Nonspot shrimp pot license

AN ACT Relating to establishing a Puget Sound nonspot shrimp pot 1
fishery license; amending RCW 77.70.005, 77.70.410, 77.70.420, and 2
77.65.220; and adding a new section to chapter 77.70 RCW.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 77.70.005 and 2011 c 147 s 5 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter and 7
related rules adopted by the department unless the context clearly 8
requires otherwise. 9
(1) "Deliver" or "delivery" means arrival at a place or port, and 10
includes arrivals from offshore waters to waters within the state and 11
arrivals ashore from offshore waters. 12
(2) "Nonspot shrimp" means a species complex composed of the 13
following species of pandalid shrimp including Dock shrimp ( Pandalus 14
danae), coonstripe shrimp ( Pandalus hypsinotus ), humpy shrimp 15
(Pandalus goniurus ), ocean pink shrimp ( Pandalus jordani ), pink 16
shrimp ( Pandalus eous ), and side stripe shrimp 17
(Pandalus (Pandalopsis) dispar).18
(3) "Pacific sardine" and "pilchard" means the species Sardinops 19
sagax. 20
(((3))) (4) "Spot shrimp" means the species Pandalus platyceros.21
S-0238.1
SENATE BILL 5076
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Muzzall, Chapman, Cortes, Dozier, Lovelett, Shewmake, and
Trudeau
Prefiled 12/18/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Agriculture & Natural Resources.
p. 1 SB 5076
Sec. 2. RCW 77.70.410 and 2001 c 105 s 1 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1) The shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery is a limited entry fishery 3
and a person shall not fish for spot shrimp or nonspot shrimp taken 4
from Puget Sound for commercial purposes with shrimp pot gear except 5
under the provisions of a shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license 6
issued under RCW 77.65.220. 7
(2) A shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license shall only be issued 8
to a natural person who held a shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license 9
during the previous year, except upon the death of the licensee the 10
license shall be treated as analogous to personal property for 11
purposes of inheritance and intestacy. 12
(3) No more than two shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery licenses may 13
be owned by a licensee. The licensee must transfer the second license 14
into the licensee's name, and designate on the second license the 15
same vessel as is designated on the first license at the time of the 16
transfer. Licensees who hold two shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery 17
licenses may not transfer one of the two licenses for a ((twelve-18
month)) 12-month period beginning on the date the second license is 19
transferred to the licensee, but the licensee may transfer both 20
licenses to another natural person. The nontransferability provisions 21
of this subsection start anew for the receiver of the two licenses. 22
Licensees who hold two shrimp pot-Puget sound fishery licenses may 23
fish one and one-half times the maximum number of pots allowed for 24
Puget Sound shrimp, and may retain and land one and one-half times 25
the maximum catch limits established for Puget Sound shrimp taken 26
with shellfish pot gear. 27
(4) Through December 31, 2001, shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery 28
licenses are transferable only to a current shrimp pot-Puget Sound 29
fishery licensee, or upon death of the licensee. Beginning January 1, 30
2002, shrimp pot-Puget Sound commercial fishery licenses are 31
transferable, except holders of two shrimp pot-Puget Sound licenses 32
are subject to nontransferability provisions as provided for in this 33
section. 34
(5) Through December 31, 2001, a shrimp pot-Puget Sound licensee 35
may designate any natural person as the alternate operator for the 36
license. Beginning January 1, 2002, a shrimp pot-Puget Sound licensee 37
may designate only an immediate family member, as defined in RCW 38
77.12.047, or the immediate family member of a shrimp pot-Puget Sound 39
licensee's spouse as the alternate operator ((.)) with the following 40
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exceptions: A licensee with a bona fide medical emergency may 1
designate a person other than an immediate family member as the 2
alternate operator for a period not to exceed two years, provided the 3
licensee documents the medical emergency with letters from two 4
medical doctors describing the illness or condition that prevents the 5
licensee from participating in the fishery. The two-year period may 6
be extended by the director upon recommendation of a department-7
appointed Puget Sound shrimp pot advisory board. ((If the licensee 8
has no immediate family member who is capable of operating the 9
license, the )) A licensee may ((make a request to )) designate any 10
natural person as the alternate operator by requesting the Puget 11
Sound shrimp pot advisory board to designate an alternate operator 12
who is not an immediate family member, and upon recommendation of the 13
