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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM032002 Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee Minutes Wednesday, March 20, 2002 Present: Varn Brooks, Marine Science Practitioner Dave Christensen, Jefferson County Natural Resources Judy Damore, District 1 Jeff Gallant, District 1 Spike Hall, District 3 (Vice Chair) Anne Murphy, District 2 Andrew Palmer, District 3 (Chair) Richard Wojt and Dan Titterness, Jefferson County Commissioners Absent: Larry Crockett, ex-officio, Port of Port Townsend Excused David Jenkins, District 2 Excused Larry Lawson, Commercial Fishing Bill Kalina, ex-officio, U.S. Navy, Indian Island Excused Barbara Nightingale, Citizen Rex Rice, Environment Excused Judy Surber, City of Port Townsend Staff/Guests: John Cambalik, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team Gabrielle LaRoche, Citizen Kevin Ryan, US Fish and Wildlife Service Joanna Sanders, MRC Meeting Secretary OPENING BUSINESS Chair Andy Palmer called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM in the Main Floor Conference Room of the Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Townsend, W A. The minutes of the February meeting were approved. OBSERVER COMMENT Kevin Ryan reported on the cleanup of the Wildlife Refuge Complex on Protection Island, which involves dredging the marina entrance and removing old buildings and materials. Dredging was ceased in November because sandlance were observed, although he is unaware of any documented sandlance spawning habitat. Permitting and a small oil spill also delayed the clean up. In the next phase, beginning in October, they will complete the dredging and replace a storage building. He reported a gradual decline of tufted puffins, speculating that only 20 nesting pairs remain. Rhinoceros auklet populations have also decreased. Although high-speed ferries may contribute to the decline, historically the biggest culprit in the drop in both birds is believed to be netting. He invited the MRC for a site visit, especially during the Protection Island planning process. John Cambalik reported on the five state bills that passed: þ> HB2376 Derelict Vessels - provides local authority to take care of derelict vessels and requires an additional $2 fee on each vessel registration for the derelict vessel removal fund. þ> HB2623 Shoreline Master Plan revision - increases the dollar threshold from $2,500 to $5,000 for what constitutes development requiring a "substantial development permit." þ> SB6313 Derelict Gear - it not only acknowledges work by the Northwest Straits Commission, but eliminates the hydraulic permit requirement. þ> SB6538 Ballast Water Study Group ~ provides funding for a ballast water reporting program and development of standards for the discharge of treated ballast water. þ> SB8004 Neah Bay Tug funding - would keep the tug operational for 200 days next winter and includes strong language to the federal government to provide long-term funding. Not passed were: HB2575 bill to create Marine Resource Committees in central and south sound counties and SB8030, requesting recognition of the Puget Sound Nearshore Ecosystem and encouraging congress and the President to provide sufficient funding to complete a near-shore assessment project by the Corps of Engineers Marine Resources Committee - March 20, 2002 Page: 2 and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. John believes there may be cuts in funding for the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program. OLD BUSINESS JANUARY PLANNING RETREAT: The Executive Committee will develop a long~term strategy for the projects outlined at the retreat. This item as well as the development of a funding strategy for projects may be a workshop topic. NEW BUSINESS & REPORTS NORTHWEST STRAITS COMMISSION: The MRC now has the Anchor Environmental report and Judy Damore has agreed to be the technical liaison. County EIS staff will retain the GIS maps, which while not interactive are good for modeling and layering. People for Puget Sound have asked MRCs to consider endorsing their Orca Pass International Marine Stewardship Area proposal. Anne Murphy suggested the MRC endorse this proposal and at the next workshop discuss how to handle similar requests for endorsements. MRCs were asked to provide input on a streamlined grant process proposed by the Commission, which would provide one grant covering three potential uses: (1) administrative grants ($lOK), (2) flexible funding for MRC professional services or an action grant project ($30K), and (3) action grants with an emphasis on protection and restoration ($40K). Some MRCs are considering hiring a joint executive director. Members commented that they appreciate the increase in funding and the flexibility offered. Anne Murphy agreed to confirm the grant cycle and ask the Commission for examples of desired action grants. At the last Commission meeting, Tim Smith of Fish and Wildlife spoke on possible partnerships on derelict gear removal, groundfish recovery, MPAs, and nearshore restoration projects. MRC activities were also highlighted. Whatcom County has the potential to address the shellfish benchmark and plans to continue beyond the 5-yr. Northwest Straits Conservation Initiative. Skagit County has been working to establish a rocky reef marine reserve and in phase two expects to establish 3·5 sites. They have also done a rapid shoreline inventory in one of their sensitive areas. San Juan is not trying to address all benchmarks but is doing what is most appropriate for their area. Island County believes the future of the MRCs must involve cross~county collaboration. Their budget in 2002 is $500K. They would like to see Sea Grant, the Action Team and the Commission provide all public outreach materials for the MRCs. The Snohomish MRC serves as an advisory committee to their County government. They have done public outreach and from public input have decided to focus on forage fish and Dungeness crab in the coming year. Clallam County is concerned about shellfish downgrades in Dungeness Bay and has taken a position on the Elwha Dam. Anne Murphy agreed to em ail to the MRC the notes from her Jefferson MRC report. OLYMPIA OYSTER RESTORATION: Dave Christensen announced the MRC grant contract was signed two days ago. The contract with People for Puget Sound (PFPS) will follow. This week is the deadline to collect brood stock on Lopez Island. Betsy Peabody of PFPS agreed to proceed with collecting samples unless she hears from the MRC. The MRC expressed interest in Ms. Peabody's