Washington Administrative Code

(1) In any licensed fishery for which a vessel is required under chapter 77.65 RCW, or for any delivery of food fish or shellfish, or for any charter fishery, it is unlawful to fish for, harvest, deliver, or possess food fish or shellfish unless:(a) The licensee has designated th…

Any person making application to transfer a commercial fishing license or charter boat angler permit must have the signature of the transferor notarized, and without notarization the department will not transfer a license or angler permit, except the department may transfer the l…

The following Oregon licenses are equivalent to Washington licenses and are valid in the concurrent waters of the Columbia River:(1) An Oregon Columbia River gillnet salmon vessel permit issued under ORS 508.775 - ORS 508.796 is equivalent to a Washington salmon gillnet fishery l…

(1) All salmon purse seine licenses will be ranked based upon participation in the Puget Sound summer and fall salmon fisheries.(2) Purse seine rankings will be based upon a point system (0-15) for landings in the months of July and August (summer fisheries) and/or the months of …

(1) The purchase of Puget Sound gillnet and reef net licenses will be based upon a random drawing of all applicants for a specific license type.(2) The random drawing will continue until all applicants who offered to sell at the department's offered price have been rank-ordered. …

A combined fish guide license allows the holder to offer or perform the services of a food fish guide and a game fish guide. The fee for a resident combined fish guide license is $640 and the fee for a nonresident combined fish guide license is $1,490. The application fee and sur…

(1) Vessels engaged in chartered research for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) or the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) may land and sell bottomfish caught during that research without the catch being counted toward any trip or cumulative limit for the p…

Consistent with RCW 77.65.610 (3)(a), commercial fishing license holders, except for nonsalmon landing licensees fishing for albacore tuna, may obtain a total of four crewmember licenses for use by individuals working on the vessel named in the commercial fishing license if the i…

The following definitions apply to this chapter:(1) "Department" means the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Fish Program - Commercial Harvest Data Team, 600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, Washington 98501-1091.(2) "Fish" means food fish classified under WAC 220-300-370, g…

(1) Wholesale fish buyers must complete a state of Washington fish receiving ticket for:(a) All fish and shellfish delivered in the state of Washington. This includes fish or shellfish transported into Washington from another state, territory, or country as well as fish or shellf…

(1) Receivers must completely, accurately, and legibly prepare fish receiving tickets using a department-approved electronic or department-supplied paper form, as further specified in this section.(2) Receivers must use an electronic fish receiving ticket form for the following:(…

(1) The following information is required to be reported on all nontreaty fish receiving ticket forms for all deliveries except imports (WAC 220-352-020 (1)(b)):(a) Fisher identification: The name and license number of the licensed deliverer.(b) Address: The address of the licens…

(1) Original receivers must complete state of Washington nontreaty fish receiving tickets by recording the delivery amount using the appropriate weight or quantity measure for all fish or shellfish at the conclusion of the offload and prior to the fish or shellfish being processe…

(1) The department creates, prepares, prints, and distributes upon request the following treaty Indian fish receiving ticket forms:(a) The treaty Indian fish receiving ticket; and(b) The treaty Indian shellfish receiving ticket.(2) Treaty Indian fish receiving ticket forms must c…

(1) It is unlawful for a person required to complete a treaty Indian fish receiving ticket or a treaty Indian shellfish receiving ticket to fail to enter the mandatory information, when applicable, referenced in WAC 220-352-070 (2)(a) through (l) and (n) through (q) on each treat…

(1) State of Washington treaty Indian fish receiving tickets must be made out in quintuplicate (five copies) at the time of landing. It is unlawful for the original receiver who completes the fish receiving ticket to fail to distribute the copies as follows:(a) The original recei…

Washington treaty Indians delivering fish or shellfish may use a treaty Indian identification card, properly embossed with the tribe number and treaty Indian identification number, in lieu of hand-written fisherman information except that the fisherman's signature is required on …

(1) State of Washington shellfish receiving tickets paper forms must be made out in quintuplicate (five copies) at the time of delivery of shellfish. Original receivers must use fish receiving tickets in numerical sequence, starting with the lowest numbered ticket issued to the o…

(1) The fisher and original receiver of both treaty and nontreaty fish or shellfish must sign the appropriate completed fish receiving ticket paper form to certify that all entries on the ticket are accurate and correct.(2) If an agent of the fisher delivers fish or shellfish to …

(1) Fishers and original receivers must mechanically imprint the fish receiving ticket paper forms with their department issued license cards.(2) License card information may be recorded manually on the fish receiving tickets in the following exceptions:(a) Oregon licensed fisher…

(1) When reporting using fish receiving ticket paper forms under WAC 220-352-035, receivers must:(a) Use only current state of Washington fish receiving tickets;(b) Get written permission from the department to transfer fish receiving tickets, except if the receiver is a wholesal…

It is unlawful for a charter boat or guide operator to fail to comply with the charter stamp validation requirements as provided for in this section.(1) Before any fishing commences, the charter boat or guide operator shall write the validation date across every charter stamp iss…

Every person shucking shellfish for resale, excluding privately cultured aquatic products, is required to have a wholesale fish buyer endorsement. It is unlawful for shellfish shuckers originally receiving shellfish that are not private sector cultured aquatic products to fail to…

Upon lawful application, a commercial fishery license in the form of a license card will be issued by the department. The license card will be designed for use with an approved mechanical imprinting device. The license card will contain the licensee's name; license type and gear …

(1) Upon lawful application for a wholesale fish buyer's endorsement, a wholesale fish buyer's plate will be issued by the department for any receiver acting as or intending to act as an original receiver. The receiver's plate will be designed for use with an approved mechanical …

