Featured Project

Northwest Straits Initiative Receives $4.6 Million Dollars to Remove Derelict Fishing Nets

The Northwest Straits Initiative through its Foundation has been awarded $4.6 million in economic stimulus funding from NOAA to remove derelict fishing nets from Puget Sound. The project will remove 3,000 nets in eighteen months, with a goal of effectively eliminating the impacts of legacy derelict fishing nets on marine species throughout Puget Sound. The project will employ about 40 people and restore 645 acres of marine habitat. 

Natural Resources Consultants, the Initiative’s long-time partner in the derelict fishing gear removal program, is overseeing the field operations for the project. At least four vessels will be operating with dive teams to remove nets. Tom Cowan, former director of the Northwest Straits Commission and one of the people responsible for getting the derelict gear program off the ground, has been hired by the Foundation to manage the project.

In addition to removing derelict fishing nets, the project includes updating and refining the statewide derelict gear database and reporting system. This will set the stage for a derelict fishing net maintenance program designed to respond immediately to any recently-lost nets after the legacy nets are removed.

“Derelict fishing nets are actively killing enormous numbers of fish, seabirds and other marine animals. We now have the funding needed to get 90% of the derelict nets out of Puget Sound forever. These waters will be safer for boaters, divers, and marine life.” said Ginny Broadhurst, secretary of the Northwest Straits Foundation. 

Since 2002, the Northwest Straits Initiative has removed over 1,200 derelict fishing nets, restoring more than 240 acres of marine habitat, and saving millions of animals from incidental death each year. 

News Items

Northwest Straits Initiative Reauthorization Bill

Senator Murray announced that the bill to reauthorize the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative (the original Congressional authorization has expired) passed through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation July 8.

“The Northwest Straits are one of our state’s most treasured economic and environmental resources,” said Senator Murray. “And this bill will help to ensure that the Northwest Straits Commission can continue their work to protect them.  The Commission has gained national recognition for its conservation efforts and ability to bring stakeholders together. The legislation will further their research, stewardship, and restoration efforts." The bill is co-sponsored by Senator Cantwell. A companion bill was introduced by Representative Larsen in the House. 

Ocean Policy Task Force

President Obama took action last month toward protecting marine resources, by creating an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force with a timeframe of just 90 days to pull together a complex and important body of work. Led by Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Task Force has been directed to prepare recommendations and a framework for policy that "ensures the protection, maintenance, and restoration of the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources, enhances the sustainability of ocean and coastal economies, preserves our maritime heritage, provides for adaptive management to enhance our understanding of and capacity to respond to climate change, and is coordinated with our national security and foreign policy interests."

It is heartening that the terrific local and regional efforts by MRCs and the Northwest Straits Commission align with those at the national level. We will shine the light on all this good work, and on the need for consideration of the essential roles and rights of treaty tribes, as co-managers of coastal ocean resources, during the development of a national ocean policy.

Marine Resources Committee Happenings

Benchmark Account Projects

The Commission awarded funds to San Juan, Jefferson, and Whatcom MRCs for the Benchmark Account. This is a new account, established in 2009, to fund MRC projects through a competitive proposal process. The San Juan MRC project will map feeder bluffs to improve understanding of their historic and present conditions and work with partners to protect feeder bluffs from development impacts. The Whatcom County MRC will remove accumulations of treated wood products along the Cherry Point reach to aid in increasing healthy nearshore habitat in an important and sensitive forage fish spawning area. The Jefferson MRC project will establish key elements of a Harbor Management Plan for Mystery Bay that will satisfy WA Dept of Health and allow shellfish harvest and recreational boat use to co-exist. An additional award is being considered to Snohomish MRC but is pending final approval. 

New Intern for Island County

The Island MRC is delighted to have Kirsten Kreamer, better known as Kiri, as the Island County intern working on our Pigeon Guillemot project. Kiri is a graduate student in Environmental Studies at The Evergreen State College. She states her “life ambition is to educate and enrich people’s lives with the beauty and science that make up our natural surroundings.” This summer she is monitoring the breeding birds in 5 colonies on Whidbey Island. Her primary objectives are to map the nesting burrows, to identify the prey delivered to the chicks in the burrows and to determine the length of time between deliveries. She brings special experience to this project. She worked two summers on commercial fishing boats in Alaska identifying the species caught. She is already making excellent observations that enhance the Pigeon Guillemot research.

