Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee - Northwest Straits Initiative

Whatcom Marine Resources Committee

Blood star photo by Jim Ramaglia The northernmost county in the Northwest Straits, Whatcom County has 118 miles of shoreline that includes shellfish beaches in Birch Bay, Drayton Harbor, and Chuckanut Bay; Bellingham’s bustling urban waterfront; important herring spawning beaches at Cherry Point; and Lummi Island, just west of Bellingham. One hundred and eighty five thousand people live in Whatcom County, including members of the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe. Timber, fishing and agriculture remain important to the county’s economy. Service sector jobs associated with tourism are on the rise, while manufacturing jobs have fallen. Lummi Island maintains an important salmon reef net fishery and Bellingham is a hub for maritime industrial activity and transportation.

Whatcom MRC's 17 members consist of scientists, commercial fishermen, recreational divers and clammers, the conservation community, resource managers, elected officials and local government staff, the Nooksack Tribe and Lummi Nation. The Whatcom MRC has a strong interest in healthy, harvestable shellfish. MRC members and citizen volunteers have worked tirelessly to ensure that recreational clamming opportunities remain vibrant. The MRC has also taken an analytical approach to prioritizing nearshore restoration activities to achieve maximum benefit. Protecting the health of rockfish in county waters has been another focus of the MRC. Throughout their projects, the MRC makes education and outreach and community involvement a priority.

The WhatcomMRC continues to build on a solid foundation of established projects. June-through August, 46 volunteers assisted the MRC’s Clam Subcommittee and Whatcom County staff in assessing clam populations in Birch Bay and Mud Bay. Identifying, protecting, and restoring clam populations and connecting citizens to this resource will continue to be a priority for Whatcom MRC in 2009.

Whatcom MRC completed the preliminary design and permitting phases of two restoration projects: Chuckanut Village marsh restoration and Cliffside Beach wood debris removal. Partners in these projects include the City of Bellingham, Whatcom County Public Works, and Washington Department of Ecology

Protecting rockfish and identifying rockfish habitat remained a priority in 2008, with the MRC teaming up with Western Washington University to carry out six remotely operated vehicle surveys in Whatcom County waters. Students learned survey protocols and participated in data collection, and the MRC plans to add new sites in 2009.

Click here to see a matrix of Whatcom MRC's 2008 projects.

Click here to see some of the reports from Whatcom County MRC.

MRC Members

Conservation/Environmental: Andrea Olah, Wendy Steffensen, Ken Carrasco
Recreational Interest: Gerald Larson, Keats Garman, Ron Akeson
Economic Interest: Susan Burke, Jeremy Brown, Jeff Chalfant (chair)
Scientific Experience: Chris Fairbanks, Mark Herrenkohl, Stephanie Williams
Citizen at Large: Bob Cecile, Laurie Caskey-Schreiber, Burt Rubash
Local Government: Paul Greenough, Seth Fleetwood
Tribal Representatives: Harlan James, Bob Kelly, Jr.
Ex-Officio: Clare Fogelsong, Mike Hogan, Erika Stroebel,Scarlet Tang