wow.....well worth the time to read.......shame on them....

Thanks for posting....

To bad! It happens all to often!

At some point WDFW needs to look into suspension and confiscation of commercial and sport licenses of willful violators. Until they do crime will pay.

Unintentional violations are going to happen and should be punished as they are now, but the blatant intentional violations need something more severe.

If their licenses were at stake. I bet they wouldn't have had too many pots in the water.

Suspension Procedures in a nutshell as I understand them (clearly subject to adjustment):

Recreational: At a minimum any three strikes in a specific period and you are done; the computer keeps track and you get the notice. Presumably egregious actions could result in one and out.

Commercial: Again, three strikes but they have to be in the same fishery. One egregious violation can result in suspension action but in any case State law requires that there be a Suspension Committee which is made up of five voting members of which three must be holders of commercial fishing licenses. One has to wonder how many commercial licenses have been suspended upon review by this (unbiased) Committee?

And then you have the whole issue of Tribal LE and court systems clearly outside the perview of the State. Since the Feds negotiated the treaties maybe the Feds need to ensure that Tribal governments take the appropriate actions against tribal violators.

"Following up on a tip"

Industry asked for help and received it.

Here is the pertinent state statutes on possible license suspensions for a commercial fisher. The operative words in 15.552 is "....may be suspended by the Director.."

In contrast, for those recreational license holders who violate the law, the statute (below) the statute says "The Department SHALL revoke...".

There are appeal protocols, but the time is shorter than those provided for the commerical fisher - within 20 days of notice for the recreational violation and 31 days for the commerical violation.

I think you'll find the legislative "intent" section at the end of the recreational violation section of particular interest.....

RCW 77.15.552

Qualifying commercial fishing violations.

(1) If a person is convicted of two or more qualifying commercial fishing violations within a three-year period, the person's privileges to participate in the commercial fishery to which the violations applied may be suspended by the director for up to one year. A commercial fishery license that is suspended under this section may not be transferred after the director issues a notice of suspension, or used by an alternative operator or transferred during the period of suspension, if the person who is the subject of the suspension notice is the person who owns the commercial fishery license.

(2) For the purposes of this section only, "qualifying commercial fishing violation" means either:

(a) A conviction under RCW 77.15.500, 77.15.510, 77.15.520, 77.15.530, 77.15.550(1)(a), 77.15.570, 77.15.580, or 77.15.590;

(b) A gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial fish harvesting, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued pursuant to this title, if the quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold fish, other than shellfish, groundfish, or coastal pelagic species of baitfish totals greater than six percent, by weight, of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation and the cumulative value of the unlawfully harvested fish is more than two hundred fifty dollars at the time of citation;

(c) A gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial groundfish or coastal pelagic baitfish harvest, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued under this title, if: (i) The quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold groundfish or coastal pelagic baitfish totals greater than ten percent, by weight, of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation and has a cumulative value greater than five hundred dollars; or (ii) the quantity, by weight, of the unlawfully commercially harvested groundfish or coastal pelagic baitfish is ten percent greater than the landing allowances provided under rules adopted by the department for species categorized as over-fished by the national marine fisheries service; or

(d) A gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial shellfish harvesting, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued pursuant to this title, if the quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold shellfish: (i) Totals greater than six percent of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation; and (ii) totals fifty or more individual shellfish.

(3)(a) The director may refer a person convicted of one qualifying commercial fishing violation to the license suspension review committee if the director feels that the qualifying commercial fishing violation was of a severe enough magnitude to justify suspension of the individual's license renewal privileges.

(b) The director may refer any person convicted of one egregious shellfish violation to the license suspension review committee.

(c) For the purposes of this section only, "egregious shellfish violation" means a gross misdemeanor or felony involving commercial shellfish harvesting, buying, or selling that is unlawful under the terms of the license, this title, or the rules issued pursuant to this title, if the quantity of unlawfully harvested, possessed, bought, or sold shellfish: (i) Totals more than twenty percent of the harvest available for inspection at the time of citation; (ii) totals five hundred or more individual shellfish; and (iii) is valued at two thousand five hundred dollars or more.

