Completed Projects
Below is a selection of completed projects of the Northwest Straits Foundation, including:
- West March's Point Beach Nourishment
- Shore Stewards Program Expansion
- Puget Sound Crab Pot Assessment
- Derelict Fishing Gear Removal and Surveys
- Rates of Marine Species Mortality in Derelict Nets in Puget Sound
- Marine Habitat Recovery of Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Sites
- Recreational Crabber Escape Cord Education
- Derelict Fishing Gear Priority Ranking Project
- Cost Benefit Analysis of Derelict Gear Removal in Puget Sound
- Regional Creosote Debris Inventory and Removal
- Port Susan Bay Targeted Interviews
West March's Point Beach Nourishment
The West March’s Point Beach Nourishment Project was a partnership with the Skagit River System Cooperative in 2010. Skagit Restoration Initiative funds paid for 1,850 tons of sand and gravel to be placed in selected locations at West March’s Point as part of a larger project designed to restore sediment transport beach processes and enhance forage fish spawning habitat in the Fidalgo Bay nearshore. The project was completed with the cooperation of Tesoro, who owns the property.
Photos: sprayer trucks were used to place nourishment material on the beach.
Skagit Restoration Initiative (SRI) funding is administered in partnership with the Skagit Marine Resources Committee. SRI funds are designated for projects that restore the shoreline, nearshore, or marine resources of Fidalgo Bay or Padilla Bay.
Shore Stewards Program Expansion
Completed in 2009. The Northwest Straits Foundation partnered with Washington State University (WSU) Cooperative Extension to increase participation in the successful Shore Stewards program. Certified Shore Stewards is a voluntary program involving shoreline property owners and residents in the Puget Sound region which was developed by the Island MRC in 2003. The program was subsequently embraced by MRCs from other counties. The goal of the program is to increase the knowledge and voluntary participation of shoreline residents regarding how their positive property management and maintenance activities can benefit the health of Puget Sound and the nearshore habitat. The program expanded to the Hood Canal counties of Jefferson, Kitsap and Mason in 2005 and then to Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish and Clallam counties in 2006. In that time period, the program grew to include more than 885 Shore Stewards who voluntarily agreed to adopt ten habitat-friendly property management guidelines.
In March 2008, the Northwest Straits Foundation received a two-year grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology to increase voluntary participation by 400 citizens in the Shore Stewards program in the eight participating counties. This goal was exceeded. The actual number of reported new Shore Stewards during this time period was 921, or 230% of the goal. Participants were provided with the book “Guide for Shoreline Living”, a DVD on shoreline living, and an optional metal yard sign. Participants also received a lot of training on how to manage their properties to protect and preserve nearshore and beach habitats. Training topics ranged from using water wisely to protecting eelgrass beds and forage fish spawning beaches.
Project activities included:
• Quarterly meetings of county coordinators to plan newsletters and workshops, and to share ideas and activities;
• Production and distribution of a regional quarterly newsletter with local county content and links;
• Two workshops in each county totaling 26 workshops regionally;
• Dozens of presentations given and displays shown at local fairs, events, WSU Beach Watchers and Beach Naturalists training, libraries, community and fraternal organization meetings, educational events, clubs, etc.
• Media outreach to local newspapers and media outlets including community association newsletters, resulting in articles and information on workshops and events
Visit the Shore Stewards website at: www.shorestewards.wsu.edu
Derelict fishing Gear Removal, Prevention, and Research
Over the past several years, the Foundation has become the primary source of funds for the Northwest Straits Initiative’s Derelict Fishing Gear Program. The Foundation has supported a range of activities that address the problem of derelict fishing gear in Puget Sound. For an in-depth discussion of this threat to Puget Sound, click here.
Puget Sound Derelict Crab Pot Assessment. 
In 2010, the Foundation completed the Puget Sound Derelict Crab Pot Assessment, a research study to quantify the ecological and economic impacts of derelict crab pots in Puget Sound. After collecting a year’s worth of data, and using information from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, we estimated t
he number of crab pots lost every year at 3,601 commercial pots and 8,592 recreational pots. The study determined that every derelict crab pot kills an average of 22 crabs per year, resulting in 178,874 Dungeness crabs lost each year in Puget Sound. Dungeness crabs lost to derelict crab pots each year in Puget Sound. The cost to the commercial crab fishery is over $700,000 annually based on current commercial ex vessel value. The value to the recreational fishery is even greater. Read the full report.
Derelict fishing gear removal and surveys. In 2008, the Foundation conducted more than 140 days of derelict fishing gear removals and surveys in Puget Sound.
More than 340 derelict fishing nets were removed, including 221 from the San Juan Islands. The nets were damaging over 60 acres of vital marine habitat, blocking access to refugia microhabitats and smothering sessile animals and plants. More than 17,408 live and dead animals were found in the removed nets, including 9 dead marine mammals, 265 dead birds, 236 live and dead fish, and 16,371 live and dead invertebrates. According to recent research, these animals represent only the previous two weeks of impacts. Animals captured prior to that had already decomposed, or been eaten by scavengers.