Member Spotlight: Ron Akeson, Whatcom MRC

A common theme among MRC members is that these are people who love to be out on the water. Ron Akeson of the Whatcom MRC is one of those people, but he takes it one step farther – he’s been diving for 33 years, and has spent a lot of time underwater. He also helps introduce others to the sport of diving through his business – Adventures Down Under – in Bellingham.

Raised in southern California, Ron spent summers and a single winter in Alaska before settling in Washington as a happy medium. He has a passion for education and community involvement, and lives by the philosophy that if everyone puts time back into what they love, the world will be a better place. After growing up around the ocean, Ron puts this philosophy into practice by investing a lot of volunteer time in marine protection and restoration work. 

Ron’s seat on the MRC is to represent recreational interests. With a degree in marine biology and a minor in geology he had a head start in understanding marine issues. Being on the water a lot also gives him insight on what’s really happening in our marine waters. He particularly enjoys diving on shipwrecks, which give a glimpse into local history and marine life all at once.

Whatcom MRC has made an effort to learn more about the status of rockfish populations in the area, and a public speaker event on rockfish back in 2002 was what initially drew Ron in to join the MRC. After the talk, he began to learn what the MRC was all about. He’s now in his 7th year, having served as co-chair of the MRC for several years and now serving as an alternate representative to the Northwest Straits Commission. Ron is also the current president of the Washington Scuba Alliance, and is interested in finding ways for projects to cross over to help support the work of the MRC.

Clallam and Jefferson MRCs Welcome New Members

Clallam MRC welcomes Bob Vreeland to represent conservation and environmental interests, Donald Hatler to represent sport fishers and Jeff Ward to represent the City of Sequim. Jefferson MRC welcomes new member Darcy McNamara who is stepping in as vice chair and fills the Beach Watcher position. Congratulations!

MRC Reports to the Commission

Click here to see MRC reports for June.

Northwest Straits Commission Highlights

Ecosystem Projects Update

The Northwest Straits Commission has approved funding for new projects in the areas of marine habitat and forage fish protection, focusing on invasive Spartina and Pacific sand lance. Spartina has now taken hold in every North Sound county, yet its complete eradication is still possible with new volunteer training for MRCs and a highly-effective ongoing restoration program by People For Puget Sound. On the forage fish front, the role of sand lance – a mainstay in the diet of many iconic species in this region - is poorly understood. To help determine what data is most needed, the Commission will convene a group of scientific experts this September.

Commission Meeting Minutes

Click here to see a draft of the June Commission meeting minutes.

Northwest Straits Foundation News

SeaWorld Busch Gardens Grant Award

Sea World Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has granted the Foundation $15,000 to remove derelict fishing gear from Puget Sound. These funds will be used to match the $4.6 million dollars awarded by NOAA to remove nets from Puget Sound.

On the Horizon

Sand Lance workshop

This September, the Northwest Straits Commission will host a scientific workshop on Pacific sand lance, to review what is known - and not known – about the life history of this species in the Northwest Straits. Contact Caroline Gibson if you or someone you know holds expertise to contribute at this workshop.

2009 MRC Conference

The 11th annual conference for MRCs, 'The Northwest Straits Initiative: Building Resilience in the Salish Sea', will be held November 6-7 at the Lakeway Inn in Bellingham. The conference will begin on Friday morning with a field trip to be determined. Session topics will include climate change, rockfish science and conservation, and native oyster restoration. Invited plenary speaker Dr. Richard Feely, a NOAA oceanographer and professor at the University of Washington, will present his work on the effects of ocean acidification in this region. In 2007, Dr. Feely was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, with Al Gore and other members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Special guest Ross Anderson, a former Seattle Times journalist, will hold a workshop on how to write a good Opinion Editorial. Any MRC member who would like to provide input during conference planning is encouraged to contact Caroline Gibson. A special kickoff to this year's event is an evening film, open to the public, on Thursday, November 5. The documentary 'A Sea Change' will be shown at the Pickford Cinema in Bellingham.

Reports Recently Added to our Online Bibliography

Whatcom County Marine Resources Committee 10 Year Report to the Community
Assessment of Clallam County Shoreline Features
Clallam County Marine Resources MESA Pilot Field Project Final Report
Northwest Straits Foundation: Escape Cord Outreach Evaluation

Click here to search for more reports in our online bibliography.