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Home My WebLink About2018 West End Natural Resources NewsIssue No. 11 September 2018 A publication of the North Pacific Coast Marine Resources Committee (NPC MRC) and NPC Lead Entity for Salmon Recovery Inside: Invasive Crab................3 Mudminnows ..................4 Mixotrophs ..................5 Bringing Fish Home .....6 Spatial Plan ..................7 River & Ocean Festival ....8 Continued on page 2 continued page 2 Upping the Ante to Save Southern Resident Orcas By Dr. Rich Osborne, UW ONRC Aquatic Program Manager The Southern Resident Orca population has been skirting with extinction since before it was identified as a unique community of killer whales through scientific photo-identification in the 1970s. This centuries-old community of orca extended families never really recovered from decades of being a primary source of target practice by misguided European settlers, and then being repeatedly captured as specimens for the marine wildlife entertainment industry. Today their population numbers have not changed since that kind of outright attack on them ended in the 1970s. They were a population of 71 then and they are a population of 74 now, having only reached a peak number of 98 in 1995. Given this continuingly fragile popula- tion trend, while all the other neighbor- ing orca populations in the Eastern North Pacific have been on the increase over this same time period, led Governor Jay Inslee to declare the formation of what is now just called The Orca Task Force. It has been convened to find ways to immediately try and help this population from declining further by using a State of Washington mandate to both, focus on how existing State programs can shift resources to support them more, and to identify the poten- tial of funding some bold new approaches to reverse their recent decline. Members of the Southern Resident Killer Whale population heading out the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Photo: Gwen Jones Fixing Fish Barriers – Quileute Reservation By Nicole Rasmussen, Quileute Natural Resources Water Quality Biologist Powerlines once stretched over the Quillayute River from the town of La Push to Mora Road back in the 1980’s, running from Thunder Field to Mora Camp- ground. Over time, the river widened at that point and the powerlines were rerouted along Hwy 110. This left the PUD access road to Thunder Field without maintenance. The road had many large potholes, and four undersized culverts were barriers to fish needing access to approxi- mately twenty acres of excellent habitat in four streams and adjacent wetlands upstream from the road. The road Project Manager Nicole Rasmussen standing where a new bridge serves both Thunder Road and the fish below. Photo: Garrett Rasmussen INVASIVE GREEN CRABS Page 3 2 — NPC MRC Governor Inslee issued Executive Order (#18-02) “Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task Force” in January 2018, and the first Task Force meeting was held on May 2nd in Lacey, WA with 26 members representing State agencies, tribes, scientists, municipalities and the pub- lic. There are also three Working Groups: Prey Availability and Predation, Toxic Contamination, and Vessel Disturbance and Noise providing technical information. Some of the early ideas being considered have included: upping the enforcement and best practices of the recreational and commercial whale watching sectors, increasing funding to critical Chinook salmon runs the orcas depend on, upping hatchery output of Chinook salmon, population control measures to reduce local seal and sea lion populations, and the removal of the lower Snake River Dams. Canadian partic- ipation on the Task Force has also been important in address- ing many of these issues, and in several of the actions Canada has lead the way with already instituted programs to help save this orca population on their side of the border. Although it’s progressing quickly, The Orca Task Force still has a ways to go before honing in on a final suite of actions. The hope is that whatever those actions end up being they will immediately improve the conditions of survival for this unique community of aquatic individuals, who are loved by millions of people from through- out the region and across the planet. For more information on the orcas and the work of The Orca Task Force, visit: https:// www.governor.wa.gov/issues/issues/energy- environment/southern-resident-killer-whale- recovery-and-task-force. Fish Barriers from page 1 was also degrading water quality by deliver- ing sediment to the four streams, wetlands on both sides of the road, and Smith Slough. In February 2012, The Quileute Tribe acquired U.S. Park Service land through Public Law 112-97, known as the tsunami legislation, which included a 285 acre tract of “southern lands” to build tribal infrastructure outside of the tsunami zone, and 530 acres of “northern lands” for conser- vation. The northern lands included Thunder Road and now the Quileute Tribe was responsible for the culvert barriers. Quileute Natural Resources (QNR) Water Quality Biol- ogist, Nicole Rasmussen, applied in 2015 for federal Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) funding through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) to repair the road and three of the barriers. “We inherited an environ- mental problem when the land was acquired by the Quileute Tribe, and we had to do what’s best for the fish,” said Ni- cole. In 2016, NRCS awarded additional funding for the remaining barrier and later, QNR was awarded state Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) funding to complete the project. With more road work at time of construction than what was predicted, additional funding was secured from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to ensure the road would be reconstructed correctly. Construction was completed in a six-week period dur- ing the summer of 2017, and flows returned in late fall to