One net removed from Port Susan Bay, contained the remains of more than 140 marine birds (mostly scoters and grebes), as well as a harbor seal and many fish and invertebrates.
Surveys conducted in 2008 covered 12.7 nautical square miles of seabed and located 370 derelict crab pots and 210 derelict fishing nets.
The Foundation supported these derelict fishing gear removal and survey efforts with funding from: NOAA Marine Debris Removal and Prevention Grant Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation/NOAA Marine Debris Program grant partnership, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal and Recovery Programs, Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Conoco-Phillips Spirit of Conservation Migratory Bird Fund, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, King County, Lucky Seven Foundation, Horizons Foundation, and the Marjorie Mosher Schmidt Foundation.
Rates of Marine Species Mortality in Derelict Nets in Puget Sound. Completed in 2008. This research project was undertaken to determine the long-term impact of derelict nets on priority marine species in Puget Sound. divers monitored four known derelict nets over approximately a month to determine the rate at which captured animals recycle through the nets. All carcasses and animals were tagged by divers and left in place. On subsequent dives, tags were checked to see whether the animal or carcass was still evident and newly captured animals were documented.
This research showed that the numbers of animals found in retrieved derelict fishing gear represents only the last two weeks of mine the long-term impact of derelict nets on priority marine species in Puget Sound. The study also documented that up to 14% of animals captured in derelict fishing nets fall out of the net during removal operations. The study found the estimated annual catch rate of derelict fishing nets capturing birds is 76 birds/net/year. For fish, it is 153 fish/net/year, and for invertebrates, it is 1,117 invertebrates/net/year.
Long-term impacts to species of derelict fishing nets are much greater than the actual number of animals found in the nets indicate.
Click here to see the final report.
Marine Habitat Recovery of Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Sites. Completed in 2009. This study had three objectives. First was to document impacts of derelict fishing gear on marine habitats. Second was to monitor the recovery of these habitats after derelict fishing gear was removed. Third was to monitor sites for newly lost fishing gear to determine reaccumulation rates at these sites.
Five derelict fishing gear removal sites were selected: four derelict gillnet sites and one derelict crab pot site. All net sites represented slightly different habitat types and the crab pot site was in an eelgrass bed. At all sites, derelict fishing gear was removed during the summer of 2007. The sites were monitored before and immediately after derelict fishing gear was removed, and again after approximately six and twelve months.
Marine habitat being smothered by derelict fishing net. Relative abundance was measured at each net removal site and each adjacent control site for four species groups: kelp/seaweed/hydroid, sessile invertebrates, mobile invertebrates, and fish. There was a 41% difference in the relative abundance at all four net sites compared to control sites immediately after gear removal, indicating that the gear and its removal negatively affected the marine habitat. After six months (midwinter), there was a 31% difference in relative abundance at the four sites compared to the control sites. Most of this difference occurred in the kelp/seaweed/hydroid and sessile invertebrates groups. After one year, there was a 6% difference in relative abundance between the removal sites and control areas. This indicates that abundance of marine species using the habitat can be restored to 94% in about one year after derelict fishing net removal, or one growing season in the case of the kelp/seaweed/hydroid group.
After removal of the crab pot, divers noted no eelgrass in the pot footprint or in a fifteen foot square area directly behind the pot where a one foot deep hole had been scoured out due to currents moving around the pot. The control area adjacent to the pots had a high density of eelgrass. Four months after pot removal, divers noted a 30% recovery of eelgrass in the area affected by the pot. The eelgrass was found to be spreading from the adjacent area. The scour hole had filled in.
This study showed that marine habitat service functions are negatively affected by derelict fishing gear. It showed that natural ocean processes succeed in restoring these service functions within a single growing season after derelict fishing gear removal for areas dominated by kelp. Eelgrass beds take longer to recover, but can improve by 30% in less than a year.
This research was funded by the Puget Sound Conservation Fund and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal and Recovery Programs.
Click here to view the final report.
Recreational Crabber Escape Cord Education Project. Completed in 2008. The Northwest Straits Foundation partnered with WSU Beach Watchers to educate recreational crabbers about the importance of using biodegradable escape cord on their crab pots. This ‘escape’ cord disintegrates over time in salt water and eventually disables a crab pot that is lost, minimizing the damage it causes to crab resources.
In th
e summer of 2008, WSU Beach Watcher volunteers visited boat launches, marinas and other venues to talk to crabbers about escape cord and to distribute education cards and lengths of escape cord. More than 5,000 crabbers were contacted and 6,202 education cards were distributed and an additional 1,042 bagged escape cord samples were given out.
This project also included an evaluation component designed to guide future outreach efforts. In addition, a website, www.escapecord.org was launched.
This project was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation/NOAA Marine Debris Program grant partnership, the Russell Family Foundation, SeaWorld Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, and the Ocean Foundation. Printing support was provided by the Boeing Company and the Stillaguamish Tribes.
Click here to view the evaluation report.
Derelict fishing gear priority ranking project. Completed in 2007. This project was a strategic assessment of what it would take to rid Puget Sound of harm from derelict fishing gear. The critical project tasks were: identify the highest priority areas for derelict gear removal based on objective criteria; estimate the total amount of derelict fishing gear accumulations throughout Puget Sound; and estimate the costs of removing 80-90 percent of derelict fishing gear from the highest priority areas by 2012.
