Commercial Fixed Gear Rockfish Landings Condition

The purpose of this rule change is to allow commercial landings of dressed rockfish for vessels that obtain a director’s permit to do so. To ensure accurate data collection for stock assessments, fish are currently required to be landed into Washington ports in the whole (also known as “round”) condition, unless specifically exempted in regulation. This rule would expand the list of exempted species/species groups to include rockfishes, again as authorized by permit of the director.