EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: June 29, 1999.
Purpose: Personal use rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-56-11500A, 220-56-11500B and 220-56-19500C; and amending WAC 220-56-115 and 220-56-195.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 75.08.080.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate adoption of a rule.
Reasons for this Finding: Recommendations of the North of Falcon subgroup of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council stipulated time and area protection for chinook salmon, but certain exceptions were identified where chinook retention was permitted. Exceptions where chinook retention is allowed include the Edmonds Public Fishing Pier in Area 9, two Elliott Bay fishing piers at Seacrest and Terminal 86, Sinclair Inlet, and Elliott Bay in Area 10. Permanent rules, due to become effective shortly, and existing emergency rules specify a two ounce weight restriction on fishing gear during July in Area 10, and during August in Areas 9, 10, and part of Area 12. The two ounce weight restriction recommended by the North of Falcon subgroup is intended to reduce the likelihood anglers will encounter chinook which are typically distributed deeper in the water than coho salmon. Existing rules fail to incorporate exceptions from the two ounce gear rule for the locations where chinook retention is allowed. There is insufficient time to promulgate permanent rules to correct this oversight.
These rules are necessary to keep impacts on Puget Sound chinook, listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, within limits agreed to at the 1998 North of Falcon meetings. This rule is necessary until permanent rules take effect.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 3.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Effective Date of Rule: July 1, 1999, 12:01 a.m.
June 29, 1999
J. P. Koenings
Director
Notwithstanding the provision of WAC 220-56-115, in the following Catch Record Card Areas or designated portions during the following periods it is unlawful to use a downrigger, to use more than two ounces of weight attached to a line, or to use a lure or diver weighing more than two ounces:
Area 9 - August 1 through August 31, except this does not apply when angling from the Edmonds Public Fishing Pier.
Area 10 - July 1 through August 31, except this does not apply while angling from the Seacrest Pier nor the Elliott Bay Fishing Pier at Terminal 86.
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Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-56-195, effective 12:01 a.m. July 1 through July 31 the following waters of Catch Record Card (CRC) Area 7 are closed to salmon angling: Those waters of Rosario Strait and the eastern portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca lying westerly of that portion of Bellingham and Padilla bays bounded by Lummi Island and a line running from Carter Point on Lummi Island to the most northerly tip of Vendovi Island, then to Clark Point on Guemes Island and following the shore of Guemes Island to Yellow Bluff on the southwest corner of Guemes Island, then to the Yellow Bluff Reef range marker, and then to the ferry terminal dock east of Shannon Point; and, waters southerly of a line running from Lawrence Point on Orcas Island through Lummi Rocks Buoy to Lummi Island, then along the southeasterly shore of Ocras Island from Lawrence Point to Deer Point, then true south to Blakely Island, then south along the Blakely Island shore to the southernmost point on Blakely Island, then across Thatcher Pass to Fauntleroy Point, then along the eastern shore of Decatur Island to the southernmost point on Decatur Island, then across Lopez Pass to Lopez Island and following the shore of Lopez Island southerly and westerly to Iceberg Point, then from Iceberg Point to Cattle Point, then south southwest to the Salmon Bank Buoy, and then true west from Salmon Bank Buoy to the CRC Area 7 boundary.
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Reviser's note: The spelling 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.
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective 11:59 p.m. June 30, 1999:
| WAC 220-56-11500A | Angling gear (99-58) |
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective 11:59 p.m. August 31, 1999:
| WAC 220-56-11500B | Angling gear |
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed effective 11:59 p.m. July 31, 1999:
| WAC 220-56-19500C | Closed areas--Saltwater salmon angling |