(1) If fish or shellfish are transported from a vessel or catch site (if the fishery does not require a vessel) prior to completing a fish receiving ticket, the fisher must complete a commercial fish and shellfish transportation ticket as required by this section. The transportat…

There is hereby created a state of Washington annual production report form to be prepared, printed, and distributed annually by the department to all fish dealers, canners, custom canners, and by-product manufacturers. The annual production report shall be completed and returned…

(1) Licensed food fish, game fish and combination fishing guides shall maintain a daily logbook of guiding activity to include:(a) Guide name and license No. for the guide leading the trip;(b) Date that fishing took place. For multiday trips, each day is considered a separate tri…

Any holder of a limited fish seller endorsement selling fish or shellfish taken by that fisher under the endorsement, must comply with the requirements of this section.(1)(a) Before offering any fish or shellfish for retail sale under a limited fish seller endorsement, the fisher…

(1) It is unlawful to ship or transport game fish and roe by a private or common carrier unless accompanied by an invoice that includes:(a) The name and address of the consignor and consignee;(b) The weight (in pounds) and number of anadromous game fish and skeins of roe in the s…

Violation of rules contained in this chapter are punishable as crimes under one or more statutes in chapter 77.15 RCW, including, but not limited to, RCW 77.15.280, 77.15.290, 77.15.620, and 77.15.630; and such rule violations may separately incur financial liability under RCW 77…

For deliveries from groundfish fisheries (as defined in 50 C.F.R., Part 660 and WAC 220-355-070), the original receiver must record:(1) The legal gear code used to harvest each species on the fish receiving ticket line level if multiple gears were used.(2)(a) The federal limited …

Original receivers of Dungeness crab from the Pacific Ocean, Coastal Washington, Grays Harbor, Willapa Harbor, and Columbia River waters must enter the crab vessel hold inspection certificate number on all nontreaty fish receiving tickets during the period specified in emergency …

(1) Fishers and receivers must ensure that forage fish harvests required to be reported as bait under WAC 220-352-020 (5)(b) are accurately reported on the same fish ticket as, and at the time of delivery of, the fish or shellfish harvested with the bait. For forage fish transfer…

During any Columbia River fishery opening that is designated by rule as "quick reporting required":(1) An original receiver must report all purchases of salmon, sturgeon, or smelt made (wholesale buyer) or offered for retail sale (limited fish seller) on the previous calendar day…

During any Grays Harbor or Willapa Bay fishery opening that is designated by rule as "quick reporting required":(1) An original receiver must report all purchases of salmon and sturgeon made (wholesale buyer) or offered for retail sale (limited fish seller) on the previous calend…

During any Puget Sound fishery opening that is designated as "quick reporting required," per WAC 220-354-090:(1) An original receiver must report all purchases of salmon and sturgeon made (wholesale buyer) or offered for retail sale (limited fish seller) on the previous calendar …

During any coastal troll fishery opening that is designated by rule as "quick reporting required":(1) An original receiver must report all purchases of salmon made (wholesale buyer) or offered for retail sale (limited fish seller) on the previous calendar day.(2) The report must …

Harvesters, pot fishery(1) License registration: Each fisher or alternate operator is required to report their intended catch area of harvest, target species (spot or nonspot shrimp), and the quantity of pounds that are being targeted prior to the deployment of any shrimp gear. R…

(1) License registration: Puget Sound commercial crab license holders, or their designated alternate operators, must register which Crab Management Region to which gear will be deployed for each license they hold prior to the fishery opening date.(a) Registrations must be updated…

(1) Any wholesale dealer acting in the capacity of an original receiver and receiving sea urchins or sea cucumbers from nontreaty fishers must report to the department each day's purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following day.(a) Reports must be made by phone to 866-207-8223 or by tex…

(1) A commercial geoduck license holder operating under a valid department of natural resources harvest agreement must be present at all times on each vessel commercially harvesting geoducks or if the vessel has harvested geoducks aboard.(2) For each day's harvest of geoducks fro…

(1) Any wholesale dealer acting in the capacity of an original receiver and receiving scallops from nontreaty fishers must report to the department each day's purchases by 10:00 a.m. the following day.(a) Reports must be made by text message or email to scallopreport@dfw.wa.gov.(…

(1) It is unlawful for any person to possess any food fish or shellfish within the jurisdiction of the state of Washington, except in areas open to commercial fishing or where the possession of salmon or other food fish or shellfish for commercial purposes is permissible under st…

(1)(a) Commercial shellfish pot, bottom fish pot, set line and set net gear must be marked with a buoy that bears the department approved and registered buoy brand issued to the license in a visible and legible manner. It is unlawful for the owner or operator of any commercial fo…

(1) It is unlawful to fish for or possess for commercial purposes any round, undressed sturgeon less than 43 inches in fork length or greater than 54 inches in fork length.(2) It is unlawful to fish for, possess, or retain green sturgeon taken with commercial gear. Any green stur…

(1) It is unlawful to club, gaff, snag, snare, dip net, harass, spear, stone, or otherwise molest, injure, kill, destroy, or shoot with a firearm, crossbow, bow and arrow, or compressed air gun, any fish or shellfish or parts of fish or shellfish for commercial purposes, except: …

(1) It is unlawful to possess any food fish or shellfish in a condition where the species, length, weight, or sex cannot be determined if a species, species group or category, length, weight, or sex limit is prescribed for that species on a vessel engaging in commercial fishing o…

(1) It is 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 size or length permissible for a single net in that area, except as otherwise prov…

(1) It is unlawful to place any commercial food fish or shellfish gear in any waters closed to commercial fishing, except reef nets, brush weirs, or gear tested in accordance with WAC 220-353-080 and under department supervision.(2) It is unlawful to take, fish for, or possess fo…