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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026 04 21 NPC MRC First DRAFT Meeting Summary NPC MRC 4/21/2026 DRAFT Meeting Summary 1 April 21, 2026 NPC MRC Draft Meeting Summary The Tuesday, April 21, 2026 NPC MRC meeting took place at the Peninsula College campus in Forks, Washington and by Zoom connection from 4:00 PM to 6:05 PM. Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Chris Butler-Minor (Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary [OCNMS], ex officio), Eileen Cooney (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County – Economic Groups), Wendy Feltham (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County – Scientific Community), Jennifer Hagen (Quileute Tribe Representative), John Hunter (Citizen Representative, Clallam County - Conservation / Environmental Groups), Rebecca Mahan (Clallam County Representative), Ian Miller (Washington Sea Grant, ex officio), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Representative and NPC MRC Co-coordinator), and Alice Ryan (Citizen Representative, Clallam County – Recreational Groups). A quorum was present at the beginning of the meeting. Karen Affeld (North Olympic Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council [NODC]), Alexandra Avila (West Coast Ocean Alliance Fellow, Quileute Tribe), Neala Kendall (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife [WDFW]), Nancy Messmer (Clean Coast Alliance), Roy Morris (Clean Coast Alliance), Chase O’Neil (Clallam County and NPC MRC Co-coordinator), Chris Waldbillig (WDFW and Coastal MRC Coordinator), and Katie Wrubel (OCNMS) were also in attendance. Introductions Public Comments There were no public comments. Additions to and Approval of the Agenda Tami Pokorny requested that guest presenters Neala Kendall and Karen Affeld go first on the agenda. Wendy Feltham moved to approve the draft agenda with Tami’s recommendation; Eileen Cooney seconded the motion. The updated agenda was approved by consensus. Approval of the March NPC MRC Summary Eileen Cooney moved to approve the March NPC MRC Summary; Wendy Feltham seconded. Chris Butler-Minor confirmed that the unaffiliated attendee Lane Maroney was an ONCMS AmeriCorps member. The March NPC MRC Summary was approved by consensus with that addition. Announcements There were no announcements. Old Business There was no old business. New Business NPC MRC 4/21/2026 DRAFT Meeting Summary 2 Environmental Indicators Associated with Salmon Marine Survival Research scientist with the WDFW Science Division Fish Program, Neala Kendall, presented on Salmon and Steelhead Marine Survival Associated with Ecosystem Variables. Neala leads the Statewide Monitoring and Reporting Unit with WDFW and was asked by Tami Pokorny to talk to the group about salmonid survival. One of the big questions is whether low marine survival is holding back salmon and steelhead recovery efforts. To get to an answer, research scientists are looking at what factors could be involved, and whether the relationship between ecosystem indicators and marine survival has changed over time. Neala discussed Jan Ohlberger’s paper on Declining Marine Survival of Steelhead Trout Linked to Climate and Ecosystem Change, which found that the factors that had the biggest relationships with recruitment were NPGO (North Pacific Gyre Oscillation associated with large-scale ocean conditions; positive effect), pink salmon (negative effect), and sea surface temperature (negative effect). Kelt (steelhead that have spawned and are capable of spawning multiple times) survival was most heavily impacted by freshwater flow (positive effect), pink salmon (negative effect), and sea surface temperature (negative effect). Follow up research questions focused on: How are two regions’ (Salish Sea and OR/WA/BC coast) Chinook and coho marine survival trends associated with these ecosystem indicators, and do these relationships (strength and direction) vary over time? It has been documented that Pacific Northwest Chinook and coho marine survival patterns have varied over time and by region, with significantly different survival patterns between the Salish Sea and the coast. It is also known that certain environmental indicators, such as predation, competition, and human impacts, are more strongly associated with these marine survival trends than freshwater conditions. Numerous studies have documented that pink salmon alter the growth and survival of other salmon across the Pacific Rim and in the Salish Sea, potentially through prey availability. Pink salmon are mostly wild and have a two-year life cycle with one year in the ocean. Locations tend to have predominantly even- or odd-year spawners; there are more odd-year pink spawners throughout the Pacific Rim. Pink and chum salmon have dominated adult abundance and biomass of catch of all salmon in the North Pacific Ocean since 1990, with pink salmon overwhelmingly dominating due to catch in Russia and Alaska. However, along the