(4) A person who has a commercial fishing license suspended or revoked under this section may file an appeal with the license suspension review committee pursuant to RCW 77.15.554. An appeal must be filed within thirty-one days of notice of license suspension or revocation. If an appeal is filed, the suspension or revocation issued by the department does not take effect until after the license suspension review committee has delivered an opinion. If no appeal is filed within thirty-one days of notice of license suspension or revocation, the right to an appeal is considered waived. All suspensions ordered under this section take effect either thirty-one days following the conviction for the second qualifying commercial fishing violation, or upon a decision pursuant to RCW 77.15.554, whichever is later.

(5) A fishing privilege suspended under this section is in addition to the statutory penalties assigned to the underlying crime.

(6) For the purposes of this section only, the burden is on the state to show the dollar amount or the percent of a harvest that is comprised of unlawfully harvested, bought, or sold individual fish or shellfish.

[2003 c 386 § 3.]
Notes:

Findings -- Intent -- 2003 c 386: See note following RCW 77.15.700.


RCW 77.15.554

License suspension review committee.

(1) The license suspension review committee is created. The license suspension review committee may only hear appeals from commercial fishers who have had a license revoked or suspended pursuant to RCW 77.15.552.

(2)(a) The license suspension review committee is composed of five voting members and up to four alternates.

(b) Two of the members must be appointed by the director and may be department employees.

(c) Three members, and up to four alternates, must be peer-group members, who are individuals owning a commercial fishing license issued by the department. If a peer-group member appears before the license suspension review committee because of a qualifying commercial fishing violation, the member must recuse himself or herself from the proceedings relating to that violation. No two voting peer-group members may reside in the same county. All peer-group members must be appointed by the commission, who may accept recommendations from professional organizations that represent commercial fishing interests or from the legislative authority of any Washington county.

(d) All license suspension review committee members serve a two-year renewable term.

(e) The commission may develop minimum member standards for service on the license suspension review committee, and standards for terminating a member before the expiration of his or her term.

(3) The license suspension review committee must convene and deliver an opinion on a license renewal suspension within three months of appeal or of referral from the department. The director shall consider the committee's opinion and make a decision and may issue, not issue, or modify the license suspension.

(4) The license suspension review committee shall collect the information and hear the testimony that it feels necessary to deliver an opinion on the proper length, if any, of a suspension of a commercial license. The opinion may be based on extenuating circumstances presented by the individual convicted of the qualifying commercial fishing violation or considerations of the type and magnitude of violations that have been committed by the individual. The maximum length of any suspension may not exceed one year.

(5) All opinions of the license suspension review committee must be by a majority vote of all voting members. Alternate committee members may only vote when one of the voting members is unavailable, has been recused, or has decided not to vote on the case before the committee. Nonvoting alternates may be present and may participate at all license suspension review committee meetings.

(6) Members of the license suspension review committee serve as volunteers, and are not eligible for compensation other than travel expenses pursuant to RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(7) Staff of the license suspension review committee must be provided by the department.

[2003 c 386 § 4.]

Notes:
Findings -- Intent -- 2003 c 386: See note following RCW 77.15.700.




RCW 77.15.700

Grounds for department revocation and suspension of recreational license — Appeal.

(1) The department shall revoke a person's recreational license or licenses and suspend a person's recreational license privileges in the following circumstances:

(a) Upon conviction, if directed by statute for an offense.

(b) Upon conviction, failure to appear at a hearing to contest an infraction or criminal charge, or an unvacated payment of a fine or a finding of committed as a final disposition for any infraction, if the department finds that actions of the defendant demonstrated a willful or wanton disregard for conservation of fish or wildlife. Suspension of privileges under this subsection may be permanent.