suggestion that the MRC collect brood stock off Indian Island for use in sites other than Discovery Bay. There was also interest in visiting the Lummi hatchery. Anne Murphy agreed to report to the MRC on scheduling collection of the brood stock and visiting the Lummi hatchery. Betsy is also trying to schedule habitat surveys on May 14-16 or May 28-29. Andy Palmer noted that members spent the last workshop structuring the Olympia Oyster proposal. Dave Christensen said while he has notes from that workshop, he would like to wait until the Habitat Stewardship Project is discussed before thinking about how to contract for that work. Judy Damore expressed an interest in being on this subcommittee. HABITAT STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: Members discussed an outline of activities prepared by Barbara Bowen and based on the Northwest Straits grant proposal. Spike Hall also explained a chart he Marine Resources Committee - March 20, 2002 Page; 3 developed which divides the project into two components: public education outreach and scientist designation. Discussion then moved to the outline of the grant activities. While there was general agreement to the language in the grant, the following remarks about the tasks were noted. 1. Meeting of selected scientists. J;.- Although the goal is to get scientific input, the public should be invited to attend. Consider publishing goals and objectives for this meeting so the public can have information. More details are needed. J;.- Clearly identify the criteria for site selection - the potential for restoration. 2. Develop list of areas with community groups that could be stewardship core. » Leave "community groups" loosely interpretable, not necessarily geographic or a physical community. 3. Identify list of candidates for stewardship sites. » More details are needed about what this process will involve (workshops, series of meetings). J;.- Where do the listed activities fit into the standard conventions for developing MPAs? It was noted that the original design for this project came out of the Year 2 Action grant to develop Marine Protected Areas in Jefferson County. » Need a good inventory - a look at historical resources, what happened to them, and begin to identify steps for recovery. Identify priority habitats first before trying to get a sense of their value to the public. It is hoped that the community will become advocates for protective measures as opposed to merely being told what protective measures they must take. .. Input from public interest groups, while well intended, may not be focused on the problems. Consider some independent measure or assessment of the priority habitats. Identifying habitat, assigning MP As and developing restrictions or regulations, all need to be done with science. 4. Select one candidate site. .. More details are needed about what this process will involve. .. Focus on one site, but remain open to more. 5. Conduct workshops to educate citizens about site habitat and on the tools available for resource protection and enhancement. » To be discussed later are how to address the type of concerns which surfaced in the focus groups - not trusting the science or no justification for the action. )0 Science must determine areas to be protected and then the public must be educated so they can make a decision whether or not they are willing to live with those realities. 6. Work with citizens to draft priority habitat protection program (reverse the last two activities in the outline). 7. Educated citizens mentor other citizens and group. Dave agreed to try to incorporate comments into the outline and then send it to the MRC for more feedback. He feels it is important for the MRC to agree what it wants to do before it decides how the work will be done by a contractor. It was thought that the job descriptions, once viewed side by side, might reveal similar public outreach components and facilitation and that it may be possible to bring both this and the Olympia Oyster project together into one RFP. However, because the amount exceeds the limit for the small works roster and there may be current committee members who might have an interest in bidding for these projects, the County suggests issuing an RFP. There was a suggestion to talk about this at the next workshop. After a final review and approval of the project scope, the subcommittee would work on the job descriptions and specific budget. Marine Resources Committee - March 20, 2002 Page: 4 There was agreement to expand the MP A subcommittee for this project. Those agreeing to assist on the subcommittee were Judy Damore, Spike Hall, Jeff Gallant, Dave Christensen, Andy Palmer, and Varn Brooks. OTHER/ADMINISTRATIVE Barb Nightingale has resigned her position as Recreation position on the MRC. Dave Christensen reported that the Northwest Straits Commission Year Two Action Grant report was emailed to the MRC. The administrative budget is tight. Although it was thought that there could be a better site for future MRC meetings, he wondered whether there was a desire to spend $400 of the budget to have meetings at the Community Center. Comments were that the MRC might alternate its meeting locations and another commented on the benefits of finding and sticking with one location. There was agreement to hold the next MRC meeting at the Port Townsend Community Center and table the topic of changing the meeting location until that time. Commissioner Richard Wojt reported that state law enforcement and wildlife officials made multiple arrests for the poaching of over 100,000 lbs. of geoducks. He said the MRC may be interested in exploring the depletion of geoducks in reserve areas due to poaching. Jeff Gallant agreed to look into the issue, reading the EIS by the Department of Natural Resources and report back to the MRC. The Department of Fish and Wildlife will be conducting a beach seine south of the railroad trestle on April 30. MRC members are encouraged to participate. Anne Murphy agreed to post a notice on the list serve. NEXT WORKSHOP: Tuesday, April 2. The Executive Committee will discuss possible workshop topics including the long-range planning topics, inviting Mike Sato to talk about the Orca Pass MP A project, and a continuation of the discussion on the Habitat Stewardship Project. PREPARE AGENDA / ADJOURN The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2002 at 7:00 PM in the Port Townsend Community Center Dining Hall, Port Townsend, Washington. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM. MARINE RESOURCES COMMITTEE Andy Palmer, Chair