North of Falcon- Puget Sound Commercial Fisheries

The North of Falcon process typically begins in January and consists of government-to-government meetings involving the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), treaty tribes, and WDFW representatives. Separate meetings are held with
stakeholders—both at a statewide and regional level—to review preseason run size forecasts, NMFS guidance relative to
allowable impacts for species listed under the Endangered Species Act, which includes salmon, but other protected species as well, such as Southern Resident Killer Whales.

Stakeholder meetings specific to the Puget Sound fisheries were held in February and March, and the public hearing on the proposed rules was held on June 22, 2022. The comprehensive North of Falcon meeting schedule and the meeting agendas, handouts, and audio recordings of the public meetings are available on WDFW’s website at:
https://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/management/north-falcon/public-meetings

While these rules regulate only commercial fisheries, the seasons specified in these rules are structured in a coordinated
manner intended to provide commercial and recreational fishing opportunities in Puget Sound while ensuring conservation requirements and management objectives in federal and state laws and regulations, state/tribal harvest management agreements, and Fish and Wildlife Commission policies are met.

Even though drafted as amendments to preceding rules, these new amendments function as a coordinated
and unitary fishery rulemaking package for the 2022-2023 fishery season, and thus substantively replace prior years’
fisheries in Puget Sound. Specifically, these rules replace and supersede the language in these WACs in their entirety: