EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Effective Date of Rule: Immediately.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-52-05100C; and amending WAC 220-52-051.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.12.047 and 77.04.020.
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: The 2010 state/tribal shrimp harvest management plans for the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound require adoption of harvest seasons contained in this emergency rule. This emergency rule: (1) Opens the pot fishery season for spot shrimp; (2) closes Shrimp Management Area 2E to nonspot shrimp fishing as the quota will be attained; (3) requires 1-inch minimum pot mesh size when fishing for spot shrimp; and (4) places a 300-lb weekly limit on spot shrimp for the first two weeks of the season, after which a 600-lb weekly limit goes into effect. There is insufficient time to adopt 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: May 27, 2010.
Lori Preuss
for Philip Anderson
Director
(1) Shrimp pot gear:
(a) All waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 29 are open to the harvest of all shrimp species effective immediately until further notice.
(b) All waters of Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1B, 1C, 2E, 2W, 3, 4, and 6 outside the Discovery Bay Shrimp District are open to the harvest of all non-spot shrimp species effective immediately until 11:59 p.m. June 14, 2010, except as provided for in this section:
i) All waters of Shrimp Management Area 1A north of a line projected at 48º.31.5' N latitude are closed.
ii) All waters of Catch Areas 23A-E, 23A-W, and 23A-C are closed.
iii) Effective 9:00 p.m. June 3, 2010, all waters of Shrimp Management Area 2E are closed.
(c) Effective 12:01 a.m. June 15, 2010, all waters of Shrimp Management Areas 1A, 1C, 2E, 2W, 3, 4, and 6 are open to the harvest of all shrimp species, until further notice, except as provided for in this section:
(i) All waters of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District are closed.
(ii) All waters of Shrimp Management Area 2E are closed to the harvest of all shrimp species other than spot shrimp.
(d) Effective 12:01 a.m. June 15, 2010, until further notice, only pots with a minimum mesh size of 1 inch may be pulled on calendar days when fishing for or retaining spot shrimp. Mesh size of 1 inch is defined as a mesh opening that a 7/8-inch square peg will pass through, excluding the entrance tunnels, except for flexible (web) mesh pots, where the mesh must be a minimum of 1-3/4 inch stretch measure. Stretch measure is defined as the distance between the inside of one knot to the outside of the opposite vertical knot of one mesh, when the mesh is stretched vertically.
(e) The shrimp accounting week is Tuesday through Monday.
(f) Effective 12:01 a.m. June 15, 2010, until 11:59 p.m. June 28, 2010, it is unlawful for the combined total harvest of spot shrimp by a fisher and/or the fisher's alternate operator to exceed 300 pounds per week.
(g) Effective 12:01 a.m. June 29, 2010, until further notice, it is unlawful for the combined total harvest of spot shrimp by a fisher and/or the fisher's alternate operator to exceed 600 pounds per week.
(h) It is unlawful to pull shellfish pots for commercial purposes in more than one Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area per day. Fishers may move all of their shellfish pot gear from one Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area to another Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area if a harvest report is made before the shellfish pot gear is moved. The harvest activity report must be made consistent with the provisions of WAC 220-52-075 and must also include the following additional information:
(i) The number of pots being moved to a new area; and
(ii) The Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area the pots are being moved to.
(i) It is unlawful to set or pull shellfish pots in one Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area while in possession of shrimp harvested from another Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area, except shellfish pots may be set in a new fishing area subsequent to making a report as indicated in Section (1)(h) above.
(2) Shrimp beam trawl gear:
(a) Shrimp Management Area (SMA) 3 (outside of the Discovery Bay Shrimp District, Sequim Bay and Catch Area 23D) is open, effective immediately until further notice. Sequim Bay includes those waters of Catch Area 25A south of a line projected west from Travis Spit on the Miller Peninsula.
(b) That portion of Catch Area 22A within SMA 1B is open, effective immediately until further notice.
(3) All shrimp taken under this section must be sold to licensed Washington wholesale fish dealers.
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The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:
| WAC 220-52-05100C | Puget Sound shrimp pot and beam trawl fishery -- Season. (10-92) |