(c) If a person is convicted, fails to appear at a hearing to contest an infraction or criminal citation, or has an unvacated payment of a fine or a finding of committed as a final disposition for any infraction, twice within ten years for a violation involving unlawful hunting, killing, or possessing big game. Revocation and suspension under this subsection must be ordered for all hunting privileges for two years.

(d) If a person violates, three times or more in a ten-year period, recreational hunting or fishing laws or rules for which the person: (i) Is convicted of an offense; (ii) has an unvacated payment of a fine or a finding of committed as a final disposition for any infraction; or (iii) fails to appear at a hearing to contest an infraction or a criminal citation. Revocation and suspension under this subsection must be ordered of all recreational hunting and fishing privileges for two years.

(2)(a) A violation punishable as an infraction counts towards the revocation and suspension of recreational hunting and fishing privileges under this section if that violation is:

(i) Punishable as a crime on July 24, 2005, and is subsequently decriminalized; or

(ii) One of the following violations, as they exist on July 24, 2005: RCW 77.15.160; WAC 220-56-116; WAC 220-56-315(11); or WAC 220-56-355 (1) through (4).

(b) The commission may, by rule, designate infractions that do not count towards the revocation and suspension of recreational hunting and fishing privileges.

(3) If either the deferred education licensee or the required nondeferred accompanying person, hunting under the authority of RCW 77.32.155(2), is convicted of a violation of this title, fails to appear at a hearing to contest a fish and wildlife infraction or a criminal citation, or has an unvacated payment of a fine or a finding of committed as a final disposition for any fish and wildlife infraction, except for a violation of RCW 77.15.400 (1) through (4), the department may revoke all hunting licenses and tags and may order a suspension of either or both the deferred education licensee's and the nondeferred accompanying person's hunting privileges for one year.

(4) A person who has a recreational license revoked and privileges suspended under this section may file an appeal with the department pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW. An appeal must be filed within twenty days of notice of license revocation and privilege suspension. If an appeal is filed, the revocation and suspension issued by the department do not take effect until twenty-one days after the department has delivered an opinion. If no appeal is filed within twenty days of notice of license revocation and suspension, the right to an appeal is waived, and the revocation and suspension take effect twenty-one days following the notice of revocation and suspension.

(5) A recreational license revoked and privilege suspended under this section is in addition to the statutory penalties assigned to the underlying violation.

[2012 c 176 § 35; 2009 c 333 § 2; 2007 c 163 § 2; 2005 c 321 § 1; 2003 c 386 § 2; 2001 c 253 § 46; 1998 c 190 § 66.]

Notes:



Findings -- Intent -- 2003 c 386: "(1)(a) The legislature finds that existing law as it relates to the suspension of commercial fishing licenses does not take into account the real-life circumstances faced by the state's commercial fishing fleets. The nature of the commercial fishing industry, together with the complexity of fisheries regulations, is such that honest mistakes can be made by well-meaning and otherwise law-abiding fishers. Commercial fishing violations that occur within an acceptable margin of error should not result in the suspension of fishing privileges. Likewise, fishers facing the possibility of license suspension or revocation deserve the opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances prior to having his or her professional privileges suspended.

(b) The legislature intends, by creating the license suspension review committee, to provide a fisher with the opportunity to explain any extenuating circumstances that led to a commercial fishing violation. The legislature intends for the license suspension review committee to give serious considerations to the case-specific facts and scenarios leading up to a violation, and for license suspensions to issue only when the facts indicate a willful act that undermines the conservation of fish stocks. Frivolous violations should not result in the suspension of privileges, and should be punished only by the criminal sanctions attached to the underlying crime.

(2)(a) The legislature further finds that gross abuses of fish stocks should not be tolerated. Individuals convicted of even one violation that is egregious in nature, causing serious detriment to a fishery or the competitive disposition of other fishers, should have his or her license suspended and revoked.

(b) The legislature intends for the license suspension review committee to take egregious fisheries' violations seriously. When dealing with individuals convicted of only one violation, the license suspension review committee should only consider suspension for individuals that are convicted of violations that are of a severe magnitude and show a wanton disregard for the public's resource." [2003 c 386 § 1.]



