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Fall Conference a Success!

The 11th Annual MRC conference generated great enthusiasm and an excellent turnout. Approximately 120 registered participants and more than two dozen speakers attended; highlights included the keynote address by Martha Kongsgaard, a diverse suite of knowledgeable speakers both new and familiar, and a fun evening of wine-tasting and live jazz. Despite the gale-force winds and rain, a field trip to the Bellingham waterfront was booked beyond capacity, and has inspired people to tackle new restoration projects.

This year's gathering launched at the Pickford Cinema with an evening screening of 'A Sea Change', following which University of British Columbia Ph.D. candidate Becca Gooding answered questions from the standing room only audience. Over the course of the next two days, the light shone on several pressing and emerging marine resource issues, and the important role of the MRCs and the Northwest Straits Commission. Presentations by invited experts included those on ocean acidification, sea level rise in the Skagit River Delta, rockfish conservation, native oysters, a web-based project celebrating Coast Salish people, and how to communicate with policymakers and the media.

MRC members brainstormed about regional projects, and we learned a lot in our two days together. In the words of attendees, "our shorelines have shrunk dramatically because of coastal development", "you can put seal poo through the washer in a bag to find out what was eaten,” and "the increasing acidification of our oceans is a frightening and very real threat."

For more information on the conference, including Power Point presentations, click here. See our online photo gallery here.

Your feedback is important. If you attended the conference and have not done so already, please click here to complete a short evaluation.

In the news

Salish Sea Gets Public Recognition

In late October, the name Salish Sea was endorsed by the Washington State Board on Geographic Names to collectively describe the body of water that includes Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Georgia Strait. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names followed suit, approving the name in November.

In August, the B.C. Geographical Names Office approved a resolution recommending the Geographical Names Board of Canada adopt the name contingent upon the US Board adoption, though the board has not yet taken action on that recommendation. 

For more information, see http://tinyurl.com/DNR-SalishSea for the press release issued by the Department of Natural Resources, and http://tinyurl.com/GNIS-SalishSea for feature details on the USGS web site.

Reauthorization Hearing Update

On October 20, the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife held a hearing on Representative Rick Larsen’s bill HR 1672 to reauthorize the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative.  Ginny Broadhurst, Director of the Northwest Straits Commission, testified at the hearing.  On November 18, the bill cleared the House Committee on Natural Resources by unanimous consent with only minor changes.

Coastal and Estuarine Research Foundation 20th Biennial Conference

Our Marine Program Manager, Caroline Gibson, traveled to Portland, OR to present information on the forage fish habitat suitability model developed for MRCs in collaboration with Suzanne Shull, a Department of Ecology GIS analyst. With national attention increasingly focused on research and restoration efforts in the Puget Sound region, many colleagues from Padilla Bay and elsewhere in Washington attended. The event drew more than 1,300 oral and poster presentations by researchers across the U.S., as well as Canada, Japan, Australia, China, Papua New Guinea, the U.K. and more. Conference proceedings will be made available online at http://www.sgmeet.com/cerf2009/.

Extension on NOAA Proposed Orca Vessel Rule and WDFW Rockfish Comments

NOAA has extended the comment period for proposed vessel regulations to January 15, 2010. According to Lynne Barre, NOAA marine mammal specialist, agency staff met with interested groups and are providing the same information as was provided at the public meetings. Information is available at: http://tinyurl.com/NOAA-OrcaRule

Extension on Draft Rockfish Conservation Plan

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has extended the comment period on the draft Rockfish Conservation Plan and scheduled additional public meetings. The new deadline for comment is January 4, 2010. The Northwest Straits Commission will discuss possible comments at our December 4 meeting at Padilla Bay. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is also looking for people with interest and knowledge of rockfish to be on an advisory group to help provide guidance on the new rockfish conservation plan. This is a great opportunity for MRC members to participate. Click here for more information.

Derelict Gear Field Trip

On a rare beautiful Thursday afternoon in November, we took some interested people out to see the derelict net removals occurring just a mile from the Kingston Ferry terminal. Our guests included Representative Christine Rolfes, Kitsap County Commissioner Steve Bauer, Lisa Veneroso from WA Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mendy Droke from Congressman Inslee’s office and reporters from the Kitsap Sun. The divers were able to show us the area they were working in 60 feet underwater. It was a sandy bottom with a few boulders that had snagged a gill net, and the gill net had unfortunately just recently snagged a baby harbor seal. Click here for an article and video from the field trip by Kitsap Sun.

NWSC Happenings

Fostering Sustainable Behavior

By Sasha Horst

In early October, I had the opportunity to attend a two-day training on Fostering Sustainable Behavior, an introduction to community-based social marketing and how it is being applied throughout the world to foster sustainable behavior. The workshop, taught by Doug McKenzie-Mohr, explained the steps of community-based social marketing and provided many case studies as examples.

