WSR 19-24-037
EMERGENCY RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
FISH AND WILDLIFE
[Order 19-299—Filed November 25, 2019, 4:08 p.m., effective November 28, 2019]
Effective Date of Rule: November 28, 2019.
Purpose: Amend Puget Sound recreational crab rules.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-330-04000H and 220-330-04000I; and amending WAC 220-330-040.
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: This emergency rule is needed to open the recreational crab harvest in Marine Areas 8-1 and 8-2 (Crab Region 2E). Comanagers have agreed to increase the state and tribal harvest shares in this region and the recreational fishery can reopen through December 31, 2019. Comanagers have also agreed to seventy thousand pound harvest shares for Marine Area 12 and the portion of Marine Area 9 between the Hood Canal Bridge to a line connecting Foulweather Bluff to Olele Point (Crab Region 5). As a result, Marine Area 12 and that portion of Marine Area 9 north of the Hood Canal Bridge to a line connecting Olele Point and Foulweather Bluff will remain closed for winter harvest. Final summer harvest estimates indicate that the recreational fisheries can remain open in the marine areas described in this regulation and contribute to achieving 50/50 harvest goal with the treaty tribes. There is insufficient time to adopt 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 2.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: November 25, 2019.
Nate Pamplin
for Kelly Susewind
Director
NEW SECTION
WAC 220-330-04000ICrab—Areas and seasons—Personal use.
Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-330-040, effective November 28, 2019 until further notice, it is unlawful to fish for crab for personal use in Puget Sound in all waters of Marine Areas, 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line, 5, 6, 7, 8-1, 8-2, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, except as provided herein:
Marine Area 4 east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line, Marine Area 5, Marine Area 6, Marine Area 7, Marine Area 8-1, Marine Area 8-2 and Marine Area 9, except those waters between the Hood Canal Bridge to a line connecting Foulweather Bluff to Olele Point, are open to fish for crab for personal use.
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective November 28, 2019:
WAC 220-330-04000H | —Areas and seasons—Personal use. |
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective January 1, 2020:
WAC 220-330-04000I | Crab—Areas and seasons—Personal use. |
Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW
34.08.040.