EMERGENCY RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Date of Adoption: November 22, 2000.
Purpose: Amend commercial fishing rules.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-47-711.
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: Given the best available information on in-season update of chum run size for the Bellingham Bay area, the all-citizen fishery has attained its full share. In fact, spawning ground observations and hatchery returns suggest the run may even be smaller than the number used as the basis for determining the all-citizen share. The Bellingham Maritime Heritage Center Hatchery only had 459 chum return when they would normally have 2,000 to 5,000 fish. Spawning surveys on the Nooksack River at five spawning sites on the North Fork Nooksack River, where 80% of the chum salmon typically spawn, show only one site with about twenty chum salmon present, when normally, 500 to 900 fish would be seen. These observations suggest the run may even be weaker that [than] the level of the updated run size. This action to close all-citizen commercial chum fishing in Area 7B is consistent with allocation. There is insufficient time to enact 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Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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: November 25, 2000, 11:59 p.m.
November 22, 2000
J. P. Koenings
Director
by Larry Peck
Areas 4B, 5, 6, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 7, 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 8, 8A, 8D, 9, 9A, 10, 10A, 10C, 10D, 10E, 10F, 10G, 11, 11A, 12, 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D, 13, 13A, 13C, 13D, 13E, 13F, 13G, 13H, 13I, 13J, and 13K, all freshwater areas and exclusion zones provided for in WAC 220-47-307 - Closed.
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The following section of the Washington Administrative Code
is repealed effective 11:59 p.m. Saturday, November 25, 2000:
| WAC 220-47-711 | Puget Sound all-citizen commercial salmon fishery. (00-239) |