PROPOSED RULES
FISH AND WILDLIFE
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 99-13-159.
Title of Rule: General provisions--Delivery of live food fish taken under commercial fishing licenses for human consumption.
Purpose: Prohibit the delivery of live food fish for human consumption when taken under a commercial fishery license.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 75.08.080.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 75.08.080.
Summary: Many food fish stocks are in depressed population status with several species being proposed for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. This proposal forecloses the development of a live fish fishery which has already developed in adjoining jurisdictions.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: The live fish fishery increases the harvest rate on younger, immature fish which exacerbates stock rebuilding efforts (high exvessel value on declining populations). The very nature of the delivered product precludes the collection of biological data from this type of activity. The direct to market delivery bypasses traditional wholesale buyer activities and makes catch tracking and the filing of fish tickets problematic.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Morris Barker, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, (360) 902-2826; Implementation: Lew Atkins, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, (360) 902-2325; and Enforcement: Bruce Bjork, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, (360) 902-2373.
Name of Proponent: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: Rule will prohibit the delivery of live food fish taken under a commercial fishery license for purposes of human consumption. This will prevent the development of a live food fish fishery in Washington which would cater to the retail and restaurant trade for live specimens. The fishery targets on smaller, younger fish and would increase harvest rates on depressed populations and also prevent the collection of necessary biological information. This rule would prevent these occurrences and narrow the tasks for management and stock recovery activities.
Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: Amends general provisions to prohibit the delivery of live food fish taken under commercial fishery license for human consumption.
A small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW.
2. Kinds of Professional Services That a Small Business Is Likely to Need in Order to Comply with Such Requirements: None required.
3. Costs of Compliance for Businesses, Including Costs of Equipment, Supplies, Labor, and Increased Administrative Costs: This fishery is not known to be developed in Washington so no costs should be incurred.
4. Will Compliance with the Rule Cause Businesses to Lose Sales or Revenue? As this fishery is not known to occur in Washington there should be no sales or revenue loss.
5. Cost of Compliance for the 10% of Businesses That Are the Largest Businesses Required to Comply with the Proposed Rules Using One or More of the Following as a Basis for Comparing Costs: Cost per employee; cost per hour of labor; or cost per one hundred dollars of sales: As there are no known businesses in Washington there should be no compliance costs.
6. Steps Taken by the Agency to Reduce the Costs of the Rule on Small Businesses or Reasonable Justification for Not Doing so: As there are no domestic fisheries of this nature currently operating no businesses should be effected.
7. A Description of How the Agency Will Involve Small Businesses in the Development of the Rule: A public hearing will be held and notification of the proposed change will be made in the Fish and Wildlife Commission published agenda.
8. A List of Industries That Will Be Required to Comply with the Rule: All holders of commercial fishery licenses where food fish are allowed to be landed.
A copy of the statement may be obtained by writing to Morris Barker, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, phone (360) 902-2826, fax (360) 902-2944.
Section 201, chapter 403, Laws of 1995, does not apply to this rule adoption. These rules are not hydraulic rules.
Hearing Location: Double Tree Hotel at the Quay, 100 Columbia Street, Vancouver, WA, on December 10-11, 1999, at 8:00 a.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Debbie Nelson by November 23, 1999, TDD (360) 902-2207, or (360) 902-2226.
Submit Written Comments to: Evan Jacoby, Rules Coordinator, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091, fax (360) 902-2944, by December 9, 1999.
Date of Intended Adoption: December 10, 1999.
November 3, 1999
Evan Jacoby
Rules Coordinator
OTS-3579.2
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending Order 98-122, filed 7/15/98,
effective 8/15/98)
WAC 220-20-010
General provisions--Lawful and unlawful
acts--Salmon, other food fish and shellfish.
(1) It shall be unlawful to take, fish for, possess or transport for any purpose food fish, shellfish or parts thereof, in or from any of the waters or land over which the state of Washington has jurisdiction, or from the waters of the Pacific Ocean, except at the times, places and in the manners and for the species, quantities, sizes or sexes provided for in the regulations of the department of fisheries.
