San
Juan County Marine Resources Committee 2004
Annual Report to the
Northwest Straits Commission
Marine Stewardship Area -- Benchmark 2
Designation
- The
San Juan Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) adopted the MRC's
proposal to designate the county a Marine Stewardship Area (MSA) early
in 2004.
Community Outreach
- The
MRC produced several outreach items for educating residents and
visitors about existing marine protected areas within the MSA and the
rules and guidelines that accompany these areas. Publications included
several maps, a detailed map book of the entire county, a brochure, the
back page of WDFW fishing rules guidebook, three advertisements in all
of San Juan County 's major newspapers, and several new pages on the
MRC's website. In addition, the committee designed and produced about
1000 laminated maps of existing protected areas in the county, placed
them on charter yachts in Anacortes and Friday Harbor and distributed
them to boaters across the county.
- The
committee completed multiple outreach events to educate the local
community about the MSA. These include presentations to the San Juan
Lions Club, the Orcas Lions Club, the San Juan Chamber of Commerce, the
Power Squadron, the Whalewatch Operators Association, to the Whale
Museum 's naturalist trainees, the Whale Museum 's Environmental Forum,
and at the San Juan County Fair.
- MRC
members visited several pilot communities throughout the county to
initiate the development of local stewardship groups to promote the
values of the MSA. These communities included Stuart, Johns, Waldron,
and Deer Harbor .
- Formal
community meetings were held on Waldron and Orcas Islands , presenting
the MSA and a draft proposal of a countywide zone scheme. In addition
to informing community members about the MSA project, the committee
collected community feedback and anecdotal data on the marine
resources, including critical habitats and historically significant
areas in the marine waters and on the county's shorelines.
Zone Scheme
- The
Marine Stewardship Area project calls for the designation of specific
areas of protection within the larger stewardship area. The MRC is
working to define these areas by developing a comprehensive zone scheme
for county waters using spatial analysis. The committee developed
several model zone schemes during 2004. Each model involved a careful
analysis of existing marine resources data, including agency figures
for critical habitat and recent surveys of eelgrass habitat and forage
fish spawning beaches. These draft zone scenarios allow for multiple
uses of San Juan 's marine resources while preserving the most critical
habitat areas.
- The MRC
presented a draft zone scheme at multiple outreach meetings on several
different islands. To date, citizen response to the idea of zoning
county waters in order to protect sensitive areas has been positive and
supportive.
- The MSA outreach
effort included the collection of local knowledge/anecdotal data to be
factored into the spatial analysis of natural resources data for the
county. In 2004, the MRC collected about 50 surveys and a dozen data
sheets from local residents.
Transboundary Marine Stewardship
- The MRC continued discussions with Islands Trust about an international effort to protect local marine resources.
- Several MRC members attended a meeting in the Gulf Islands .
Nearshore Habitat Protection -- Benchmarks 2, 3 & 8
Forage Fish Spawning Beaches
- In
partnership with Friends of the San Juans (Friends) in a grant-funded
effort, the forage fish spawning beach sampling and documentation
project was completed. Based on new knowledge about forage fish
spawning beaches, conservation and/or restoration priorities were
identified for county shorelines.
- Through
a NWSC grant, the MRC helped finance the Friends pilot project to
restore critical forage fish spawning beaches by planting seedlings and
small trees to provide shade. Final Report was submitted on April 15,
2004
- The forage fish project
results were formally transmitted to the county and formal trainings
were held for county staff by Friends.
- The MRC participated in a Friends workshop for county staff.
- Friends
and the MRC provided GIS data on forage fish habitat to local, tribal,
state and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations.
- Results from the forage fish spawning beach survey were incorporated into the Marine Stewardship project and spatial analysis.
Herring Spawning Habitat
- Continued
to participate in Herring Spawning Surveys by Friends of the San Juans.
Collected the data into a workable database to facilitate sharing of
the data and spatial analysis. Created maps to display data to the
public and integrated results into the Marine Stewardship Project.
Eelgrass Mapping
- In
partnership with Friends of the San Juans in a grant-funded effort,
completed GIS mapping of eelgrass habitat and incorporated the results
from the eelgrass survey into the Marine Stewardship Area Project.
- Addressed critical eelgrass habitat loss identified in the countywide eelgrass survey.