Along with a lot of other information, a few key points that I took away were that information intensive approaches are not effective for facilitating behavior change, and that community-based social marketing can be very effective when done well.

If your MRC is interested in designing programs to facilitate behavior change, there are some great (free!) online tools available to you. Two sites that are useful resources:
www.cbsm.com – includes case studies, articles, strategies, discussion forums
www.toolsofchange.com – contains tools, a planning guide, more case studies and best practice

Mark Your Calendars

Our last meeting of the year will December 4 at the Padilla Bay Reserve. The Commission’s annual retreat for commissioners and alternates is scheduled for February 25-26, 2010. Click here for the full calendar of 2010 meetings.

Marine Resources Committee Happenings

MRCs and the Aquatic Reserve Proposal

The proposal to designate state-owned aquatic lands around Protection Island as an Aquatic Reserve remains under consideration by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The agency, in collaboration with People For Puget Sound, is continuing outreach to communities in Jefferson and Clallam counties during the management plan development phase. Both Clallam and Jefferson MRCs have engaged in discussions about the proposal during the past two years, with different outcomes. Jefferson MRC provided a letter of support; Clallam MRC has not endorsed the effort but committed to serving on the advisory committee. A final decision is slated for summer 2010. For more information on Protection Island or other aquatic reserve proposals, please contact Kyle Murphy at kyle.murphy@dnr.wa.gov.

Welcome New Marine Resources Committee Members

Congratulations and welcome to new MRC members Lynn Danaher and Todd Zackey. Lynn will represent commercial fishing interests on the San Juan MRC. Todd has been appointed as an interim tribal representative which is a newly-added position on the Island MRC.

Northwest Straits Foundation News

Second Chance to Order Derelict Gear Apparel

Who says you never get a second chance in life? Here’s your second chance to order the cool Derelict Gear Project graphic T-shirts and sweatshirts in time for holiday giving! Just click the link below and fill out the order form. Email it to foundation@nwstraits.org and send a check to the Foundation, or mail a hard copy order form with your check. Shirts will be shipped to you before the holidays. But be quick: we need the orders by November 30.

Be sure to check out the ‘styles and sizes’ pages online. Some folks have been surprised at the sizing on some of the shirts.

FACEBOOK Fan Page Alert

The Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Project invites you to become a FAN on FACEBOOK. Click here for up-to-the minute news about the project and posts from the field. We have more than 80 fans now and we want 500! Help us reach our goal and share your thoughts and observations about the project.

Here’s a post left Tuesday, November 17, by NRC biologist Pete Anderson:
“We brought this net up from 85' of water off of San Juan Island. It is nice to know it will no longer pose a hazard to cormorants fishing those waters.”

Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Project Update

Four removal vessels have been working full time as weather permits this month. We have already accomplished more than 30 removal days as of November 15. The rest of the month will see reduced effort due to weather as well as boat maintenance.

For the entire American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) project, through November 15th, a total of 201.5 removal days and 30 net survey days have been accomplished, putting us right on schedule. We have removed 574 nets measuring 63.7 acres. More than 39,000 animals have been found in the nets, including birds and one harbor seal.

On another front, we have hired Willamette Consulting to help us update and refine the derelict fishing gear reporting system and database. The new ‘Information Technology’ team is going full blast, coordinating with Initiative staff, Natural Resources Consultants, and WDFW to determine how best to approach the update.

Bulletin Board

Call for Proposals

Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) has announced its official call for sessions, papers, and posters for the 2010 conference November 13-17 in Galveston, Texas. This is RAE’s 5th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration. The theme is Preparing for Climate Change: Science, Practice, and Policy. Deadline for sessions, presentations, and posters is March 2, 2010. For more information and to submit a proposal, visit: http://program.estuaries.org.

Congratulations to Joe Gaydos

SeaDoc Society Chief Scientist and Northwest Straits Commissioner Joe Gaydos was appointed to the Puget Sound Partnership’s Science Panel this week, and participated in their November 17-18 meeting in Seattle. He’s a great addition to that group. Information on the Science Panel is on the Partnership’s website http://www.psp.wa.gov/SP_about.php

Northwest Straits Facebook Fan Page

The Northwest Straits Initiative is on Facebook! Join the growing group of fans and share photos, start a discussion with members from other MRCs and see what’s happening around the region! Click here to become a fan!

Events and Workshops

December 1, 2009 - Volunteers are needed for Cypress Island One Day Clean Up. Contact Alison Hitchcock at 360-854-2851 or click here for more information.

December 4, 2009 - A Sea Change will screen in Port Angeles at the Peninsula College Little Theater at 7:00pm. The film is co-sponsored by the Clallam MRC. Admission is free. Click here for more information.

2010 - HAZWOPER training outreach program eight hour refresher course by the Northwest Spill Response Community. Click here for dates, locations and more information.