Washington

Description: Allows a fisherman to clean, dress, and sell their catch of live crab, unprocessed salmon (except for heading and gutting), and/or whole sturgeon directly to consumers at retail, including over the Internet. 

Annual Fee: $155 (2015, subject to change)

Select Details:

• Requires a food and beverage service workers permit and a letter from the county health department certifying that the methods used by the fishermen to transport, store and display product meet county and statewide standards adopted by the state Board of Health for food service operations (see the Department of Public Health section below). 
• Cannot be used by others (e.g., spouse, business partner, employee) at any time, only by the licensed fisherman. 

Description: Required for fishermen to sell their catch to consumers and wholesalers (all permitted species through both traditional and alternative markets). 

Annual Fee: $355 (2015, subject to change)

Select Details:

• Not required if selling only whole sturgeon, uncut/unprocessed salmon and/or live crab (see Direct Retail Endorsement above). 
• Required for the commercial processing of food fish or shellfish, including custom canning or processing of personal use seafood.
• Requires a surety bond of $2,000 to ensure fish tickets are reported in a timely and accurate manner.
• Requires additional permits if buying certain types of fish (e.g., anadromous species) from treaty fishermen.

Description: Scales used to sell seafood must be approved and registered. Most seafood must be sold by weight.  Whole shellfish may be sold by count and size designations may be provided.

Annual Fee: Dependent on scale capacity. 

e.g., $10 for 0-400 pounds, $40 for 401 -5,000 pounds

Select Details:

• Must be a legal for trade scale and must have a National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) Certificate of Conformance. 
• Scales must be registered annually with the WA Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service.
• A copy of the business license with weights and measures endorsement must be on site with the scale.
• Product that is weighed and packaged without the customer present must be labeled with the product name, net weight, price per unit and total price as specified in NIST Handbook 130, Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation(link is external). Additional information also may be needed on the label per the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act(link is external).

Description: Required for the processing* of seafood.

Annual Fee: Dependent on gross annual sales. 

e.g., $55 for $0-50,000, $110 for $50,001 -500,000

Information sources: Application and requirements(link is external)

Select Details:

• Requires a daily sanitation monitoring plan and a seafood HACCP plan for each type of fishery product for which a food safety hazard has been identified (see information sources above for specific requirements).

• Not required for licensed retail food service establishments with 100% of sales occurring on site.

*FDA defines processing as handling, storing, preparing, heading, eviscerating, shucking, freezing, changing into different market forms, manufacturing, preserving, packing, labeling, dockside unloading, or holding fish and fishery products. Excludes practices such as heading, eviscerating, or freezing solely to prepare a fish for holding on board a commercial fishing vessel.

Description: Required to store seafood away from the boat, prior to distribution to others (e.g., wholesalers, retail markets, restaurants, direct to consumer). 

Annual Fee: Varies; $0-$50 (2015, subject to change)

Information source: Application and requirements(link is external)

Select Details:

• Not required for licensed retail food service establishments with 100% of sales occurring on site

Description: Allows a fisherman to commercially harvest and sell filter-feeding shellfish (e.g., geoduck and other clams, scallops) shellstock.

Annual Fee(link is external): $263 (2015, subject to change), plus annual PSP testing fee (dependent on number of harvesting sites). 

e.g., $173 for 1-2 harvest sites, $259 for 3 or more sites (2015, subject to change)

Select Details:

• Does not allow shucking of shellfish or repacking shucked shellfish. Harvested product must be handled and shipped in accordance with seafood safety requirements(link is external).

Required for any food worker engaged in food handling or food service. A food worker(link is external) is defined as a person who works with unpacked food, food equipment, food utensils, or with any surface that comes in contact with unwrapped food. Food workers who attend a food safety training class and pass the State of Washington exam on food safety basics are issued a Food Handler Permit.

Required for any food business establishment operating at a fixed location for more than 21 consecutive days. 

Required for temporary establishments that operate at a fixed location with a fixed menu for 21 consecutive days or less, this includes food booths at fairs and festivals

Required to operate your mobile food unit as a food service establishment, including food carts, trailers, and trucks as well as food kiosks.  

Required in several counties to allow a food retailer, caterer or mobile food unit to access and use a licensed food service establishment as a kitchen. The agreement often requires cosigning by the food establishment and the kitchen operator and approval by the local environmental health advisor

May be required to operate at a recurring event (e.g., farmers market) or multiple events.

Local harbors/marinas may have their own requirements for selling one's catch off the boat or at a dockside (or fishermen’s) market. In some cases, only certain products or types of markets are allowed. 

City government may require a business license, vendor’s license, or both if selling from a vehicle or stand within city limits. Also, selling from private property requires proof of permission from the property owner, having an appropriate business license, and meeting local zoning requirements.

County planning departments may require meeting zoning regulations and providing proof of permission from appropriate agencies (e.g., state highway division, county road office) when selling from a vehicle or stand on a public right-of-way or from property owners if selling from private property.