- Discussed strategies for Westcott Bay – Garrison Bay area as a committee and at a marine managers work session.
-
Supported research to determine the processes causing eelgrass loss
with the goal of designing a way to reverse those processes.
Sharing Data
•
The MRC shared its data with the San Juan Preservation Trust and the
Land Bank as those organizations updated their respective conservation
priorities in 2004 and newly included specific nearshore habitat
values.
• The committee
participated in a two day Marine Managers Work Session organized by the
Northwest Straits Commission. At this meeting, the MRC networked with
agency and organization managers, discussed opportunities for sharing
data and strategies for working together to protect and restore
nearshore habitat.
Derelict Vessels
- Upon
learning of a state program to reimburse local entities for cleaning up
derelict vessels, the MRC developed a program to remove potentially
harmful vessels from local shorelines and waterways. Committee staff
organized a meeting with the Department of Natural Resources, the Port
of Friday Harbor, the County and the MRC to discuss derelict removal in
the county.
- The committee
drafted a proposal and an interlocal agreement for cost-sharing the
local match required to receive state funds. This agreement was
approved by the Port of Friday Harbor, the Town of Friday Harbor, and
approved to form by the San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney. The
proposal will be heard by the San Juan Board of County Commissioners
early in 2005.
Georgia Strait Pipeline
- Based
on concerns regarding the development of an underwater pipeline through
San Juan County waters, the committee submitted detailed written
comments on a shoreline permit application. In addition, committee
members and staff met with the Community Development and Planning
Department to discuss potential harmful impacts the project may have
had on the marine environment and potential conflicts with the County's
shoreline policies.
Bottom Fish Recovery Program -- Benchmark 3
- In
follow-up to the Rockfish and Lingcod Symposium, MRC contracted People
for Puget Sound to produce a report on the symposium proceedings, which
included an extensive list of recommendations for future research and
actions on behalf of bottomfish recovery in the Northwest Straits.
Based on this report and its findings, the MRC developed and presented
formal management recommendations for bottomfish recovery to tribal and
state fish managers. In addition, the MRC followed up with managers
from WDFW to ensure that they consider MRC's recommendations in their
review of current management policies for bottomfish.
- New
knowledge about bottomfish that resulted from the Rockfish and Lingcod
Symposium were incorporated into the Marine Stewardship Area project.
Rocky reef habitat, critical for bottomfish, is one of many habitat
factors the MRC is weighing into the spatial analysis of marine
resources and the development of a zone scheme.
- Dr.
Tina Wyllie-Echeverria presented the results from the Rockfish &
Lingcod Symposium at a Research Science Conference in Port Townsend.
Student Participation -- Benchmarks 7 & 8
- The
MRC continued to invite student participation from the Friday Harbor
Labs in projects that support committee efforts. Students were
encouraged to share research findings with the committee when they
relate to marine resources. In addition, committee staff assisted
summer program students in compiling data and information related to
their research topics.
Balloons
- An
MRC subcommittee investigated the impacts of balloon releases on the
local marine environment and considered possible actions the committee
could take to mitigate these impacts. These actions include: speaking
to event coordinators and venues in the county who use helium balloons;
speaking with local retailers of balloons, such as market and drug
stores; creating and distributing a piece of educational material about
the negative impacts of balloons and responsible balloon use. In
addition, the subcommittee presented an educational video on the
harmful impacts of balloons to the San Juan Board of County
Commissioners .
Water Quality
Aquaculture
- During
the summer, the committee learned of a proposed project to rear red sea
urchins in waters that would impact San Juan County . At the request of
concerned citizens, the MRC investigated this project and developed a
protocol for reviewing all aquaculture and other marine enhancement
projects. The committee hopes that the County will consider this
protocol when reviewing permit applications for these types of
projects. The protocol entails a questionnaire for project developers
that the MRC will use to evaluate projects and develop informed
recommendations to County regarding the merits of the project.
- The MRC co-sponsored a Friends of the San Juan 's forum on fish farming on San Juan and Orcas Islands .
Monitoring
- The
MRC identified current water quality testing efforts taking place in
San Juan County . Detailed presentations were made to the committee by
Jan Newton, Director of the JEMS water quality monitoring project and
Mark Tompkins of the County Environmental Health Department. The
committee agreed that it would track and support existing efforts to
monitor water quality in the County.
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