EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: November 13, 2002.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-04600J; 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: Adjustments made to boundaries of noncommercial zones to be consistent with state/tribal management plans. The closures/openers and pot limits are to maintain state commercial quota plans in those regions. The test fishery in Areas 26B and 26C is to provide information on crab abundance and distribution. 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 2, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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Repealed 0;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Repealed 0;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Repealed 0.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:
November 18, 2002, 8:00 a.m.
November 13, 2002
J. P. Koenings
Director
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(a) Effective immediately until further notice, commercial harvest will be allowed in those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 26A east and north of a line that extends from Possession Point to the green number 1 buoy at Possession Point thence following the 200 foot contour northward to a point due east from the Glendale Dock, thence extending due west to the Whidbey Island shore.
(b) Effective immediately through 11:59 p.m. November 22, 2002, or until 10,000 lbs of Dungeness crab are caught, whichever comes first, vessels and Puget Sound Commercial Crab license holders listed below will be allowed to harvest in Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 26B and 26C for the purposes of a test fishery. Participating fishers must be in compliance with the WDFW/Vessel Owner Contract for November 2002 Dungeness Crab Test Fishery in Puget Sound Crab Management Region 4. Participating fishers:
| VESSEL(S) IDENTIFICATION | LICENSED COMMERCIAL CRABBER |
| WN6794NJ | CREWS KENNETH L |
| MISS CASSIE, WN8117RK | RANTZ JOHN R, FISK ANDY W |
| WN003BL | HANSELMAN JOHN C |
| HUSSAR, 226 711 | MOODY DORSEY R |
| WN405BR | CARLSON THOMAS G |
| WN1011NH | COLLINS JACK A |
(a) Effective 8:00 a.m. November 18, 2002 and thereafter daily from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half after sunset through November 24, 2002, commercial harvest will be allowed in those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Areas 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, 22A, 22B, 26A West, 25B, and 25D except that for the following 48 hour period, crab fishers may continue to remove their gear from the grounds. No crab may be landed from or possessed from these areas after 11:59 p.m. November 24, 2002.
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The following section of the Washington Administrative
Code is repealed effective 8:00 a.m. November 18, 2002:
| WAC 220-52-04600J | Crab fishery -- Seasons and areas. (02-281) |