EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: October 1, 2006.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-04000X and 220-52-04600Q; and amending WAC 220-52-040 and 220-52-046.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.
Reasons for this Finding: The state may not authorize commercial shellfish harvests absent agreed planning or compliance with a process. The provisions of this rule are in conformity with agreed plans with applicable tribes which have been entered as required by court order. The pot limit for the commercial crab fishery in the Puget Sound licensing district is to maintain commercial harvest allocation plans. There is insufficient time to promulgate permanent rules.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 2.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: September 19, 2006.
J. P. Koenings
Director
by Larry Peck
(1) Dungeness crab pots may be deployed between 8:00 a.m. October 1, 2006 and 7:59 a.m. October 3, 2006 in Puget Sound waters from a vessel not designated on a persons Puget Sound crab license provided that the primary or alternate operator designated on the license is on board the non-designated vessel ("barge" vessel), and provided prior notice has been given as indicated below.
(2) The license holder must leave a telephone message at the LaConner office, (360) 466-4345, extension 245, with the following information:
a) Name and license number of license owner.
b) Name of designated primary operator if different from license owner.
c) Name of alternate operator if used to deploy pots from a non-designated vessel.
d) Buoy brand number and number of pots to be deployed from a non-designated vessel.
e) Name and identification numbers (WN and/or Coast Guard) of the non-designated vessel.
(3) No commercial crab pots are allowed to be set, pulled or fished west of the 123°6.5' longitude line projected from the new Dungeness light due south to the shore of Dungeness Bay.
(4) Effective 8:00 a.m. October 1, 2006 until further notice, it is unlawful for any person to fish for crabs for commercial purposes with more than 75 pots per license, per buoy tag number in Crab Management Region 1 (which includes Marine Fish Shellfish Catch Reporting Areas 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 22A, and 22B), and Region 2 East (which includes Marine Fish Shellfish Catch Reporting Areas 24A, 24B, 24C, 24D, 26A-E). The remaining 25 buoy tags per license must be onboard the designated vessel and available for inspection in the pot-limited areas.
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(1) It will be lawful to fish for Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in the following areas:
Effective 8:00 a.m. October 1, 2006 until further notice, that portion of Catch Area 26A east of a line projected from the outermost tip of the ferry dock at Mukilteo projected to the green #3 buoy at the mouth of the Snohomish River and west of a line projected from that #3 buoy southward to the oil boom pier on the shoreline.
(2) The following area is closed to commercial crab fishing:
Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25A west of the 123°6.5' longitude line projected from the new Dungeness light due south to the shore of Dungeness Bay.
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The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:
| WAC 220-52-04000X | Commercial crab fishery -- Lawful and unlawful gear, methods, and other unlawful acts. (06-244) |
| WAC 220-52-04600Q | Crab fishery -- Seasons and areas. (06-244) |