coast, pink salmon are relatively rare. For their first evaluation, WDFW used data on Chinook and coho marine survival in their first year in the ocean and pink salmon presence and absence, modeling Chinook and coho marine survival by region associated with Salish Sea pink salmon presence and evaluating changes in Chinook and coho marine mortality over time. They found a varying even-year effect on Chinook and coho marine mortality over time: in the Salish Sea, there was a relationship between Chinook and coho marine survival and pink salmon; however, on the coast, there was no relationship between Chinook and pink salmon, but there was one between coho and pink salmon. The years where there is a relationship between pink salmon and marine survival are defined as pink salmon stanzas. Further analyses looked at additional environmental variables, including juvenile pink salmon presence and absence, abundance of hatchery Chinook and coho salmon released, harbor seal abundance, sea surface temperature, NPGO index, and Salish Sea herring biomass. They wanted to test if the relationship between pink salmon and Chinook and coho marine survival remained in the presence of other variables, whether other variables were more related to Chinook and coho marine survival than pink salmon, and whether the significance and direction of the relationships changed over time. The study identified stanzas in Chinook and coho marine survival relationships with pink salmon, which differed by region and generally corresponded with large-scale ocean ecosystem changes like major El Nino and other climate shifts. They also found that NPGO, sea surface temperature, hatchery salmon release numbers, and harbor seal numbers were often more strongly related to marine survival than pink salmon, but pink salmon remained an indicator of marine survival in some regions and stanzas. Interestingly, while NPGO was found to be relatively consistently related to marine survival, it was not a cause of Chinook or coho mortality. Sea surface temperatures had a negative relationship for Salish Sea and coastal Chinook and for Salish Sea coho, but a positive relationship for coastal coho. Hatchery salmon NPC MRC 4/21/2026 DRAFT Meeting Summary 3 release numbers were negatively related to Salish Sea Chinook and coho marine survival in some stanzas, but not all of them. Juvenile pink salmon had differing significance in strength and direction with Chinook and coho marine survival across all years versus within stanzas. The study brought awareness to the challenge of forecasting salmon abundance due to the non-stationary relationships with the various indicators over time. Some of the remaining questions include: Why have the patterns and relationships changed over time, what are the mechanisms behind the observed relationships, and how to best use the information in management and conservation? Neala also noted other actions that can be taken, including habitat restoration, harvest and hatchery management, and the removal of barriers. Funding for this research was provided by Washington State and the Puget Sound Partnership. Neala can be reached at neala.kendall1@dfw.wa.gov. West End Work of the NODC Executive director of NODC Karen Affeld presented on NODC efforts and impacts on the coast. The NODC mission is to empower the North Olympic Peninsula to pursue and invest in its own economic and environmental destiny. They are the regional economic development district for Jefferson and Clallam counties and focus on regional planning, supporting sector-based economic development, supporting the development of economic infrastructure, and acting as a convener and builder of broad collaborations. The NODC is unique in that their mission specifically calls out the environment. They are a small organization of four staff members, and their work tends to be at the nexus of the economy, the environment, and the community. They partner with state and federal agencies, and local governments, Tribes, agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Some of the programs and projects they have worked on since 2020 that have an impact on the Pacific coast include Climate Adaptation Planning, Disaster Resilience Planning, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Coastal Resilience Challenge Grant planning, Coastal Resilience Fellow, Energy and Environmental Resilience conferences, Marine Renewable Energy Feasibility, and Forks Micro-hydro Feasibility. In addition to the work that they do on the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, their major economic development project right now is their involvement in a program called Recompete. Communities that have a higher-than-average number of people between the ages of 25 and 55 who have not joined the workforce are offered opportunities to apply for support through this program. While working with a group from Clallam and Jefferson counties who applied for program funds, it became clear to the NODC that most of the programs would be based in Port