Minutes
September
17, 2003
Members Present: Laura Arnold, David Hoopes, Terrie Klinger, David
Loyd, Mary Masters, Kevin Ranker,
Kit Rawson, Dennis Willows
Absent:
Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Mike Bertrand, Brian Calvert, Tim Carpenter,
Peter Fromm, Rich Osborne, Jim Slocomb
Guests:
Mark Billington, Susan Bucknell, Ryan Drum, Erline McKay, Jill
McKay, Mike Sato, Tina Whitman
Acting
Chair, David Loyd, called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. in
the Community Room at Islanders' Bank, Friday Harbor. He welcomed
the newest MRC member, David Hoopes, to the committee.
David
Hoopes said that he hoped to bring to the committee what the SRFBoard
citizen committee wanted him to bring...i.e., further emphasis
on the issues of nearshore habitat and salmon protection. He added
that increased public education in these areas is particularly
important now and said he hopes to speak for salmon.
Laura
said that she will email all members a revised list of updated
membership and contact information.
Mike
Sato announced that a public outreach picnic at Deer Harbor will
be held on Saturday at Bob Conner's pasture (salmon, music provided);
those attending include Joe Gaydos (SRFBoard), Russel Barsh (Samish
Nation), and Jacques White (People for Puget Sound), with the
topic being harbor restoration issues. David Loyd said that an
IOSA oil spill drill will also be held on Saturday in Deer Harbor.
There
was discussion on the upcoming rockfish symposium which will begin
with a reception at UW Labs on September 23rd. Chair David also
mentioned the conference, "Estuaries on the Edge," which
is happening now in Seattle.
David
mentioned the recent Seattle PI article on the state of the Sound;
Kevin said that there is talk of oxygen levels being so low in
Hood Canal that it and the entire southern Puget Sound may be
closed. Another PI article covers the issue of eelgrass, which,
Laura noted, is good publicity for showing how far short we are
falling in terms of benchmarks.
Mike
Sato announced that the Foss rescue tug will be in Neah Bay for
the next 200 days. He also said that there will be a public workshop
with the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard on the sonar issue on October
1st, followed by a public comment period. He will email details
to members.
Minutes:
Minutes of the August 6, 2003 meeting were approved with Kevin's
revisions. Laura abstained from the vote since she was not in
attendance for that meeting.
Aquaculture
Issue: David Loyd said that the three aspects up for discussion
are finfish netpens, shellfish, and algae/seaweeds. Tina said
that copies of the Alaska white paper on Atlantic salmon (3/5/02)
and of WADFW's "Atlantic Salmon in Washington State"
(8/01) are available for review. Kevin said that an overview of
the issue should include discussion and study on what the carrying
capacity (i.e. density) for aquaculture operations is for the
San Juan Islands. Dennis said that a principle concern with organisms
that are placed in the water column but are not fed is the pathogens
that might come in to San Juan County with the spat; he said that
DFW is concerned with this also. Mark said that oyster and mussel
spat are brought in by Westcott Bay. Terrie said that finfish
aquaculture is thought to be of greater environmental concern
than bi-valve aquaculture. There was discussion about oyster drills
being introduced. Mark said that he has been surprised that there
have been so few problems with oyster farming here.
Permitting
parameters, at the state and county level, were discussed. Laura
said that a policy was adopted to protect permitted aquaculture
projects from construction in the area. Kevin pointed out that
a strong precedent has been set here by the victorious Supreme
Court suit brought by Friends of the San Juans some years ago
against a proposed mega dock in Westcott Bay; marina threats noted
were toxic bottom paints, fecal coliform, bottom disturbance,
runoff from boats, and visual impact. Chair David pointed out
that aquaculture is of interest as a partner in water quality.
Kit
said that Mike McHugh will be a guest at the next MRC meeting.
David said he'd like to hear more about the Tulalip interest in
proposed shellfish farm and marina in Barlow Bay.
Dennis
said that the barriers to increased aquaculture in the San Juan
Islands are enormous. Kevin said he agreed that the limiting factors
are significant; he pointed out that the only water quality monitoring
for shellfish aquaculture is regular monitoring to establish a
baseline.
David
listed existing aquaculture operations here: Westcott Bay Oysters,
two operations at Crescent Beach and one in Buck Bay, Orcas, possible
mussel farms in Shoal Bay and Barlow Bay. Tina added that there
is some native oyster culture going on in Deer Harbor.
