Completed projects
Below is a selection of completed projects of the Northwest Straits Foundation, including:
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.
• 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.
Click image for full-size view of map.
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.
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• 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 the 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.
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• 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. 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.
Click here to view a report of the targeted interviews.
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