Puget Sound shrimp pot advisory board, the director may allow 14
designation of an alternate operator who is not an immediate family 15
member. 16
Sec. 3. RCW 77.70.420 and 2001 c 105 s 2 are each amended to 17
read as follows: 18
(1) The shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery is a limited entry 19
fishery and a person shall not fish for nonspot shrimp taken from 20
Puget Sound for commercial purposes with shrimp trawl gear except 21
under the provisions of a shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license 22
issued under RCW 77.65.220. 23
(2) A shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license shall only be 24
issued to a natural person who held a shrimp trawl-Puget Sound 25
fishery license during the previous licensing year, except upon the 26
death of the licensee the license shall be treated as analogous to 27
personal property for purposes of inheritance and intestacy.28
(3) No more than one shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license may 29
be owned by a licensee. 30
(4) Through December 31, 2001, shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery 31
licenses are nontransferable, except upon death of the licensee. 32
Beginning January 1, 2002, shrimp trawl-Puget Sound licenses are 33
transferable. 34
(5) Through December 31, 2001, a shrimp trawl-Puget Sound 35
licensee may designate any natural person as the alternate operator 36
for the license. Beginning January 1, 2002, a shrimp trawl-Puget 37
Sound licensee may designate only an immediate family member, as 38
defined in RCW 77.12.047, or an immediate family member of a shrimp 39
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trawl-Puget Sound licensee's spouse as the alternate operator ((.)) 1
with the following exceptions: A licensee with a bona fide medical 2
emergency may designate a person other than an immediate family 3
member as the alternate operator for a period not to exceed two 4
years, provided the licensee documents the medical emergency with 5
letters from two medical doctors describing the illness or condition 6
that prevents the immediate family member from participating in the 7
fishery. The two-year period may be extended by the director upon 8
recommendation of a department-appointed Puget Sound shrimp trawl 9
advisory board. ((If the licensee has no immediate family member who 10
is capable of operating the license, the licensee may make a request 11
to)) A licensee may designate any natural person as the alternate 12
operator by requesting the Puget Sound shrimp trawl advisory board to 13
designate an alternate operator who is not an immediate family 14
member, and upon recommendation of the Puget Sound shrimp trawl 15
advisory board, the director may allow designation of an alternate 16
operator who is not an immediate family member. 17
(6) A holder of a shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license issued 18
under RCW 77.65.220 may harvest members of the nonspot shrimp species 19
within the waters of Puget Sound.20
(7) No more than one shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license or 21
nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license may be owned by a 22
licensee.23
(8) The combined number of shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery 24
licenses and nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery licenses issued 25
under RCW 77.65.220 is limited to five licenses in total.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 77.70 27
RCW to read as follows: 28
(1) The nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery is a limited entry 29
fishery and a person may not fish for nonspot shrimp for commercial 30
purposes with nonspot shrimp pot gear except under the provisions of 31
a nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license or a shrimp pot-32
Puget Sound fishery license issued under RCW 77.65.220.33
(2) A nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license may 34
designate only an immediate family member, as defined in RCW 35
77.12.047, or an immediate family member of a nonspot shrimp pot-36
Puget Sound licensee's spouse as the alternate operator with the 37
following exceptions: A licensee with a bona fide medical emergency 38
may designate a person other than an immediate family member as the 39
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alternate operator for a period not to exceed two years, provided the 1
licensee documents the medical emergency with letters from two 2
medical doctors describing the illness or condition that prevents the 3
immediate family member from participating in the fishery. The two-4
year period may be extended by the director upon recommendation of a 5
department-appointed Puget Sound shrimp trawl advisory board. A 6
licensee may designate any natural person as the alternate operator 7
by requesting the Puget Sound shrimp trawl advisory board to 8
designate an alternate operator who is not an immediate family 9