(2) It shall be unlawful for any person to have in possession or under control or custody any food fish or shellfish within the land or water boundaries of the state of Washington, except in those areas which are open to commercial fishing or wherein the possession, control or custody of salmon or other food fish or shellfish for commercial purposes is made lawful under a statute of the state of Washington or the rules and regulations of the director of fisheries, unless otherwise provided.
(3) It shall be lawful to fish for, possess, process and otherwise deal in food fish and fish offal or scrap for any purpose, provided; that it shall be unlawful to use any of the following listed species for purposes other than human consumption or fishing bait:
| Pacific halibut | (Hippoglossus stenolepis) |
Pacific herring (except as prescribed in WAC 220-49-020) |
(Clupea harengus pallasi) |
Salmon |
|
| Chinook | (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) |
| Coho | (Oncorhynchus kisutch) |
| Chum | (Oncorhynchus keta) |
| Pink | (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) |
| Sockeye | (Oncorhynchus nerka) |
| Masu | (Oncorhynchus masu) |
(5) It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any commercial food fish or shellfish gear to leave such gear unattended in waters of the state or offshore waters unless said gear is marked.
(a) Shellfish pot, bottom fish pot, set line and set net gear must be marked with a buoy to which shall be affixed in a visible and legible manner the department of fisheries approved and registered buoy brand issued to the license, provided that:
(i) Buoys affixed to unattended gear must be visible on the surface of the water except during strong tidal flow or extreme weather conditions.
(ii) When two or more shellfish pots are attached to a common ground line the number of pots so attached must be clearly labeled on the required buoy.
(b) It is unlawful to operate any gill net, attended or unattended, unless there is affixed, within five feet of each end of the net, a buoy, float, or some other form of marker, visible on the corkline of the net, on which shall be marked in a visible, legible and permanent manner the name and gill net license number of the fisher.
(c) It shall be unlawful at any time to leave a gill net unattended in the commercial salmon fishery.
(6) It shall be unlawful to place any commercial food fish or shellfish gear in any waters closed to commercial fishing, provided; that this provision shall not apply to reef nets or brush weirs or to gear being tested under supervision of the department of fisheries, provided further that it shall be unlawful to take, fish for or possess food fish with any type of commercial fishing gear in the waters of Carr Inlet north of north latitude 47° 20' from August 15 through November 30 except as provided in chapter 220-47 WAC.
(7) It shall be unlawful for the owner or operator of any fishing gear to refuse to submit such gear to inspection in any manner specified by authorized representatives of the department of fisheries.
(8) It shall be unlawful for any person taking or possessing food fish or shellfish taken from any of the waters or beaches of the Columbia River, the state of Washington or the Pacific Ocean for any purpose to fail to submit such food fish or shellfish for inspection by authorized representatives of the department of fisheries.
(9) It shall be unlawful for any person licensed under the fisheries code of Washington to fail to make or return any report required by the department of fisheries relative to the taking, selling, possessing, transporting, processing, freezing and storing of food fish or shellfish whether taken within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington or beyond or on Indian reservations or usual and accustomed Indian fishing grounds.
(10) It shall be unlawful to take, fish for or possess or to injure, kill or molest fish in any fishway, fish ladder, fish screen, holding pond, rearing pond, or other fish protective device, or to interfere in any manner with the proper operation of such fish protective devices.
(11) It shall be unlawful to club, gaff, shoot, snag, snare, dip net, harass, spear, stone or otherwise molest, injure, kill or destroy any food fish or shellfish or parts thereof, or for any person to attempt to commit such acts, or to have any fish, shellfish or parts thereof so taken in possession, except as provided for in this subsection:
(a) It shall be lawful to use a dip net or club in the landing of food fish taken by personal-use angling unless otherwise provided and it shall be lawful to use a gaff in the landing of tuna, halibut and dogfish in all catch record card areas.
