PERMANENT RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The legislature created a new license limitation program in ESHB 1326 for the harvest and delivery of Pacific sardines into the state. The current emerging commercial fishery rules for sardine/pilchard no longer applied after this new law became effective on July 26, 2009. This proposal will extend the current harvest, bycatch, landing, and reporting requirements to the new licenses and incorporate federal coastal pelagic species regulations by reference.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-88C-010, 220-88C-020, 220-88C-030, 220-88C-040, and 220-88C-050.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047 and 77.04.020.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 09-14-100 on June 30, 2009.
Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: None to WAC 220-44-095. However, with this CR-103, we are adding a repealer for the WAC sections this new rule replaces.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 5; Federal Rules or Standards: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 5; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 5.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 5.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 5.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: December 23, 2009.
Philip Anderson
Director
OTS-2447.2
NEW SECTION
WAC 220-44-095
Coastal sardine purse seine
fishery -- Harvest, landing, and reporting requirements -- Gear.
(1)(a) It is unlawful to possess, transport through the waters
of the state, or deliver into any Washington port, Pacific
sardine (Sardinops sagax) or other coastal pelagic species
taken in violation of gear requirements and other rules
published in Title 50, Part 660, Subpart I of the Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR). These federal regulations govern
commercial fishing for coastal pelagic species in the
Exclusive Economic Zone off the coasts of Washington, Oregon,
and California. Where the federal regulations refer to the
fishery management area, that area is interpreted to include
Washington state waters coterminous with the Exclusive
Economic Zone. Updates to the federal regulations are
published in the Federal Register. Discrepancies or errors
between the CFR and Federal Register will be resolved in favor
of the Federal Register. This chapter incorporates the CFR by
reference and is based, in part, on the CFR. A copy of the
federal rules may be obtained by contacting Lori Preuss at
360-902-2930, or going to the U.S. Government Printing
Office's GPO Access web site (www.gpoaccess.gov). State
regulations that are more restrictive than the federal
regulations will prevail.
(b) The coastal sardine fishery season is open to purse seine fishing each year only from April 1st through December 31st. It is unlawful to take Pacific sardine in state waters except for the incidental take authorized by the coastal baitfish regulations.
(c) It is unlawful to retain any species that is taken incidental to sardine, except for anchovy, mackerel, and market squid (Logligo opalescens). Any salmon encircled in the purse seine must be released prior to completion of the set, and no salmon may be landed on the fishing vessel.
(d) It is unlawful to transfer sardine catch from one fishing vessel to another.
(e) It is unlawful to fail to have legal purse seine gear aboard the vessel making a sardine landing.
(f) It is unlawful to fail to deliver sardine landings to a shore-side processing facility.
(g) Once a delivery has commenced at a processing plant, all fish on board the vessel must be offloaded at that plant.
(h) It is unlawful to deliver more than fifteen percent cumulative weight of sardines for the purposes of conversion into fish flour, fish meal, fish scrap, fertilizer, fish oil, other fishery products, or by-products, for purposes other than human consumption or fishing bait used during the sardine fishery season.
(2) License owners must designate a vessel upon issuance or renewal of the license and must be identified as either the vessel owner or primary license operator.
(3) Persons fishing under a Washington sardine purse seine fishery license or temporary annual fishery permit must:
(a) Carry an observer on board for any sardine fishing trip if requested by the department;
(b) Surrender up to five hundred sardines per vessel per trip if requested by department samplers for biological information; and
(c) Complete a department-issued logbook each month in which fishing activity occurs, and submit it to the department by the 15th day of the following month.
(4) Violation of reporting requirements under this section is punishable pursuant to RCW 77.15.280.
(5) Violation of gear, harvest, or landing requirements under this section is punishable pursuant to RCW 77.15.520.
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OTS-2537.1
REPEALER
The following chapter of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:
| WAC 220-88C-010 | Emerging commercial fishery -- Coastal pilchard fishery. |
| WAC 220-88C-020 | Designation of the coastal pilchard fishery as an emerging commercial fishery. |
| WAC 220-88C-030 | Eligibility to participate in the coastal pilchard fishery. |
| WAC 220-88C-040 | Coastal pilchard fishery -- Seasons and lawful catch. |
| WAC 220-88C-050 | Coastal pilchard fishery -- Observer and sampler coverage, logbook requirements. |