Minutes
May 18, 2005
Members Present: Laura Arnold, Brian Calvert, Michael Durland, David Hoopes, Terrie Klinger,
(Alan) Skeet Lowe, David Loyd, Victoria Parker, Kit Rawson, Joy Sevier, Jim Slocomb, Dennis Willows
Absent: Mike Bertrand, Mary Masters, Tina Whitman
Guests: Joel Breemsa, Dave Castor, Kirsten Evans, Phil Green, Chris Guidotti, Rachelle Gould,
Dr. Don Gunderson and students of FH Labs rockfish/MSA class, MRC Coordinator Jody Kennedy,
Joycee Kennedy, Kari Koski, Rich Osborne, Rowann Tallmon
Chair Kit Rawson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Room at Islanders Bank
Annex, Friday Harbor.
Citizens’ Comments:
Kari said that Soundwatch went out this weekend and saw lots of people fishing for ling cod...not all legally. Kit added there was a recent article in the Everett Herald about increased interest in ling cod fishing. Rich said he chased a fisherman out of Lime Kiln Bottomfish Reserve; Phil said he saw four fishing boats at Yellow Island Boffomfish Reserve.
Rich announced that, as part of this weekend’s Orca Fest, the Whale Museum is sponsoring an all-day symposium at the Grange Hall on marine mammal conservation issues; most of the focus will be on whales and the afternoon session will be on acoustic impacts. There will also be an in-depth presentation from Wolf Hollow on their harbor seal rehabilitation. Rich invited MRC members to attend and asked members from Orcas to participate in the Environmental Fair near the ferry landing, as part of the Orca Fest on Sunday. Denise Wilk of Eclipse Charters will be setting up the Orcas booth.
Jody introduced her mother, Joycee Kennedy, who is visiting from Colorado.
Minutes:
Minutes of the 5/4/05 meeting were approved as read.
Sucia State Park Mooring Buoys:
Dave Castor said that he and Chris Guidotti work for State Parks and are here today to talk about mooring buoys at Sucia Island State Park. He said that State Parks is at a critical juncture now in the process of changing out buoys used for anchoring boats off shore. The current system uses two concrete anchor blocks, one 2000 pound with 6 feet of anchor chain and the other 500 pounds; he said that this system creates a significant impact on the bedland. Dave said that State Parks is now replacing them with more environmentally-friendly types of buoys, i.e. 6-inch diameter auger screws that create a 6 inch diameter impact as opposed to the 20 foot diameter scouring left by the current buoy system. Dave said that many of the sites on Sucia are adjacent to eelgrass beds and State Parks is seeking input from the MRC and the public on where to situate the buoys. He said that Sucia was chosen because there are six different bays with moorage facilities (48 buoys) and more than 200 boats typically moor there in the summer (he reported that the highest number of boats he’s seen there was 700). He also pointed out that boats mooring in the area are getting larger, commonly 45 feet and more. Dave distributed copies of maps of Sucia, locating surveyed eelgrass beds. He said that eelgrass typically occurs in these waters in 18 feet or less, which is where many of the buoys are now located. State Parks’ proposal is either to move the buoys outside of the eelgrass beds or to replace those within the beds with augurs not anchored cement blocks in order to protect the eelgrass. The win-win proposal, Dave said, will not only address the negative impact of anchored mooring, while increasing the number of buoys by 40 to 60 (also increasing state revenueDave said that the WADFW refers to the radius of impact of sweeping anchor chains on existing buoys as the “circle of death.” ). The plan also includes establishing no anchor zones to eliminate boats dredging up the bottom.
Dave said that the linear mooring system, which is accepted in the Seattle area, is not popular here. One augured system will be tested in Shallow Bay within the eelgrass bed and the eelgrass recovery there will be monitored using underwater transects. All buoys not inside eelgrass beds will be changed out this summer.
Laura said that she is interested in learning more about the experimental aspects of the proposal as part of the project review; she noted that some of the proposal elements are exempt from shoreline requirements and some are not. Jim pointed out that there is a proposed policy in the MSA about not anchoring in eelgrass.
Dave asked that the MRC submit its comments on the validity of the proposal concept to Ted Smith, Stewardship Manager, State Parks NW Regional Office (ted.smith@parks.wa.gov). He said that a letter of support from the MRC would be appreciated, encouraging Parks to protect eelgrass zones using a variety of management methods to accomplish that. Jody will prepare a draft support letter for next meeting. Laura suggested that the draft include a requirement for a detailed monitoring component.
Natural History Library/Archive Proposal:
Rich said that the Whale Museum is considering renting the back of the Island Title building to be used as a natural history library and archived storage space; the library will be open to the public and meeting/office space could be made available to the MRC and other potential partners. After some discussion, the issue was tabled for Executive subcommittee discussion.
Science Subcommittee report:
Terrie said that the subcommittee voted on the list of possible NWSC regional projects (dedicated funding of $80,000); subcommittee members were asked to prioritize their top three choices and each project was given weighted and unweighted scores. The list includes: derelict gear retrieval; new rockfish research/surveys; creosoted logs removal; refuse collection; mooring buoys replacement; oil spill response. Each MRC in the region has been asked to forward its top three to NWSC by this Friday. Jody read NWSC’s brief description of each of the projects and discussion followed.
Motion: Jim moved, and Brian seconded, that refuse collection be the top priority. The motion failed with 4 yes votes and 8 against.
Members cast their votes around the table for their priorities: (1) rockfish; (2) oil spill response; (3) refuse collection. Dennis will submit the MRCs choices to the NWSC meeting, with notes on members’ comments made today; he will email his draft presentation to members.