allow fish to freely move in or out of the wetland/stream complexes. “Each pre-project visit I would see juvenile fish downstream of the culvert barriers; and during construc- tion we caught over fifty Coho juveniles to relocate out of the construction zone. It’s great knowing these fish can now utilize this prime habitat,” Nicole reported. The road now provides access for tribal members to have local activities on the reservation, such as fishing, gathering, and outdoor recreation. Cathy Salazar, a Quileute Tribal member shares, “It is so nice to have Thunder Road repaired. Before it was a horrible road and barely drivable even with a 4x4 truck. I use the road frequently to walk my dogs and see fishermen using the road and tribal members recreating. This will be the first summer for some serious berry picking. There are salmon berry blossoms out and I’ve noticed the blackberry bushes as well. Before the road repair these areas weren’t accessible.” Thank you to all the sponsors: NRCS, SRFB, EPA and BIA for making this project happen! Orcas from page 1 NPC MRC — 3 Trapping for Invasive European Green Crab in Makah Coastal Estuaries By Adrianne Akmajian, Makah Fisheries Management Marine Ecologist Beginning in April 2018, the Makah Tribe is undergoing an effort to aggressively trap for the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenus. First found on the Reservation the previous fall, the Tribe has planned to set traps for the crabs every two weeks from April through the end of September. European green crab are excellent invaders, tolerating a wide range of conditions and can have negative impacts on native bivalves and crabs that they eat and compete with. Larvae of green crab disperse in the ocean and if popula- tions of green crab are not controlled, they could potentially spread into other areas of the Olympic Coast or into new areas of the Puget Sound. The Tribe is setting traps in the two coastal estuaries, the Wa’atch River and Tsoo-Yess River estuaries, as well as in the nearshore of Neah Bay to look for the crabs. Since trapping began in late April, the Tribe has caught a total of 782 green crab in the lower Wa’atch and Tsoo-Yess Rivers. The Tribe is continuing to seek volunteers to help sup- port our efforts. If you are interested in volunteering with the Makah Tribe, please send an e-mail to Adrianne Akmajian, Marine Ecologist, marine.ecologist@makah.com. More information about the European green crab can be found online by visiting https://wsg.washington.edu/ crabteam/greencrab or http://wdfw.wa.gov/ais/carcinus_mae- nas. Carter Urnes checking the contents from a minnow trap in the Tsoo- Yess River. Photo: Stephanie MartinLora Halttunen setting a Fukui (crayfish) trap in the Wa’atch River. Photo: Adrianne Akmajian Joe MacDonald retrieving European green crab from traps in the Wa’atch River in October 2017. Photo: Zach Moore (USFWS) 4 — NPC MRC Hunting for Mudminnows on the North Olympic Coast By Lauren Kuehne, Research Scientist, University of Washington Since our Freshwater Ecology and Conservation Lab first started studying the Olympic mudminnow more than six years ago, how to find them has been one of the most impor- tant questions that we keep trying to answer. But first, what IS a mudminnow? Well, they are a small fish – a real “mount- er” would be as long as a ring finger; combined with the fact that they tend to like marshy areas that often don’t have many other fish means that people are unlikely to run across them. Even most fisheries biologists in Washington have never seen one. Because mudminnow are not commercially important, they have remained a kind of scientific curiosity since they were first documented scientifically in 1928, when John Schulz from the University of Washington described fish specimens that had been found by a game warden “in a drain- age ditch near Satsop”. Since that time, our knowledge of this unique fish – found only in Western Washington – has grown in fits and starts as research attention has waxed and waned. The basic question of distribution (aka, where to find a mudminnow) has continued to evolve over that same time. In 1969, noted fish biologist and evolutionary scientist J.D. McPhail established the range of Olympic mudminnow from the upper Chehalis River out toward Grays Harbor and along the coast up to Whale Creek, just south of the Queets River. Then John Harris – another graduate student at the Universi- ty of Washington – discovered Olympic mudminnow in Lake Ozette in 1972, which seemed to extend the range by nearly 40 miles. However, for a long time this population, which was so distant from the others, was such a puzzle that it was assumed to be introduced. As the result of fish and stream typing surveys in the 1990s a few more Olympic Coast populations were turned up in the Hoh and Quileute River drainages, somewhat fill- ing the large gap between the Queets and Lake Ozette. More populations were also reported around Lake Ozette and its in- coming streams, further indicating that mudminnow weren’t introduced but had in fact been inhabiting the area for a long time. The US Fish and Wildlife Service resolved this ques- tion for good in 2012, when they analyzed genetic relation- ships between Olympic mudminnow captured from different populations. They found that Olympic mudminnow along the north Olympic Coast (basically, north of the Queets River) were not only genetically different from the south coast and Chehalis River drainage, but they were different from each other; further, the genetic data also indicated that these populations had been isolated for a very long time. UW research scientist Lauren Kuehne showing proper technique while hunting mudminnows in the potential habitat of the Elk Creek system. Photo: Jill Silver Documenting the presence of mudminnows, Steamboat Creek area. Photo: Jill Silver WA’s handsomest, and only, endemic fish species, the one the only Olym- pic Mudminnow. Photo is provided courtesy of professional wildlife Michael