(1) Except as otherwise provided by this title, a person must have a license issued by the director in order to engage in any of the following activities:

(a) Commercially fish for or take food fish or shellfish;

(b) Deliver from a commercial fishing vessel food fish or shellfish taken for commercial purposes in offshore waters. As used in this subsection, “deliver” means arrival at a place or port, and includes arrivals from offshore waters to waters within the state and arrivals from state or offshore waters;

(c) Operate a charter boat or commercial fishing vessel engaged in a fishery;

(d) Engage in wholesale buying, selling, dealing, processing, or brokering of raw or frozen fish or shellfish;

(e) Sell his or her commercially harvested catch of fish or shellfish to anyone other than a licensed wholesale fish buyer within or outside the state; or

(f) Act as a food fish guide or game fish guide for personal use, except that a charter boat license is required to operate a vessel from which a person may for a fee fish for food fish in state waters listed in RCW 77.65.150(4)(b).

(2) No person may engage in the activities described in subsection (1) of this section unless the licenses required by this title are in the person’s possession, and the person is the named license holder or an alternate operator designated on the license and the person’s license is not suspended.

(3) A valid Oregon license that is equivalent to a license under this title is valid in the concurrent waters of the Columbia river if the state of Oregon recognizes as valid the equivalent Washington license. The director may identify by rule what Oregon licenses are equivalent.

(4) No license is required for the production or harvesting of private sector cultured aquatic products as defined in RCW 15.85.020 or for the delivery, processing, or wholesaling of such aquatic products. However, if a means of identifying such products is required by rules adopted under RCW 15.85.060, the exemption from licensing requirements established by this subsection applies only if the aquatic products are identified in conformance with those rules.

Finding—Intent—Effective date—2017 3rd sp.s. c 8: See notes following RCW 77.08.010.

Short title—Part headings, captions, table of contents not law—Exemptions and waivers from federal law—Conflict with federal requirements—Severability—1997 c 58: See RCW 74.08A.900 through 74.08A.904.

Effective dates—Intent—1997 c 58: See notes following RCW 74.20A.320.

Finding—Intent—1993 c 340: “The legislature finds that the laws governing commercial fishing licensing in this state are highly complex and increasingly difficult to administer and enforce. The current laws governing commercial fishing licenses have evolved slowly, one section at a time, over decades of contention and changing technology, without general consideration for how the totality fits together. The result has been confusion and litigation among commercial fishers. Much of the confusion has arisen because the license holder in most cases is a vessel, not a person. The legislature intends by this act to standardize licensing criteria, clarify licensing requirements, reduce complexity, and remove inequities in commercial fishing licensing. The legislature intends that the license fees stated in this act shall be equivalent to those in effect on January 1, 1993, as adjusted under section 19, chapter 316, Laws of 1989.” [ 1993 c 340 § 1.]

Captions not law—1993 c 340: “Section headings as used in this act do not constitute any part of the law.” [ 1993 c 340 § 57.]

Effective date—1993 c 340: “This act shall take effect January 1, 1994.” [ 1993 c 340 § 58.]

Severability—1993 c 340: “If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.” [ 1993 c 340 § 59.]