Washington state take strong measures to develop and implement a recovery strategy for the southern resident orcas, working closely with governmental and nongovernmental organizations with scientific, management, and regulatory responsibilities throughout the Pacific Northwest.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The fish and wildlife commission shall prepare a recovery plan for orca whale populations that are seasonally resident in Washington waters. The department of fish and wildlife is the lead agency in preparing the plan under the commission's direction. The fish and wildlife commission shall form an interagency team to assist in preparing the recovery plan, that includes the departments of ecology, health, and natural resources, and the Puget Sound water quality action team. The fish and wildlife commission shall invite participation on the team by the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and Indian tribes with treaty fishing rights. In preparing the plan, the fish and wildlife commission and the interagency team should consult with provincial and federal government agencies in Canada with the objective of coordinating recovery planning activities for the southern resident orca populations. The fish and wildlife commission shall encourage an agency participating on the team to take lead responsibility for developing a recovery plan element where that element involves a program responsibility primarily of that agency.
     (2) The recovery plan must focus primarily upon monitoring, management, and regulatory measures that state and local governments may undertake to address the full range of factors limiting recovery. The plan should include, but is not limited to:
     (a) Identifying needed field and laboratory research to learn more about southern resident orca genetics, biology, and ecology. Among the studies to be considered in the plan are:
     (i) An enhanced and coordinated stranding network to provide immediate response to reports of orca and other marine mammal stranding events;
     (ii) Shore-based observations of vessel and whale interactions; and
     (iii) Funding for continuing and new photo-identification studies;
     (b) Measures to protect and restore the food sources for orcas, including protecting herring and forage fish habitat that are critical for restoration of chinook salmon, a principal prey species of orcas;
     (c) Measures to protect and restore estuarine, riparian, and shoreline habitats;
     (d) Measures to reduce sources of toxic waste and other contaminants to the waters frequented by orcas, including but not limited to:
     (i) Reviewing water quality discharge permits governing discharges to Puget Sound and other marine waters;
     (ii) The remediation of sites in or adjacent to marine waters contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other toxic pollutants; and
     (iii) Coordinated efforts to prevent oil spills and for responses when spills occur;
     (e) Consideration of reintroduction of captive orcas that were taken from southern resident populations; and
     (f) Measures to reduce pollution and other negative impacts from whale watching vessels.
     (3) The recovery plan shall be adopted by the fish and wildlife commission no later than June 30, 2005. Where plan elements require additional funding or additional statutory authority to implement, the fish and wildlife commission shall use its best efforts to make recommendations to the legislature by January 15, 2005.