Angeles and Port Townsend, which was prohibitive to people based in rural Tribes and communities. As a result of Karen’s persistence, NODC became the project lead for the Distressed Rural and Remote Communities Project, which offers award funds to the Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Makah, Quileute, and Hoh Tribes; the City of Forks; and the Brinnon and Quilcene communities. Each Tribe and community is doing something different with the funding with NODC’s support and technical assistance. Increasingly, the NODC is being called on as a non-government agency to help with facilitation and planning for complicated projects where the local government, one or more Tribes, and multiple state or federal agencies may be involved with overlapping regulations, needs, and interests. Karen said this work is challenging but very rewarding. Karen can be reached at karen@noprcd.org. River and Ocean Film Festival Planning Ian Miller gave an update on the Film Festival, which has an updated website inviting film submittals. He had a meeting with the organizers of the Fish ‘n’ Brew Festival, and it sounds like aligning the Film Festival with that event on 10/2/26 makes sense, although that timing conflicts with the Northwest Aquatic Marine Educators NPC MRC 4/21/2026 DRAFT Meeting Summary 4 conference. The next step is getting films, so Ian encouraged the group to solicit films with the information provided on the website. The film review process takes about two months, so films need to be in hand by June. Current Projects and Funding Update Tami Pokorny heard from Coastal Hazards Study lead Elizabeth Davis, who will be returning her awarded funding due to her new position with the US Geological Survey. This will return about $10,000 to the NPC MRC for reallocation by 6/30/27. Chris Waldbillig noted that having a list of projects that the Committee had already vetted would be helpful for making funding requests from the legislature and advocating for the MRCs. The group discussed bringing project ideas to the next meeting for potential decisions by the June NPC MRC meeting. Updates Coast Program MRC Update Chris Waldbillig reminded Tami Pokorny, Rebecca Mahan, and Chase O’Neil to send him their quarterly report when it was ready. He added that it would be good to know how much the project sponsors were planning to invoice for their projects for this fiscal year. Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC) Rod Fleck was not present for an update. The last meeting was held on 3/18/26 and included an update from the economic resiliency work group, briefing on ocean energy updates, and a discussion on European green crab. Jennifer Hagen noted that the next meeting is scheduled to be held in Forks on 6/3/26, so NPC MRC members may want to attend. A field trip is being planned to La Push to see the LightFish and the new marina. The agenda and other WCMAC meeting materials can be found on the Ecology website. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council Chris Butler-Minor gave an update. OCNMS held docent training for volunteers at the Port Angeles Library. The next meeting will be in Ocean Shores on 5/14/26, following the Ocean Acidification Sentinel Site Symposium. The agenda is not fully set yet. The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Competition will be held in Forks on 5/16/26. Christine VanDeen is still looking for judges for the competition; her contact information and information on how to register as a volunteer can be found here. West Coast Ocean Alliance Jennifer Hagen said that the annual Summit is next week in Ventura, California. Invasive European Green Crab Jennifer Hagen reported a trapping event in February; the Quileute Tribe caught two European green crab at the mouth of the Quillayute River. They will continue to trap through the summer with the help of a Washington Conservation Corps crew. One of their focuses this year is to better capture the small crabs that can evade the traps. Marine Debris Chris Butler-Minor reminded the group about the Washington Coast Cleanup scheduled for 4/25/26; registration is available on the CoastSavers website. Alice Ryan and Jennifer Hagen reported successful marine debris removal and gear retrieval by Quileute Tribal School students and volunteers from First Beach. Climate/Fossil Fuels Related NPC MRC 4/21/2026 DRAFT Meeting Summary 5 Karen Affeld announced that the Strait Ecosystem Recovery Network is presenting on 6/3/26 to the Puget Sound Partnership’s leadership committee on local issues, and they have decided to focus on local capacity for oil spill response and how the state could help with that. All Tribes will be invited, but Karen welcomed requests for invitations. Administrative and Fiscal Agent Update There was nothing new to report. Next Agenda (May 19, 2026): The next NPC MRC Meeting will be held on 5/19/26. Public Comments/General There were no public comments. Adjourn at 6:05 PM Meeting summary prepared by Rebekah Brooks (Rebekah Brooks Contracting).