The Initiative estimated there are 4,000 derelict nets and 14,000 derelict crab pots in Puget Sound. Removal of 90% of this gear would require approximately $5 million dollars, which included the cost of necessary surveys. The San Juan Islands and north Puget Sound were identified as the highest priority areas because of the importance of those areas for many marine species.
In those high priority areas, an estimated 2,855 derelict fishing nets remained to be removed. Of the known fishing grounds in these areas, 11% had been surveyed in the San Juan Islands and 18% had been surveyed in north Puget Sound. Further surveys will help refine the estimate of remaining derelict nets. At the project close, there were an estimated 1,038 derelict nets remaining in the lower priority areas of central and south Puget Sound and Hood Canal. Removal of the higher priority derelict nets would require an estimated 816 operation days (163 days per year over five years) and cost approximately $3.3 million. Removal of the lower priority derelict nets would require an estimated 297 additional operation days and cost approximately $1.2 million.
Support for this ranking project was provided by the Russell Family Foundation, the Puget Sound Action Team, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Program.
Click here to view the final report of this project.
Cost Benefit Analysis of Derelict Fishing Gear Removal in Puget Sound. Completed in 2007. The analysis looked at the cost of removing derelict fishing gear and compared it to the ex vessel value of harvestable species captured and killed in derelict fishing gear over a ten year period. The cost/benefit ratio of removing derelict nets was determined to be 1:1.27 and for removing derelict pots it was determined to be 1:1.28.
This analysis did not take into account the impact of derelict gear on non-commercially valuable species or ecosystem structure and function. The analysis also did not attempt to capture the benefit that removing derelict gear might have to the recovery of protected species, such as salmon. Even in the absence of these analyses, the benefit of removing derelict gear from Puget Sound outweighs its costs.
This project was funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation/NOAA Marine Debris Program grant partnership.
The final report is available here.
Regional Creosote Debris Inventory and Removal Project
Regional Creosote Debris Inventory and Removal Project. Completed in 2008. This project targeted the problem of creosote-contaminated beach debris throughout the Northwest Straits. Creosote, a known carcinogen, is used to treat wood that is used for many purposes, including pilings for docks and other structures in Puget Sound. When creosote-treated wood washes up on our shores, it leaches out creosote, polluting our beaches and shorelines and posing a health hazard to humans and wildlife.
The Foundation partnered with Washington Department of Natural Resources for this project, and WSU Beach Watchers volunteers played a role as well helping to survey and tag debris on the beach prior to removal.
Using helicopters, barges and ‘good old’ hand hauling, 720 tons of contaminated debris were removed from beaches and nearshore areas at Lake Hancock, Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge, Fort Flagler State Park, Fort Worden State Park, Fort Ebey State Park, Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, Monroe’s Landing Island County Park, and American Camp National Historic Park. One hundred forty-four volunteers donated 384 hours to this project. One hundred eighty miles of shoreline in the Northwest Straits were surveyed for contaminated debris as part of this project.
This project was inspired by the initial work of the Whatcom MRC and also by the removal efforts in Skagit County by MRC members there. NOAA featured the project on its Restoration Center website.
The project was funded by the NOAA Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Program and the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
Click here to watch a creosote removal operation.
Port Susan Bay Targeted Interviews
Port Susan Bay Targeted Interviews. Completed in 2008. This project was the first foray to involve the community in and around Port Susan Bay in developing a Marine Stewardship Area (MSA). To identify Port Susan Bay’s unique issues and assets, the Northwest Straits Foundation conducted a series of targeted stakeholder interviews. These interviews provided information about the natural and cultural setting that makes Port Susan Bay unique, about what has changed over the years, and what needs further protection. Interview data is being used by the Island and Snohomish MRCs, counties, tribes, and other project partners to inform a vision and goals statement for a Port Susan Bay MSA.
With its high biodiversity, diverse user groups, and multiple jurisdictional boundaries, Port Susan Bay is a good candidate for a comprehensive ecosystem based management approach. Snohomish and Island MRCs, the Northwest Straits Commission, the Stillaguamish and Tulalip Tribes, Beach Watchers, Shore Stewards, the Nature Conservancy, and a host of other partners (called the Port Susan Bay Working Group) have met several times to lay the initial groundwork for a potential Marine Stewardship Area in Port Susan Bay.
Marine Stewardship Areas (MSAs) have proven to be successful tools to focus attention and prioritize management decisions for both the San Juan MRC and Island MRC. While no one MSA is alike, what’s true for most is that they are community-based planning processes that typically target areas of high biodiversity. MSAs can be used to harmonize multiple-use/multiple-value conflicts. Diverse input from stakeholders, concerned citizens, and technical experts is critical to ensure that a potential MSA addresses the right issues and the community’s concerns.
Funding for the targeted interviews came from the Harder Foundation.
The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative, authorized by Congress, is nationally recognized as an innovative approach to bring sound science and an ecosystem perspective together with citizen energy and entrepreneurship.