(b) It shall be lawful to use a dip net, gaff, or club in the landing of food fish or shellfish taken for commercial purposes, except that it is unlawful to use a fish pew, pitchfork, or any other instrument that will penetrate the body of the food fish or shellfish while sorting commercial catches during the act of discarding those fish that are not going to be retained.
(c) It shall be lawful to use a spear in underwater spear fishing as provided for in WAC 220-56-160.
(d) It shall be lawful to use a spear to take carp as provided for in WAC 220-56-280.
(e) It shall be lawful to snag herring, smelt, anchovies, pilchard, sand lance, and squid when using forage fish jigger gear or squid jigs.
(f) It shall be lawful to shoot halibut when landing them with a dip net or gaff.
(12) It shall be unlawful to take or possess for any purpose any food fish or shellfish smaller than the lawful minimum size limits. Any such fish either snagged, hooked, netted or gilled must be immediately returned to the water with the least possible injury to the fish or shellfish and it shall be unlawful to allow undersized salmon entangled in commercial nets to pass through a power block or onto a power reel or drum.
(13) It shall be unlawful to possess aboard any vessel engaged in commercial fishing or having commercially caught fish aboard, any food fish or shellfish in such condition that its species, length, weight or sex cannot be determined if a species, length, weight, or sex limit is prescribed for said species and it is unlawful to possess food fish or shellfish mutilated in any manner such that the natural length or weight cannot be determined if a length or weight limit is prescribed for said species.
(14) It shall be unlawful in any area to use, operate or carry aboard a commercial fishing vessel a licensed net or combination of such nets, whether fished singly or separately, in excess of the maximum lawful size or length prescribed for a single net in that area, except as otherwise provided for in the rules and regulations of the department of fisheries.
(15) It shall be unlawful for any permit holder to fail to comply with all provisions of any special permit or letter of approval issued to him under the authority of the director of fisheries, or to perform any act not specifically authorized in said document or in the regulations of the director of fisheries.
(16) It shall be unlawful to use, place or cause to be placed in the waters or on the beaches or tidelands of the state any substance or chemical used for control of predators or pests affecting food fish or shellfish or other aquatic marine organisms, without first having obtained a special permit to do so from the director of fisheries.
(17) It shall be unlawful to test commercial fishing gear except as follows:
(a) Bellingham Bay - inside and northerly of a line from Governor's Point to the south tip of Eliza Island to Point Frances in waters 10 fathoms and deeper.
(b) Boundary Bay - north of a line from Birch Point to Point Roberts and south of the international boundary in waters 10 fathoms and deeper during times not under IPSFC control.
(c) San Juan Channel - within a 1 mile radius of Point Caution during times not under IPSFC control.
(d) Port Angeles - inside and westerly of a line projected from the east tip of Ediz Hook through buoy C "1" to the mainland.
(e) Port Gardner - within a 2 mile radius of the entrance to Everett breakwater in waters 10 fathoms and deeper.
(f) Central Puget Sound - between lines from Meadow Point to Point Monroe and Skiff Point to West Point in waters 50 fathoms and deeper.
(g) East Pass - between lines from Point Robinson true east to the mainland and from Dash Point to Point Piner in waters 50 fathoms and deeper.
(h) Port Townsend - westerly of a line from the Coast Guard station in Port Townsend to Walan Point to Kala Point in waters 10 fathoms and deeper.
(i) All tows or sets are limited to 20 minutes exclusive of setting and retrieving time.
(j) All testing is to be accomplished between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
(k) Codends of trawl nets must be left open, all hooks of set line gear must be unbaited, and no lures or baited hooks shall be used with jig or troll gear.
(l) Any and all incidentally caught fish and shellfish must be returned to the waters immediately, and no fish or shellfish are to be retained aboard the vessel at any time during a gear test operation.
(m) It shall be unlawful for any person conducting such gear testing operations to fail to notify the fisheries patrol office in Olympia prior to testing.