member, and upon recommendation of the Puget Sound shrimp trawl 10
advisory board, the director may allow designation of an alternate 11
operator who is not an immediate family member. 12
(3) A holder of a nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license 13
issued under RCW 77.65.220 may harvest members of the nonspot shrimp 14
species within the waters of Puget Sound. 15
(4) The combined number of shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery 16
licenses and nonpot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery licenses issued 17
under RCW 77.65.220 is limited to five licenses in total.18
(5) A nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license may only be 19
issued to a natural person who held a nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound 20
fishery license or a shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license issued 21
during the previous licensing year, except upon the death of the 22
licensee the license must be treated as analogous to personal 23
property for purposes of inheritance and intestacy.24
(6) No more than one shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license or 25
nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license may be owned by a 26
licensee. 27
(7) A shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license may be converted 28
to a limited entry nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license by 29
any holder of a shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license. A shrimp 30
trawl-Puget Sound fishery license that is converted to a limited 31
entry nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license is permanently 32
retired as a shrimp trawl license. 33
(8) A converted limited entry nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound 34
fishery license may only fish on nonspot shrimp resources previously 35
allocated to shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery license holders. If all 36
shrimp trawl-Puget Sound fishery licenses convert to nonspot shrimp 37
pot-Puget Sound fishery licenses, the department shall work with 38
stakeholders to review the allocation of the commercial nonspot 39
shrimp resources and develop recommendations for future allocations.40
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(9) Nonspot shrimp pot-Puget Sound fishery license holders 1
reserve the right to cooperatively modify and design gear with the 2
department via a director's issued permit to efficiently and 3
economically harvest Pandalus eous , Pandalus jordani , and Pandalus 4
dispar. The process to modify and design gear is intended to develop 5
the fishery to ensure a means to harvest all nonspot shrimp species 6
for these license holders. 7
Sec. 5. RCW 77.65.220 and 2018 c 235 s 7 are each amended to 8
read as follows: 9
(1) This section establishes commercial fishery licenses required 10
for shellfish fisheries and the annual fees for those licenses. The 11
director may issue a limited entry commercial fishery license only to 12
a person who meets the qualifications established in applicable 13
governing sections of this title. 14
15
16
Fishery
(Governing section(s))
Annual Fee Application Fee Vessel
Required?
Limited
Entry?
17 Resident Nonresident
18 (a) Burrowing shrimp $235 $620 $105 Yes No
19 (b) Crab ring net- $180 $565 $ 70 Yes No
20 Puget Sound
21
22
(c) Dungeness crab-coastal (RCW
77.70.280)
$345 $730 $105 Yes Yes
23 (d) Dungeness crab- $180 $565 $105 Yes Yes
24 Puget Sound
25 (RCW 77.70.110)
26
27
28
(e) Emerging commercial fishery
(RCW 77.70.160 and
77.65.400)
$335 $720 $105 Determined
by rule
Determined
by rule
29 (f) Geoduck (RCW $ 0 $ 0 $ 70 Yes Yes
30 77.70.220)
31 (g) Hardshell clam $580 $965 $ 70 Yes No
32
33
mechanical
harvester

34 (RCW 77.65.250)
35 (h) Nonspot shrimp $335 $720 $105 Yes Yes
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1
2
3
pot-Puget Sound
(section 4 of
this act)

4 (i) Oyster reserve $180 $565 $ 70 No No
5 (RCW 77.65.260)
6 (((i))) (j) Razor clam $180 $565 $105 No No
7 (((j))) (k) Sea cucumber dive $280 $665 $105 Yes Yes
8 (RCW 77.70.190)
9 (((k))) (l) Sea urchin dive $280 $665 $105 Yes Yes
10 (RCW 77.70.150)
11 (((l))) (m) Shellfish dive $180 $565 $ 70 Yes No
12 (((m))) (n) Shellfish pot $180 $565 $ 70 Yes No
13 (((n))) (o) Shrimp pot- $335 $720 $105 Yes Yes
14 Puget Sound
15 (RCW 77.70.410)
16 (((o))) (p) Shrimp trawl- $335 $720 $105 Yes Yes
17 Puget Sound
18 (RCW 77.70.420)
19 (((p))) (q) Spot shrimp-coastal $335 $720 $ 70 Yes Yes
20 (((q))) (r) Squid $335 $720 $ 70 Yes No
(2) The director may by rule determine the species of shellfish 21
that may be taken with the commercial fishery licenses established in 22
this section, the gear that may be used with the licenses, and the 23
areas or waters in which the licenses may be used. Where a fishery 24
license has been established for a particular species, gear, 25
geographical area, or combination thereof, a more general fishery 26
license may not be used to take shellfish in that fishery.27
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