The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold a hearing to receive public comment regarding possible amendments to Washington Administrative Code (WAC) rules related to the two-year wild steelhead retention moratorium. The hearing will take place on August 28, 2004, at the Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton, Washington, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The agenda will be posted soon on the Commission's webpage at the following URL:
http://wdfw/wa/gov/com/meetings.htm At the Commission's meeting on February 6, 2004, steelhead sportfishing rules were amended and a two-year wild steelhead retention moratorium was adopted. The Commission received many comments and a petition to initiate rulemaking in response to its action adopting the moratorium. On April 29, 2004, the Commission directed Department staff to commence rulemaking regarding the wild steelhead retention moratorium, and rule change proposals were filed on June 18, 2004.
The August 28, 2004, public hearing provides interested persons the ability to make oral comments to the Commission on the rule changes proposed by staff. The Commission is seeking public input on whether these proposed changes should:
· Be adopted as proposed, which would revoke the moratorium on wild steelhead retention, reopen 12 rivers to retaining wild steelhead, and allow anglers to retain 1 wild steelhead per day and up to 5 wild steelhead per licensing year (see "Proposed Rule Changes" on the enclosure);
· Be amended in some fashion that you describe (for example; a change in the annual limit for wild steelhead; reopening some, but not all, of the rivers; or other measures to restrict wild steelhead harvest); or
· Not be adopted (retain the current rules; see "Current Rules column" on the enclosure).
If you do support some amount of wild steelhead retention, the Commission would be particularly interested in hearing your views on what the annual limit should be. Although the staff proposal is to reinstate the previous annual limit of 5 fish, we want to consider a range of possible annual limits if the decision is made to allow wild steelhead retention.
The enclosed table details the current rules resulting from passage of the wild steelhead moratorium (middle column), and the staff proposals to reinstate the wild steelhead retention fisheries that were in place before the moratorium was adopted (right-hand column). The Commission is seeking input as to the best course of action in regard to the staff proposals. If you recommend amending the proposed changes, please include details of the amendments you would support and the reasons for your recommendation.
Oral testimony may be presented only at the August 28 meeting (three minutes maximum). You may also pre-submit those comments via email to: Commission@dfw.wa.gov.
If you are interested in providing comments on the proposed changes but are unable to attend the hearing, you should send your written testimony to the Commission at the above email or the following address:
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission
600 Capitol Way North
Olympia, WA 98501
After the August 28 public hearing, the Commission will consider adoption of the proposed rule changes during the next regularly scheduled Commission public meeting, scheduled for September 2, 2004, via telephone conference call. No public testimony will be taken during the conference call or at any time after the August 28 meeting. For information on how to attend the September 2 meeting, please contact the Fish and Wildlife Commission office at (360) 902-2267.
This letter is available in alternate formats upon request. Please contact (360) 902-2200 or TDD (360) 902-2207, and allow seven working days to process your request.
If you are a person of disability and require accommodation for attendance at the August 28 meeting, please contact Susan Yeager at (360) 902-2267.
We value citizen input and want to thank you for your interest in Washington's resources.
Sincerely,
Lew Atkins
Assistant Director
Fish Program
Enclosure
Previous Topic
Index
