Snohomish Marine Resources Committee
Snohomish County is the most populous and urban of the seven Northwest Straits counties. With a population of nearly 670,000 people, more people live in Snohomish County than the other six MRC counties combined. Snohomish County’s 130 shoreline miles are largely developed, with the Port of Everett a major industrial presence, naval base and marine transportation hub. County waters support valuable Dungeness crab stocks and productive estuarine habitat, especially in Port Susan Bay near Stanwood. The Tulalip and Stillaguamish tribes have usual and accustomed fishing grounds within county waters.
Since its inception in 1999, Snohomish County has supported the Snohomish MRC with staff from their Surface Water Management Department. The MRC’s 11 members represent a balance from local government, tribal government and resource management staff, economic and real estate interests, recreational divers, scientists and conservation and environmental interests. Their mission, guided by sound science and the needs of the marine ecosystem, is to “address local marine issues, recommend remedial actions to local authorities and build local awareness of the issues and support for remedies.”
In 2008, Snohomish MRC focused attention on a shoreline restoration project at Kayak Point County Park. Working with County Parks, People for Puget Sound, and the Northwest Straits Commission, the MRC contracted to develop restoration strategies in light of potential future sea level rise scenarios. It is the intention of the MRC for this study and subsequent restoration to serve as a model project as other groups grapple with the interplay of climate change and nearshore restoration.
2008 also marked another successful year for the MRC’s Mussel Watch water quality monitoring program. Partnering with NOAA and WSU Beach Watcher volunteers, the MRC collected tissue samples from mussels in six locations. Samples were analyzed for more than 100 compounds in order to establish a water quality “finger print” in strategic locations.
In another citizen science project, MRC volunteers worked together with People for Puget Sound to monitor beach profiles at two sites on Jetty Island, near Everett. Monitoring is investigating the effects of beach nourishment on Jetty Island, a popular destination for people and wildlife alike. This information is being used to assess the viability of beach nourishment as a restoration option along county shorelines.
Click here to see the Snohomish County MRC's project matrix for 2008.
Click here to see some reports from Snohomish MRC projects
MRC Members
- Chrys Bertolotto
- Jared Bond
- Mary Cunningham
- Brent Hackney
- Tom Hoban
- Dawn Lawrence, Vice Chair
- Lincoln Loehr
- Jerry Masters, Chair
- Mike McHugh
- Keeley O'Connell
Contact
Kathleen Herrmann, Marine Resource Steward
3000 Rockefeller Ave., MS/607
Administration Building-West, 3rd Floor
Everett, WA 98201-4046
Kathleen.Herrmann@co.snohomish.wa.us
(425) 388-6414
Snohomish MRC Meetings
Third Wednesday of each month, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
3000 Rockefeller Avenue
Administration Bldg- East, Public Hearing Room 2
Everett, WA 98201
Click the link below to go directly to the Snohomish MRC web site:
http://www.mrc.surfacewater.info/
