Commission review: how Washington’s nonnative game-fish policy guides management

Steve Carameil, Inland Fish Program Manager, told the FISH Committee the department is reporting on actions taken under Commission Policy 36-32 and the rationale behind it. “Back in 2019, the Washington State legislature enacted a 2nd substitute House Bill 15 79, and that directed the agency to, liberalize bag rules, bag limits, for bass, walleye, and channel catfish in all anadromous waters of the state,” Carameil said, summarizing the law that prompted the policy. He described the policy’s six elements—population management, fishing regulations, introduction/translocation guidance, habitat considerations, responses to illegal introductions and targeted control—applied across six water-body types.