[Order 20-253—Filed December 4, 2020, 5:03 p.m., effective December 4, 2020, 5:03 p.m.]

Effective Date of Rule: Immediately upon filing.

Purpose: The purpose of this rule is to open Puget Sound Crab Management Region 1 to commercial harvest and commercial pot deployment effective December 8, 2020, at 7:00 a.m.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Repealing WAC 220-340-45500M; and amending WAC 220-340-455 and 220-352-340.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 77.04.012, 77.04.020, 77.12.045, and 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: The provisions of this emergency rule:

(1) Opens Puget Sound Crab Management Region 1 to commercial harvest and commercial pot deployment effective December 8, 2020, at 7:00 a.m. to harvest remaining available quota;

(2) Permits commercial crab harvest in Puget Sound within Crab Management Regions 2 West, 3-2, and 3-3 until further notice;

(3) Closes commercial crab harvest in Crab Management Regions 2 East and 3-1 until further notice;

(4) Sets a limit of twenty-five pots per license per buoy tag number in Crab Management Region 1 and fifty pots per license per buoy tag number in commercial crab Regions 2 West, 3-2, and 3-3;

(5) Requires fishers to declare participation in Region 1 and 2E fisheries.

Crab Management Region 1 will open to commercial harvest at 7:00 a.m. on December 8, 2020, to harvest remaining available quota. In 2 West, 3-2, and 3-3 the available all citizen is sufficient to accommodate continued all citizen commercial harvest. These provisions are in conformity with agreed management plans with applicable tribes. These management plans are entered into as required by court order. The Puget Sound commercial season is structured to meet harvest allocation objectives negotiated with applicable treaty tribes and outlined in the management plans. There is insufficient time to adopt permanent rules. Further adjustment of season structure may be made pending updated harvest data.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.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 the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 2, 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: December 4, 2020.

WAC 220-340-45500NCommercial crab fishery—Seasons and areas—Puget Sound.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-340-450:

(1) Effective immediately until further notice, it is illegal to harvest Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in Crab Management Regions 2 East and 3-1.

(2) Effective immediately until 6:59 a.m. on December 8, 2020, it is illegal to harvest Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in Crab Management Region 1.

(3) Effective 7:00 a.m. on December 8, 2020, it is permissible to harvest Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in Crab Management Region 1.

(4) Effective immediately and until further notice, it is permissible to harvest Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in Crab Management Regions 2 West, 3-2, and 3-3.

(5) Effective 7:00 a.m. on December 8, 2020, it is permissible to harvest Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in the following areas in Crab Management Region 1:

(a) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 20A between a line from the boat ramp at the western boundary of Birch Bay State Park to the western point of the entrance of the Birch Bay Marina and a line from the same boat ramp to Birch Point.

(b) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 22B in Fidalgo Bay south of a line projected from the red number 4 entrance buoy at Cape Sante Marina to the northern end of the eastern most oil dock.

(c) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 22A in Deer Harbor north of a line projected from Steep Point to Pole Pass.

(6) Effective immediately and until further notice, it is permissible to harvest Dungeness crab for commercial purposes in the following area in Crab Management Region 2 West:

(a) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 26A-W in Useless Bay north and east of a line from the south end of the Double Bluff State Park seawall (47°58.782'N, 122°30.840'W) projected 110 degrees true to the boulder on shore (47°57.690'N, 122°26.742'W).

(7) Effective immediately until further notice, the following areas are closed to commercial crab fishing:

(a) That portion of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 25A west of the 123° 7.0' longitude line projected from the new Dungeness light due south to the shore of Dungeness Bay.

(b) That portion of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 23D a line from the eastern tip of Ediz Hook to the ITT Rayonier Dock.

(c) Those waters of Marine Fish-Shellfish Management and Catch Reporting Area 24A east of a line projected true north from the most westerly tip of Skagit Island and extending south to the most westerly tip of Hope Island, thence southeast to Seal Rocks, thence southeast to the green can buoy at the mouth of Swinomish Channel, thence easterly to the west side of Goat Island.

(8) Effective immediately until further notice it is unlawful for any person to harvest crabs for commercial purposes with more than 50 pots per license per buoy tag number in Crab Management Regions 2W, 3-2, and 3-3.

(9) Effective 7:00 a.m. on December 8, 2020, it is unlawful for any person to harvest crabs for commercial purposes with more than 25 pots per license per buoy tag number in Crab Management Region 1.

(10) All remaining, undeployed buoy tags per license per region must be onboard the designated vessel and available for immediate inspection.

WAC 220-352-34000GPuget Sound crab —Additional reporting requirements.

Notwithstanding the provisions of WAC 220-352-340:

1) Non-treaty commercial fishers that intend to harvest in Crab Management Region 1 or 2E must declare intent to fish prior to the opening date by registering on the WDFW Puget Sound commercial crabbing webpage or sending an email to crab.report@dfw.wa.gov, detailing the following information:

(a) Vessel Operator Name

(b) Vessel Name and Vessel Registration Number

(d) Crab Management Area to be fished

(e) Initial Fishing Date

Reviser's note: The typographical 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.

The following section of the Washington Administrative Code is repealed:

Commercial crab fishery—Seasons and areas—Puget Sound. (20-251)