Mark
said that carbaryl is not used here. There was discussion about
the possibility of an "organic" requirement for shellfish.
Mark said that the Pacific Coast Shellfish Association found that
there is a lot of concern in pursuing this since you can't control
what's in the water; this concern also precludes organic labelling
for fisheries. He suggested that small scale, low impact aquaculture
by local residents on their own beaches could be a valuable water
quality educational tool. Mark said he'd be willing to participate
in an MRC-sponsored workshop.
Terrie
said that cultured organisms are not native and, although shellfish
aquaculture operations don't inadvertently import associated non-native
organisms, many such species are becoming more and more common
in the wild here. She said that our shores could be paved with
oysters, which would destroy native flora and fauna, especially
if home operations are encouraged. Laura added that small scale
operations can slip through some of the permitting requirements
and density could be an issue. Terrie emphasized that disease
and parasite importation are also worrisome concerns.
Jill
McKay and Erline McKay introduced themselves as owners of the
oyster farms at Crescent Beach. Jill said that she believes shellfish
aquaculture farms, unlike marinas, are good for the environment
as long as density is limited. She also noted that other forms
of aquaculture, such as nori rafts, could also have positive impacts.
Laura
said that regulations and policies regarding netpens include some
general protection directives for all kinds of aquaculture but
there is a distinction drawn between operations with structures
in the water and those without. Tina said that NOAA and the Bush
Administration are trying to promote aquaculture, including new
farms in Washington. She added that there will be biological impacts
here from the increase in British Columbia netpens. There was
discussion about land-based operations. Kevin pointed out that
de-salination plants could also become an issue.
David
mentioned existing provisions of the Shoreline Master Program.
Terrie pointed out that "environmental damage" is not
defined in the regulations. David Hoopes noted that the last two
issues of the San Juan County Conservation District's newsletter
had articles about the impacts of farmed Atlantic salmon. He said
that after much study on his part he is unequivocally opposed
to net pen culture here, unless it is land-based.
Kit
suggested reviewing MRC objectives and goals in line of environmental
implications, looking at impacts from specific types of aquaculture.
He said there are other conerns with netpen salmon aquaculture
besides environmental impacts, for example, taking commercial
fishermen off the water would promote more sportfishing. He added
that netpen culture of wild juveniles, which are fed, could be
another concern. Mike said that a number of Department of Ecology
general permits have been issued. He suggested that pollution
load measurements should be taken under the pens. Laura said that
it would be a good idea to identify environmental impacts in scientific
terms since legal definition alone may be not sufficient.
David
Hoopes will draft a clearly defined policy on farmed fish and
other aquaculture for MRC review.
Work
Plan Items:
Kevin mentioned Ginny Broadhurst's summary of MRC work, explaining
that this is where the MRC gets to spotlight its efforts for the
federal review committee that will consider reauthorization of
the NWSC. He requested that members get any missing information
to Ginny today or as soon as possible to include recent MRC work.
There
was discussion about specific work plan items identified at the
last meeting as well as those carried over from this year's work
plan. Kit suggested the approach of assigning one meeting per
month for general MRC issues and the second meeting set aside
to focus on work plan items; David will calendar through the end
of 2003.
Jill
McKay suggested that the degradation of shoreline and nearshore
due to public use (e.g. Madrona Point) be included in the public
education component of the work plan. Kevin agreed that there
needs to be more education on the linkages between upland use
and the state of the marine ecosystem. Tina said that there will
be three years of data available soon for use in nearshore protection
efforts.
Motion: Kevin moved, and Mary seconded, that work plan items be
prioritized as follows: (1) MSA (including the bottomfish program);
(2) intertidal nearshore habitat (forage fish), eelgrass, upland
impacts; (3) water quality; (4) aquaculture. After committee discussion,
Kevin withdrew the motion.
New/Old
Business:
There was discussion about the draft letter to the BOCC concerning
the recent decision to consolidate the Planning Department and
Permit Center in light of possible negative impacts to marine
resources. Laura's liaison role on the MRC was recognized as a
necessary asset to the committee's work. To expedite the letter
writing process, Terrie will email a revised draft, collect member
comments, and then circulate revisions by email; Chair David will
contact each member and then submit the letter upon consensus.
The
meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
Submitted
by Helen Venada
MRC minutes, page 3
9/17/03
