EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: August 30, 2002.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-44-05000M; and amending WAC 220-44-050.
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: Trawling for groundfish with limited entry trawl gear in coastal waters is being prohibited by National Marine Fisheries Service effective September 1, 2002. Although walleye pollock is not classified as a groundfish under the federal groundfish fishery management plan, the pollock fishery is conducted with limited entry trawl gear and incidentally takes federally managed groundfish. Pacific whiting are one of the species taken incidentally. Whiting have been declared overfished and the 2002 harvest quota has been achieved. Effective September 1, NMFS is prohibiting further landings of this species. Therefore this emergency regulation is necessary for conservation and to maintain consistency with federal regulations. 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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Repealed 0;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Repealed 0;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Repealed 0.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:
September 1, 2002, 12:01 a.m.
August 30, 2002
J. P. Koenings
Director
(a) Effective 12:01 a.m. September 1, 2002, until further notice it is unlawful to possess, transport through the waters of the state, or land into any Washington port, walleye pollock taken with trawl gear from Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 58B, 59A-1, 59A-2, 60A-1, 60A-2, 61, 62, or 63.
(3) At the time of landing of coastal bottom fish into a Washington port, the fish buyer receiving the fish is required to clearly mark on the fish receiving ticket, in the space reserved for dealer's use, all legally defined trawl gear aboard the vessel at the time of delivery. The three trawl gear types are: midwater trawl, roller trawl and small foot rope trawl (foot rope less than eight inches in diameter). The notation of the gear type(s) aboard the vessel is required prior to the signing of the fish receiving ticket by the vessel representative.
(4) Vessels engaged in chartered research for National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) may land and sell bottomfish caught during that research without the catch being counted toward any trip or cumulative limit for the participating vessel. Vessels that have been compensated for research work by NMFS with an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP) to land fish as payment for such research may land and sell fish authorized under the EFP without the catch being counted toward any trip or cumulative limit for the participating vessel. Any bottomfish landed during authorized NMFS research or under the authority of a compensating EFP for past chartered research work must be reported on a separate fish receiving ticket and not included on any fish receiving ticket reporting bottomfish landed as part of any trip or cumulative limit. Bottomfish landed under the authority of NMFS research work or an EFP compensating research with fish must be clearly marked "NMFS Compensation Trip" on the fish receiving ticket in the space reserved for dealer's use. The NMFS scientist in charge must sign the fish receiving ticket in the area reserved for dealer's use if any bottomfish are landed during authorized NMFS research. If the fish are landed under the authority of an EFP as payment for research work, the EFP number must be listed in the dealer's use space.
[]
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.
REPEALER
The following section of the Washington Administrative Code
is repealed effective 12:01 a.m. September 1, 2002:
| WAC 220-44-05000M | Coastal bottomfish catch limits. (02-172) |