Salmon Recovery Plan Chapter:
Laura distributed copies of Jody’s Science Subcommittee summary of the draft WRIA 2 Chapter. She said that the purpose of today’s discussion by the MRC, as the new Citizens Committee, is to prepare for presenting the draft chapter to the BOCC before it goes on to Shared Strategy. Laura said that a collection of recovery strategies and actions was derived from review of all of the reports’ elements, characterizations, and explanation of why the focus is on nearshore. These include strategies in the areas of data collection, sharing, new data and data gaps; eelgrass; pocket estuaries; high-energy cobble/gravel beaches; catastrophic
events (e.g. oil and other hazardous spills’ impacts to nearshore habitat); cumulative impacts (land development and land use, making the connection between upland issues and marine waters); incentives; and acquisitions. Laura asked members to submit other ideas. Kit said that this Chapter basically presents a protection and knowledge gap strategy, very well supported by the conceptual model. He suggested that research needs to be tied to protection and restoration actions.
Motion: David Loyd moved, and Jim seconded, that the draft Chapter be recommended to the BOCC. Following discussion and general agreement that priorities will be set later, the motion passed unanimously.
WDFW Sport Fishing Rules Review:
Jody said that WDFW has a two-year rules review cycle, the fist step of which is to distribute a proposal form for commenting on specific rules; comments are due next week. Kit said that this is our opportunity to make specific proposals; later, we will have an opportunity to comment on proposed changes to the rules made by WDFW staff or others. Jody pointed out that during the last cycle, sportfishing rules were changed based on an idea that came up in our rockfish symposium. David Loyd suggested that the sportfishing pamphlet needs to be tied to license purchase; Kari said that the pamphlet should also be available at marinas, etc. where licenses are not sold.
Motion: Jim moved, and Brian seconded, that the recommendation be forwarded to WDFW
that fishing license vendors be required to physically hand the sportfishing rules pamphlet to licensees at the time they issue the license. Brian amended the motion to include that the rules pamphlet be required to be onboard boats with saltwater licenses. The motion passed with one member opposed.
Beachwatchers Program:
David, the MRC representative to the Beachwatchers Advisory Board, said that the other members are from The Whale Museum, Port of Friday Harbor, Friends of the San Juans, Friday Harbor Labs, the Samish Nation, San Juan County Conservation District, San Juan Island National Parks, Washington State Parks, Westcott Bay Institute, and the San Juan Nature Institute. He said that the Board is being asked to develop a program similar to what Island County began about 10 years ago; the program’s goal is to inform the public about stewardship and, in his opinion, that qualifies it as MSA outreach. David said that Rowann Tollman, coordinator of the program, has a tremendous background in this area and that Tom Schultz of WSU Coop Extension has many years of experience with the similar Master Gardeners Program. David explained that a small group of volunteers will receive 80-100 hours of intense classroom and fieldwork training this summer and training for more Beachwatchers will follow later. One component of the program is outreach and the other is monitoring.
Technical Advisory Panel Workshop:
Jody gave a briefing on The Nature Conservancy’s 5-S process. There will be an all-day technical panel workshop on June 14th at the Grange; the panel will be made up of marine resource scientists who will be discussing conservation targets and the viability of those targets. MRC members are encouraged to attend. Jody said there will also be a conference call on May 23rd at 1 o’clock in the MRC office with The Nature Conservancy to talk about how preliminary work needs to be done for the June 14th workshop and also to discuss what kind of model to use for this process. There will be an all-day follow-up meeting on June 6th at the MRC office. Jody said that intern Kirsten Evans has been working on the issue and Rachelle Gould from The Nature Conservancy has also worked on planning processes in other areas. Jody said that no matter how the social component is brought into the process, it could involve a lot of MRC time. She asked if MRC members felt they could commit to a couple of all-day MRC work sessions on how to use the information from the workshop. There was discussion on how much time members need to commit to.
Kirsten said that the technical advisory group will set targets and discuss the viability of those targets. The classic way The Nature Conservancy has accomplished this is to hold three all-day preparatory workshops, she added, and another method has been to have graduate students do the preliminary work. She asked which of the two highly variable processes would be most effective for this MRC. Kirsten said it will be important for MRC members to be actively involved. If a draft plan is desired by the end of the year, she suggested that MRC work could be done up to November.
Kirsten said that targets will be determined from examination of the stresses (threats) to marine resources
and to the sources of those stresses. Next steps are to develop conservation strategies, incorporating situational social analysis, and measuring success in ways that will be useful for writing the MSA plan. Rachelle relayed a message from TNC’s Jacques White; she said the 5-S process has been put into practice throughout the country and it is possible to complete it in 4 days. TNC is waiting to hear what the MRC wants from the process and then will work within that, Rachelle added. Kit thanked Rachelle and Jacques for the message.
Discussion followed on how and when to get public input into the process; Jim and Brian suggested an early decision on when to schedule public meetings might be advisable, given that summertime is when boaters are here and on the water. Brian emphasized that it is critical to involve the people whose lives could be affected by this group’s economic decisions and impacts. Kit said he feels comfortable that the structure allows for the very important input from users but believes the science comes first. Kirsten said that the MRC should decide whether to work with a broader group early in the process or throughout. Committee members discussed their individual availability and whether a formal plan could be written using a paid graduate student to feed information to the MRC and the MRC working on it within their regular meeting times. Jody requested that, after the outcome of the 5/23 meeting, members come up with two alternatives related to their time commitment and to how and when to involve the public for discussion at the next meeting. Kirsten will email members a Power Point document spelling out alternatives.
Rachelle distributed copies of TNC’s Spring/Summer edition of “Washington Wildlands” with a feature article on Washington’s “one of a kind” inland sea, Puget Sound.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
