Members Present: Kelley Balcomb-Bartok,
Brian Calvert, Tim Carpenter, Peter Fromm, David Hoopes, David
Loyd, Mary Masters, Kevin Ranker, Kit Rawson, Jim Slocomb
Absent: Mike Bertrand, Terrie Klinger, Rich
Osborne, Dennis Willows
Guests: Laura Arnold, Mark Billington, Stephanie
Buffum, Shannon Davis, Joe Gaydos, Jody Kennedy, Patricia Moran-Hodges,
Mike O'Connell, Mike Sato, Sandy Wyllie-Echevarria
Guest presenters: Dr. Sandy Wyllie-Echevarria
and Mike Sato
Chair, Jim Slocomb, called the meeting to order
at 8:35 a.m. in the Community Room at Islanders' Bank, Friday
Harbor. Jim pointed out today's front page Journal article on
the MRC's "Marine Stewardship Area" proposal.
David Hoopes announced that there will be an
invasive (animal) species program this Thursday night at Skagit
Valley College in Friday Harbor; MRC members are invited to
attend the not-open-to-the-public WA Sea Grant meeting that
is part of the San Juan County Watershed Stewards Program.
David also reported that the EIS scoping comment
period for the proposed Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve site has
ended; he suggested that the MRC be prepared for comment on
the EIS, expected in January or February. There will be a meeting
today at 11 a.m. with Jacques White and Curtis Tanner of the
Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem Restoration Project, who will
describe the project and discuss nearshore issues. The Puget
Sound Action Team has hired Robyn du Pre as new coordinator
for this region; she will begin on December 1st and will supply
contact information at that time..The draft WA State Status
Report on the Killer Whale is now available (see WADFW website
for complete report).
Kevin said that the EPA hearing in Seattle
tomorrow is the only opportunity in the Pacific Northwest to
comment on the draft federal Report on the Environment.
Minutes: Minutes of the 11/5/03 meeting were
approved with the addition on page 2, under "New/Old Business,"
of a motion by Kelley, and seconded by Dennis, that a letter
be sent to the BOCC requesting that one of the two open positions
on the MRC be filled by Laura Arnold at the BOCC's earliest
convenience; also add, "The motion passed unanimously."
Jim gave a recap of his recent meeting with
Joseph McKenna-Smith and Francine Shaw about how the business
practices of the MRC are likely to work in the future. At this
date, Jim said, the RFP/RFQ for a contracted coordinator is
not out yet; he expects the MRC to have input into the selection.
Jim reported that Joseph said there is no staff or administrative
budget available from the Community Development and Planning
Department for the MRC and the situation is not likely to change.
Therefore, staff services and contract management will have
to be provided entirely by the MRC contracted "lead staffer,"
Jim noted.
The MRC webpage is leaving the county server;
the new domain name, www.sjcmrc.org, is still a link from the
county's webpage. Webmastering, Jim said, is part of the new
Coordinator's substantial position; he said that an updated
website is very important in re-evaluating the MRC for continued
federal funding. Jim said office space is still an issue and
will be an expense if not within existing county space. Jim
asked for an up to the minute accounting on the MRC from McKenna-Smith
but has not had a response yet.
Details of the focus and extent of the Coordinator
position were discussed, including mention of various approaches
taken by other county MRC's.
Motion: Kevin moved, and Peter seconded, that
Mary, David Loyd, David Hoopes, and Kelley
write a job description for the Coordinator position, considering
alternatives and including a list of services needed by the
MRC; the job description will be circulated for email discussion
for submission to the BOCC. The motion was approved.
Report on Rockfish Symposium: Guest speaker,
Dr. Tina Wyllie-Echeverria, explained that she and Mike Sato
were contracted by People for Puget Sound to convene a rockfish
symposium to obtain the best and most current scientific information
about rockfishes, particularly in San Juan County. Today's preliminary
report will be followed by an executive summary later this winter.
Mike put together a management history point of discussion for
the attendees and Tina did a life histories summary on 26 species
of rockfish (8 of these were commonly seen in SJC at some time,
10 were sometimes seen throughout Puget Sound, and the 8 remaining
species are rarely seen).
These histories as well as 150 references focusing on San Juan
County work will be available with the final summary, along
with summary/outline/and abstracts of the 19 presentations given
at the symposium. Tina showed a PowerPoint presentation on the
8 major species of rockfish in SJC (Yelloweye, Tiger, Quillback,
Copper, Yellowtail, Black, Widow, and Puget Sound rockfish),
their life histories (time spent in SJC waters), effective habitat,
and management histories. Tina pointed out the two different
life history requirements of the 8 common species in these waters;
the solitary schooling patterns of the first 4 and the "aggregate"
pattern of the latter 4 also have different habitat needs, reproductive
times, and depth distributions.
Tina said that physical features in the environment
affecting species, especially in the plankton stage, are oceanography
(e.g. surface drift models), climatic effects (e.g. El Nino),
toxins (e.g. PCB's, hormones), habitat (e.g. kelp forests, changes
to nearshore environment), and fishing pressure (may be hitting
sub-adults). WDFW is doing research on the feminization of male
rockfishes and other species and its connection to human reproductive
hormones entering the Sound from sewage overflow and runoff.
Tina said the matrix constructed with the biological
characteristics of the eight species points out known and missing
information. Kit said he would also like to see columns on "toxins"
and "fishing" as part of the matrix on life histories
and threats; Tina said these are included in the full spreadsheet.