You can find the various violations in:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=77.15

Why is it they only "confiscate" the pots that were over the alloted number? Seems to me if I have one fish over the limit I will be forfeiting my whole catch plus. Equal laws for all is what needs to happen, then you would have the law abiding turning the law breakers in so that there was less competition.

Thanks Bushbear; there it is in all its ugly glory.

The more I read this the more frustrated I become with the dual standards.

If this is the standard for suspense of a commercial license:

The legislature intends for the license suspension review committee to give serious considerations to the case-specific facts and scenarios leading up to a violation, and for license suspensions to issue only when the facts indicate a willful act that undermines the conservation of fish stocks. Frivolous violations should not result in the suspension of privileges, and should be punished only by the criminal sanctions attached to the underlying crime.

Then why aren't recreational fishers given the same consideration?

Or, more appropriately, why aren't commercial fishermen held to the same standard as the recs??? After all, they are the "professionals" with vast knowledge and vested interest in maintaining a viable resource. Right?

If I had my druthers, the whole license suspension process would be changed and suspensions could run from 1 year to lifetime depending on the violation.

I like your take, Bushbear.

"........show a wanton disregard for the public's resource."

and who could think of it as anything else? They don't care, why should we?

Washington isn't alone in combatting illegal commercial activity.

NRP Seizes Virginia Tractor-Trailer Carrying 50 Bushels of Undersized Oysters
by kking

An NRP officer adds another bucket of undersized oysters to the truckload that was returned to an Eastern Shore sanctuary.
In one of the largest oyster cases in recent years, the Maryland Natural Resources Police Wednesday night arrested a Virginia truck driver and seized a tractor-trailer filled with oysters, many of them undersized.
Rhoderick J. Newman, 66, of Tappahannock, was charged with one count of attempting to transport undersized oysters out of state and five counts of possession of undersized and unculled oysters. The truck, owned by Cowart Seafood Corp., of Lottsburg, Va., is being held in an NRP impoundment lot.
The maximum fine for the offense is $1,000 per bushel.
The investigation is continuing.
“There is no excuse for any amount of oyster poaching, let alone what happened here. A blatant disregard for our fishery is a slap in the face to responsible watermen, and all Marylanders,” said DNR Secretary Joseph P. Gill. “I want to congratulate our officers, and entire team, for a job well done.”
Acting on a tip, officers pulled over the truck, which was westbound on U.S. 50 in Easton. The truck was directed to a parking lot for a cargo inspection.
Officers found that the truck contained 188 bushels of oysters. Working by the light of their vehicle headlights, 17 officers and cadets measured every oyster, an operation that lasted more than six hours.
All but one of the bushels contained oysters below the legal minimum of three inches. The percentage of undersized oysters in each bushel ranged from six percent to 46 percent, which is beyond Maryland’s five-percent tolerance level. That made 187 bushels illegal.
The tractor-trailer load represents the daily limit of 16 oystermen power dredging and is worth more than $8,000, according to the Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service.

NRP officers and cadets worked through the night to measure every oyster found in a tractor-trailer truck.
The approximately 50 bushels of undersized oysters, which filled the bed of a one-ton pick-up truck, were separated from the legal cargo and returned to an Eastern Shore oyster sanctuary.
This is the halfway point of Maryland’s six-month oyster harvesting season, a time when poachers tend to seek out undersized oysters to make up for the increasing scarcity of the resource.
Since the start of the season in October, NRP has been conducting saturation patrols by boat and aerial surveillance from Maryland State Police helicopters with long-range cameras. In addition, the agency is making full use of its newest tool, a system of radar units and cameras called the Maritime Law Enforcement Information Network, MLEIN, which allows officers to track vessels and “see” over the horizon.
MLEIN has been used to make several oyster poaching cases so far this season, said Col. George F. Johnson IV, NRP superintendent.
“When the season began, we promised to get the poachers from the air and from the water. Now, we are getting them on the highways and back roads and we’re seizing their trucks,” said Johnson. “Our mission and message is simple: ‘We will get you.’”
The 2010 Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Development Plan, fostered by Governor Martin O’Malley, contains a robust enforcement component to protect the resource, habitat and sanctuaries.
“When the Governor initiated his oyster recovery plan, enforcement was a key component to assure the public that its investment would be protected,” Johnson said. “Stepped-up patrols, MLEIN and information from the public, helps us keep our promise to everyone who loves the Chesapeake Bay and its bounty, and believes in its future. Poachers are learning that there is nowhere to hide.”

