It's hard to say about what the law enforcement actions might be. Concerning the theory of law, if there is no intent, then there is little chance of being convicted. But practically, WDFW cops have to prove their case and no veteran would would write a citation just to be writing one. In the old days (pre merger) there was an emphasis from old Game/Wildlife to write tickets. Old wildlife leadership evaulated their officers by number of citations, to a considerable extent. Old Fisheries did not. They used an objective approach, since a Seattle based Fishcop woulld be working Puget Sound with a bunch of sport , and some commercial actions there was an unwritten expectations that those officers would write more citations than the officer assigned to White Salmon whose primary function was to monitor the Columbia for set nets, etc. The merger was a mess for enforcement. Fishcops worked hard to contain "Orderly Fisheries" and the Gamies worked to write tickets. I'm guessing that the new (to me) officers have better things to do than to write "skinny pinches" an old Fishcop term.

I'm going fishing. If anyone gets a ticket for being too close to a SRK whale, please contact me for consultation prior to going to court. One beer, and I'll get you off the hook. (Pardon the pun)