(18) It is unlawful for any person or corporation either licensed by the department of fisheries or bringing food fish or shellfish into the state to fail to comply with the directions of authorized department personnel related to the collection of sampling data or material from food fish or shellfish. It is also unlawful for any such person or corporation to fail to relinquish to the department, upon request, any part of a salmon or other food fish containing coded-wire tags, including but not limited to, the snouts of those salmon that are marked by having clipped adipose fins.
(19) It is unlawful to fish for or possess food fish or shellfish taken from any conservation area defined in chapter 220-16 WAC.
(20) It is unlawful for any person to possess live food fish, except forage fish, taken under a commercial fishery license.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080 and 77.12.040. 98-15-081 (Order 98-122), § 220-20-010, filed 7/15/98, effective 8/15/98. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 98-15-031 (Order 98-120), § 220-20-010, filed 7/7/98, effective 8/7/98. Statutory Authority: RCW 77.12.040 and 75.08.080. 98-06-031, § 220-20-010, filed 2/26/98, effective 5/1/98. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 93-15-051, § 220-20-010, filed 7/14/93, effective 8/14/93; 91-08-054 (Order 91-13), § 220-20-010, filed 4/2/91, effective 5/3/91; 91-01-023, § 220-20-010, filed 12/10/90, effective 1/10/91; 89-02-022 (Order 88-186), § 220-20-010, filed 12/29/88; 88-10-013 (Order 88-15), § 220-20-010, filed 4/26/88; 85-09-017 (Order 85-20), § 220-20-010, filed 4/9/85; 85-08-023 (Order 85-24), § 220-20-010, filed 4/1/85; 84-08-014 (Order 84-24), § 220-20-010, filed 3/27/84; 82-15-040 (Order 82-83), § 220-20-010, filed 7/15/82; 82-07-047 (Order 82-19), § 220-20-010, filed 3/18/82; 81-02-053 (Order 81-3), § 220-20-010, filed 1/7/81; 80-10-058 (Order 80-83), § 220-20-010, filed 8/6/80; 80-07-017 (Order 80-45), § 220-20-010, filed 6/11/80; 79-10-013 (Order 79-75), § 220-20-010, filed 9/7/79; Order 77-14, § 220-20-010, filed 4/15/77; Order 76-148, § 220-20-010, filed 12/2/76; Order 1193, § 220-20-010, filed 3/4/75; Order 1179, § 220-20-010, filed 11/19/74; Order 1106, § 220-20-010, filed 1/10/74; Order 1057, § 220-20-010, filed 5/22/73; Order 945, § 220-20-010, filed 8/16/71; Order 920, § 220-20-010, filed 5/13/71; Order 817, § 220-20-010, filed 5/29/69; Order 810, § 220-20-010, filed 4/17/69; Order 771-A, § 220-20-010, filed 3/29/68; Order 767, § 1, filed 12/22/67; Order 758, § 3, filed 10/16/67; Order 726, §§ 2, 3, filed 4/24/67; Order 721, § 1, filed 3/9/67; Subsections 1, 2 from Orders 405 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 3 from Order 677, filed 3/31/66; Subsection 16 from Order 525, filed 5/3/61; Orders 355 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 4 from Order 591, filed 10/28/63; Orders 479 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 5 from Orders 383 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsections 6, 26, 35 from Order 568, filed 3/26/63; Order 543, filed 3/20/62; Order 507, filed 4/13/60; Order 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsections 7-11, 13-15, 17, 18, 22 from Orders 355 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 12 from Orders 407 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsections 19, 27 from Orders 480 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 20 from Order 677, filed 3/31/66; Orders 483 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 23 from Order 677, filed 3/31/66; Order 605, filed 4/21/64; Order 568, filed 3/26/63; Order 543, filed 3/20/62; Order 507, filed 4/13/60; Order 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 24 from Order 605, filed 4/21/64; Orders 407 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 25 from Orders 449 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsections 28-33 from Orders 456 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 34 from Orders 486 and 256, filed 3/1/60; Subsection 36 from Order 591, filed 10/28/63; Subsections 37 and 38 from Order 677, filed 3/31/66; Subsection 39 from Order 672, filed 12/28/65.]