Jim said the matrix provides priceless information and would
also like to see a practical synthesis of the information for
non-scientists.
Tina said that some preliminary conclusions
of the reports are the need (1) to define management goals for
rockfish and ling cod (e.g. desired levels of population reconstruction);
and, (2) to match species' management to habitats and life histories
(e.g. depth of reserves). Mike pointed out that the symposium
meets the NWSC action grant task to come up with management
options based on scientific information; he said that even with
the absence of complete information there is a recognized need
to move forward.
New/Old Business:.
Marine Stewardship Area proposal:
The committee thanked Laura for putting together a summary of
survey results. Jim pointed out the two operative documents
on the table: the draft proposal and accompanying resolution
for development of a San Juan County Marine Stewardship Area.
Motion: Mary moved, and David Hoopes and Tim Carpenter seconded,
that the documents be approved and submitted to the BOCC. The
motion passed unanimously.
Mike said that he would convey this official
action of the MRC to the Puget Sound taskforce meeting tomorrow.
Aquaculture Policy/Regulations:
Jim suggested edits to the existing language in San Juan County's
aquaculture regulations, i.e. changing many of the "mays"
to "shalls." Laura suggested relying on Whatcom County's
MRC research and evidence that led to a county aquaculture policy
as additional support for a regulatory prohibition on farming
of Atlantic salmon here. There was discussion about the merits
of keeping such prohibition open ended to possibly include other
species in
the future. Jim will email edits around and David Hoopes will
re-draft a San Juan County resolution, based on Whatcom County's,
for approval at the next meeting.
Work Plan Items:
Stephanie Buffum requested two placeholders in the MRC 2004
work plan: forage fish (i.e. nearshore habitat) and eelgrass
projects. She said that San Juan County's "Forage Fish
Project: from Science to Stewardship" and "Eelgrass
Survey and Mapping Project" were recently shared at the
Salmon Recovery Conference. The BOCC has also been given a quarterly
update on the projects and a final report will be made to SRFBoard
at the end of March 2004. Herring surveys will begin in February.
Stephanie said that one of the alarming inventory findings was
that Dan Pentilla, who has been studying the Westcott Bay/Garrison
Bay area for many years has found that 80% of the eelgrass,
i.e. 35 acres, are gone! Copies of the Westcott Bay Taskforce
July 2003 workshop's "Z. marina (eelgrass) Declines in
San Juan County, WA" were distributed. Stephanie said that
final project reports will be released in April/May.
She suggested that the SJC Westcott Bay/Garrison
Bay management plan (tied to watershed planning) needs to be
coached through completion and should include such information
on recent findings; she asked that MRC members consider helping
the process along. A public meeting is needed as soon as January,
she said. There was discussion on how to best support Stephanie's
request; Jim pointed out that eelgrass and forage fish issues
will naturally be part of the MSA proposal effort. It was agreed
that the committee will discuss any budget re-allocation after
completing study of the MRC coordinator needs.
There was discussion on the appropriateness
of including upland use issues in MRC work, the general consensus
being that many land use and marine use issues come together.
Jim suggested that MRC develop a relationship with the SJC Conservation
District to cover upland issues for combined work products.
It was pointed out that there is eelgrass die-off in Blind Bay
and other sites.
2004 Work Plan:
o MSA, Phase 2 (pending BOCC approval and including any additional
recommendations suggested by the final Forage Fish/Eelgrass
reports)
o Water Quality. Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria pointed
out that water quality is fairly critical in many San Juan habitats
and needs to be discussed at some level. David Loyd said that
Dr. Russel Barsh, in his presentation at the Whale Museum last
week, tied water quality in certain bays to numbers of sockeye
and other salmon. Kevin suggested that MRC members read up since
there will be some serious discussions on water quality overlay
districts in the near future. Peter noted that water quality
has gone down in Reed Bay and Fishermen's Bay.
o Balloons Release Ban. Peter reiterated that
the best approach would be to collaborate with all the other
MRC's, through the NWSC, on developing a states-wide resolution.
There are numerous reports and references in the MRC archives
on related legislative efforts in other states to ban mass balloon
releases.
o Human use of the marine environment. Jim
said there is no effective understanding of human use impacts
on the marine environment (e.g. boat traffic and anchoring inventories
or wake studies). Kit added that this is an extension of the
problem of figuring out fishing pressures; he said there may
be a lot of information already out there. Brian said that records
kept at the Port, at County Parks, and at Roche Harbor could
provide historical numbers on general boat use in the area so
that possible impacts could more easily be studied. The committee
discussed whether human use would also be covered in any discussion
on a Marine Stewardship Area and agreed that it was a sub-work
plan item.
o San Juan County Marine Atlas: a subcommittee
is underway.
Motion: Kevin moved, and Mary seconded, that
the 2004 work plan items be adopted. All were in favor.
Citizen comments: Sharon Abreu said that she
and Isabel Athmann wrote a PIE grant proposal to do an ecological
history of the San Juan Islands with Orcas Island school students.
The "Fishtorian Project" will partner with other local
groups to identify major environmental issues and will be coordinated
into science curricula. The Project is designed to be easily
replicated for other schools. She invited others to discuss
the project by calling her at 376-5773. The MRC has already
signed on to support the proposal.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
