BILL REQ. #:  S-4044.1 

READ FIRST TIME 01/31/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing for a biennial update on forage fish; and amending RCW 77.04.120.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.04.120 and 2000 c 107 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The director shall investigate the habits, supply, and economic use of food fish and shellfish in state and offshore waters.
     (2) The director shall make an annual report to the governor on the operation of the department and the statistics of the fishing industry.
     (3) Consistent with RCW 43.01.036 and within existing resources, the department shall provide a biennial report on forage fish, including anchovy, herring, sand lance, sardine, and smelt, to the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives by June 30th of each odd-numbered year. The report must include, at minimum: A status report on current state and federal forage fish population assessment efforts; a profile of the relevant recreational and commercial fisheries; economic data for these fisheries, including identification of significant markets as well as any known potential risks to these markets relating to declining forage fish populations; the status of known research efforts intending to determine the impact of forage fish removal on marine ecosystems, on endangered marine species, and on marine mammal and marine bird populations; a summary identifying any known gaps in existing research efforts; and the status of the department's forage fish conservation efforts.
     (4) Subject to RCW 40.07.040, the director shall provide a comprehensive biennial report of all departmental operations to the chairs of the committees on natural resources of the senate and house of representatives, the senate ways and means committee, and the house of representatives appropriations committee, including one copy to the staff of each of the committees, to reflect the previous fiscal period. The format of the report shall be similar to reports issued by the department from 1964-1970 and the report shall include, but not be limited to, descriptions of all department activities including: Revenues generated, program costs, capital expenditures, personnel, special projects, new and ongoing research, environmental controls, cooperative projects, intergovernmental agreements, and outlines of ongoing litigation, recent court decisions and orders on major issues with the potential for state liability. The report shall describe the status of the resource and its recreational, commercial, and tribal utilization. The report shall be made available to the public.