Wash. Admin. Code § 220-340-520 - Commercial shrimp pot fishery-Puget Sound
License
(1) It is unlawful to take, fish for, land,
or deliver shrimp taken for commercial purposes with pot gear from Puget Sound
waters without a valid Puget Sound shrimp pot license.
A Puget Sound shrimp pot license will only be issued to an individual who is a natural person, and this person shall be the primary operator. Holders of Puget Sound shrimp pot licenses may designate a single alternate operator per license.
Pot Gear and area
(2) It is unlawful to fish for shrimp for
commercial purposes in Puget Sound using shellfish pot gear except during
seasons opened by emergency rule.
(3) In all areas fishers are limited to a
maximum of 100 spot shrimp pots, as defined in subsection (5)(d) of this
section, and a maximum of 100 nonspot shrimp pots, as defined in subsection
(5)(e) of this section, except for dual licensees as provided for in
RCW
77.70.410.
(4) Buoy requirements, in all areas:
(a) Buoys must be solid orange in color and
consist of durable material that will remain floating on the surface with five
pounds attached; bleach or antifreeze bottles or other containers may not be
used as floats.
(b) Buoys must be
marked with the clear identification of the license holder and the vessel
designated on the Puget Sound shrimp pot license.
(c) When two or more shrimp pots are attached
to a common ground line, the number and type of pots (spot shrimp or nonspot
shrimp pot) so attached must be clearly labeled on the required buoy.
(d) Fishers shall use only the amount of line
reasonably necessary to compensate for tides, currents, and weather. The line
attaching the pot to the buoy must be weighted sufficiently to prevent the line
from floating on the surface.
(e)
It is unlawful to use gear that has one or more line marks or to use multicolor
line consistent with requirements for any other state or federally managed
commercial fishery operating in the U.S. West Coast Exclusive Economic Zone, or
in the state waters of Washington, Oregon, or California.
(5) Pot requirements, in all areas:
(a) A shrimp pot may not exceed a maximum of
153-inch bottom perimeter and a maximum of 24-inch height.
(b) The entire top, bottom, and sides of the
shrimp pot must be constructed of mesh material. Use of liners is
prohibited.
(c) Entrance tunnels to
shrimp pots may be constructed of any size mesh material. All entrance tunnels
must open into the pot from the side. The sum of the maximum widths of all
entrance tunnel openings must not exceed half of the perimeter of the bottom of
the pot.
(d) Spot shrimp may only
be harvested using pots with a minimum mesh size of one inch. Mesh size of one
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) Nonspot shrimp may
only be harvested using pots with a minimum mesh size 1/2 inch. Mesh of 1/2
inch is defined as a mesh that a 3/8 inch square peg will pass through,
excluding the entrance tunnels, except for flexible (web) mesh pots, where the
mesh must be at a minimum 1 1/8 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.
(6) Harvest
restrictions, all areas:
(a) It is unlawful to
set or pull shrimp pot gear from one hour after official sunset to one hour
before official sunrise.
(b) Each
fisher or alternate operator is required to report their intended catch area of
harvest, target species (spot or non-spot), and an estimate of total pounds
that are being targeted prior to the deployment of any shrimp gear by email or
text message to shrimp.report@dfw.wa.gov, or by using the Puget Sound
commercial shrimp reporting website.
(c) It is unlawful to harvest nonspot and
spot shrimp in the same day.
(d)
Nonspot shrimp pot harvest restrictions:
(i)
Harvest of nonspot shrimp is not permitted deeper than 175 feet in Shrimp
Management Region 2E.
(ii) Harvest
of nonspot shrimp is not permitted deeper than 175 feet in Shrimp Management
Subregion 1A.
(iii) Harvest of
nonspot shrimp is not permitted deeper than 175 feet in Catch Area 23A
including the corresponding shrimp subareas (23A-E, 23A-W, 23A-S,
23A-C).
(iv) Harvest of nonspot
shrimp is not permitted deeper than 150 feet in Shrimp Management Region
2W.
Notes
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