EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: February 11, 2003.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-33-01000A; and amending WAC 220-33-010.
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: Harvestable numbers of hatchery salmon are available. The use of large mesh nets, short soak times, and recovery boxes will aid in the survival of spring chinook and steelhead that are released. An interim management agreement signed in 2001 provides allocation of ESA impacts to upriver spring chinook to non-Indian fisheries, and Washington and Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commissions have provided guidance on sharing of impacts between commercial and recreational fishers. Impacts in this fishery are consistent with the management agreement and the biological opinion provided by the National Marine Fisheries Service. This rule is consistent with actions of the Columbia River compact of February 6, 2003, and conforms Washington and Oregon state rules. The select area fisheries are part of an on-going BPA funded study to design fisheries in areas outside of the mainstem Columbia River. Several stocks of salmon have been released from net pens in these select areas to provide for fisheries. All salmon returning to these net pens are harvestable. Impacts to ESA-listed stocks in these fisheries are covered under the biological opinion for the interim management agreement. This rule is consistent with actions of the Columbia River compact hearings of February 6, 2003, and conforms Washington and Oregon state rules. 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.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:
Immediately.
February 11, 2003
J. P. Koenings
Director
1) Area: SMCRA 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D upstream to Kelley Point.
Dates: 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily
February 17, 2003
February 19, 2003
February 21, 2003
February 24, 2003
February 26, 2003
February 28, 2003
Gear: Gill nets 8-inch minimum mesh. Net length not to exceed 150 fathoms. Mono-filament gill nets are allowed.
Allowable Sale: Adipose fin-clipped salmon, sturgeon, and shad. A maximum of three white sturgeon may be possessed or sold by each participating vessel during each day of fishing.
Sanctuaries: Grays River, Gnat Creek, Elokomin-A, Abernathy Creek, Cowlitz River, Kalama-A, Lewis-A.
A) Miscellaneous Regulations:
1) At least one fisher on each boat must possess a tangle net certificate issued by either WDFW or ODFW. The certificate must be displayed to WDFW or ODFW employees, fish and wildlife enforcement officers, or other peace officers upon request.
2) Soak times, defined as the time elapsed from when the first of the gill net web is deployed into the water until the gill net web is fully retrieved from the water, must not exceed 45 minutes.
3) Red corks are required at 25 fathom intervals and red corks must be in contrast to the corks used in the remainder of the net.
4) Each boat will be required to have two operable recovery boxes or one box with two chambers, on board. Each box and chamber shall be operating during any time that the net is being retrieved or picked. The flow in the recovery box will be a minimum of 16 gallons per minute in each chamber of the box, not to exceed 20 gallons per minute. Each chamber of the recovery box must meet the following dimensions as measured from within the box; the inside length measurement must be at or within 39 1/2 inches to 48 inches, the inside width measurements must be at or within 8 to 10 inches, and the inside height measurement must be at or within 14 to 16 inches. Each chamber of the recovery box must include a water inlet hole between 3/4 inch and 1 inch in diameter, centered horizontally across the door or wall of chamber and 1 3/4 inches from the floor of the chamber. Each chamber of the recovery box must include a water outlet hole opposite the inflow that is a least 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The center of the outlet hole must be located a minimum of 12 inches above the floor of the box or chamber. The fisher must demonstrate to WDFW and ODFW employees, fish and wildlife enforcement officers, or other peace officers, upon request, that the pumping system is delivering the proper volume of fresh river water into each chamber.
5) All non-legal sturgeon, non-adipose fin-clipped salmon, and steelhead must be released immediately with care and the least possible injury to the fish to the river without violence or into an operating recovery box.
6) Any fish that is bleeding or lethargic must be placed in the recovery box prior to being released.
7) All fish placed in recovery boxes must be released to the river prior to landing or docking.
8) Quick reporting required for Washington wholesale dealers, WAC 220-69-240.
B) Tangle net permit. Any individual meeting the qualifications of RCW 77.65.040(2) may obtain a tangle net certificate by attending and completing an WDFW- or ODFW-sponsored workshop concerning live captive commercial fishing techniques. A tangle net certificate shall expire on December 31, 2003. No individual may obtain more than one tangle net certificate between January 1 and December 31, 2003.
C) Nothing in this section sets any precedent for any fishery after the 2003 spring chinook fishery. The fact that an individual may hold a tangle net certificate in spring 2003 does not entitle the certificate holder to participate in any other fishery. If WDFW authorizes a tangle net fishery in spring 2004 or at any other time, WDFW may establish qualifications and requirements that are different from those established for 2003. In particular, WDFW may consider an individual's compliance with these rules in determining that individual's eligibility to participate in any future tangle net fisheries.
2) Blind Slough Select Area
Area: Open waters of Blind Slough extend from markers at the mouth of Gnat Creek located approximately 1/2 mile upstream of the county road bridge, downstream to markers at the mouth of Blind Slough. Concurrent Washington/Oregon waters extend downstream of the railroad bridge.
Knappa Slough is open to fishing in all waters bounded by a line from the northerly most marker at the mouth of Blind Slough westerly to a marker on Karlson Island downstream to a north-south line defined by a marker on the eastern end of Minaker Island to markers on Karlson Island and the Oregon shore.
a) Blind Slough
Gear: 7 1/4-inch minimum mesh. Mono-filament gill nets are allowed. Nets restricted to 100 fathoms in length with no weight restriction on leadlline.
Dates: 7:00 p.m. February 15 to 7:00 a.m. February 16, 2003
7:00 p.m. February 22 to 7:00 a.m. February 23, 2003
7:00 p.m. March 1 to 7:00 a.m. March 2, 2003
Allowable Sale: Salmon, sturgeon, shad. A maximum of three white sturgeon may be possessed or sold by each participating vessel during each period.
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Reviser's note: The bracketed material preceding the section above was supplied by the code reviser's office.
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 7:01 a.m. March 2, 2003:
| WAC 220-33-01000A | Columbia River gillnet seasons below Bonneville. |