Wait a minute only thing this violator did was exceed the pot limit, and those pots are branded with the yellow paint. So now anyone who's in the industry in this little corner of the coast knows who it is without listing a name in the article. Now this person has to go to the store, school functions and face all of his fellow neighbors and fisherman. Not defending this individual but lets let the courts handle it like they do sport violations.

The irony here is that the dumb asses are shooting themselves in the foot. If they keep it up the crab population will get close extermination and they won't have a pot to piss in! (No pun intended.) What then? The two states will close it down permanently. Some people’s IQ are equivalent to their waist size!

Guess I read a different article, taking undersize and females would be shooting yourself in the foot. This is using more pots to take legal crab from other fisherman........But your right about the IQ thing!

SDB: To some extent I concur with you. This guy was not caught taking females or undersized males nor was he marketing his catch under the table thereby avoiding paying landing fees and having his harvest included in accruing totals for the industry that season. He was, however, taking crab in his excess pots which would have been available to his buddy commercial fishers; a clear and obviously intentional violation of the law.

That said, remember how the commercials in P.S. made a huge deal over the alleged recreational violation rate based upon on the water contacts by LE? Turned out the biggest single violation was not immediately recording harvest. In fact, that violation percentage exceeded the cumulative number for all other cited violations. As I recall in 2012 it was roughly 20% whereas overlimit was at 2% so clearly not an attempt to exceed daily limits.

And, yes, I would like to see the system (not necessarily the courts) handle it like it is done with the sports. And that would mean no special suspension committee with a voting majority made up of commercial fishers. And if one were to dig further into the law and common practice the commercials get a pass on low levels of illegal product in their deliveries. Maybe that, too, should go away and every crab/fish harvested be immediately documented on a CRC and evaluated individually for compliance. One short crab and busted! Three busts and suspended. Just like how sports are dealt with by the system.

I'm just curious how many sport cases actually end up in front of the commission, lots of sport violations are written down here and it would have to be a huge one to make it that far. Most are just handled in the court and done.

Commission?

I believe appeals on sport suspensions are handled by WDFW w/o any comparable sport hunter/fisher suspension committee made up of a voting majority of hunters/fishers (although I suspect such a committee would be less forgiving than the commercial committee).

It has been discussed previously that sport fishers receiving a citation often simply pay because it is difficult to take time from work and travel to the particular court. The problem with that is the automatic suspension process - three strikes and suspended no matter how inadvertent and/or trivial the violation over a ten year period. Furthermore, it involves all citations resulting from alleged violation of F&W regs. Keep in mind that the commercial totals have to be from activities in the same fishery.

As pulled from Bushbear's post:

" (d) If a person violates, three times or more in a ten-year period, recreational hunting or fishing laws or rules for which the person: (i) Is convicted of an offense; (ii) has an unvacated payment of a fine or a finding of committed as a final disposition for any infraction; or (iii) fails to appear at a hearing to contest an infraction or a criminal citation. Revocation and suspension under this subsection must be ordered of all recreational hunting and fishing privileges for two years.

Key word is appeals, and I've sat on licensing boards and pulled permits it does happen but when a court has already seen the case and ruled it's pretty cut and dried at that point.

So long as the only violation the cheaters are committing is that of using too many pots then they aren't really hurting the population, or the sportfishing or tribal fishing portions...they're only hurting their fellow commercial guys, which is where the tips are going to come from if someone is cheating.

Fish on...

Todd