Durham; you can find more pictures of mudminnow on his website: www.durmphoto.com. continued on page 6 NPC MRC — 5 Marine Mixotrophs Remix Our Understanding of Ocean Food Webs by Katie Krueger, NPC MRC Citizen Representative for Clallam County Scientific American headlined them as “Tiny Killers”, on the cover of its April 2018 issue, with a great live-action shot. The article is about marine planktonic mixotrophs. But what in the world is a mixotroph? You know at least two macro examples – we have all heard of pitcher plants or Venus fly traps, plants that lure insects in order to supplement nitrogen needs. On a micro- scopic level, the ocean harbors creatures that both hunt and photosynthesize as well: mixotrophs. Some of these use solar energy like plants (make their own chloroplasts to generate sugars; e.g., Ceratium furca), but still hunt down and con- sume other plankton. Others actually steal the chloroplasts from their prey—members of the order Nassellaria. Under- standing of their behavior, abundance, and ecological role is relatively new in marine microbiology. It used to be thought that microplankton consisted either of phytoplankton that made their own food from photosynthesis, or zooplank- ton—no chloroplasts—that must consume other plankton to survive. The author of the article “The Perfect Beast” in Scientific American, Dr. Aditee Mitra, is a plankton expert and lecturer in bioscience at Swansea University in Wales. She observed that the existing mathematical models of food webs lacked detailed information about mixotrophic behaviors. With her husband Dr. Kevin Flynn, also a marine biologist, she worked out a simulation showing more of their role and impact on food webs. As it turns out, the minute mixotrophs are “criti- cal drivers of the ebb and flow of nutrients through all parts of the ocean and all creatures in it.” Let us visit a scene in the hunting territory of these tiny killers. Mesodinium, all of 22 microns (two one-hundredths of a millimeter), has been lured by sugars and amino acids of some three-micron-sized phytoplankton. Like a micro-jelly- fish, its tentacles snare and digest its target. It also steals the organelles that facilitate photosynthesis. However, Mesodini- um itself can be the prey. A bigger hunter, the dinoflagellate Dinophysis, has arrived on the scene. First it circles Mesodini- um and then harpoons it with threads, before lancing it with a straw-like peduncle, “suck[ing] out the innards, including the stolen chloroplasts.” Pieces of Mesodinium drift away. (Dr. Mitra is very graphic.) Some mixotrophs are troublemakers on a broad scale, creating events such as harmful algal blooms and fish kills. Prymnesium, one cause of fish kills, “releases a chemical that destroys the integrity of cell membranes belonging to competing plankton”, with the result that the target’s cells explode. Then the hunter eats the refuse. Toxins from Alexan- drium are ingested by filter-feeding mollusks—this genus can case paralytic shellfish poisoning. Planktonic mixotrophs are categorized by how and what they hunt—some blowing up prey, some harvesting the organelles with fatal consequences to the prey, and some even keeping colonies of their prey inside their body, “farming” the organelles that photosynthe- size. Understanding mixotrophs and their role in the ma- rine food web is a global undertaking and fundamental to understanding marine ecosystems and the full implications of climate change on ocean chemistry and biology. Explore the world of mixotrophs online. For example, have fun with this link: http://schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/2015/08/ dine-in-or-take-out-the-dilemma-of-the-mixotroph.html (great pictures), entitled “Dine in or take out? The dilemma of the mixotroph.” Really! Welcome to the world of tiny killers! Artist and Quileute Tribal School 7-12 Science teacher Alice Ryan also represents Clallam County as a citizen volunteer on the NPC MRC. 6 — NPC MRC Bringing Fish Home By Jess Helsley, Executive Director, Coast Salmon Partnership The Coast Salmon Partner- ship, in conjunction with partners at Trout Unlimited and the Wild Salmon Center, has launched a Connect to Cold Water campaign to reconnect 150 miles of streams along the Washington Coast to help salmon and steelhead access cold- water rearing and spawning habitat. As part of this effort, conservation partners have been feverishly work- ing along the coast to do ground surveys of county-owned fish passage barriers so that we can begin engineering solu- tions to remove these barriers and bring salmon and steel- head home. About 16% of all fish passage barriers in the Hoh, Quil- layute and Clearwater Rivers are county-owned. Last fall, our team began inventorying barriers in western Clallam and Jef- ferson Counties. Thus far, they have assessed just under 500 stream crossing structures. Once field assessment is complete, we will prioritize the accumulated list of barrier culverts and then design shovel-ready projects for our top ranked barriers. With designs in hand, the counties will be more competitive in obtaining project implementation funding through the state’s new Brian Abbott Fish Barrier Removal Board process. In the photo above, you can see one culvert perched too high above a Sol Duc tributary for juvenile salmon and steel- head to reach. In coastal streams, we are focused on vulner- able juvenile fish, whose limited access to calmer, cold water rearing areas impacts their overall populations on the coast. These cold water reaches, often blocked by mini-dams in the form of culverts and failing roads, are key for helping juveniles ride out increasingly hot summers and flood-prone winters. To learn more about our work, our partners, or how you can get involved to help bring salmon home, please visit our website: www.coastsalmonpartnership.org. To try and discover why Olympic mudminnow were so difficult to find along the Olympic Coast, our lab recently went back in time by reconstructing fish survey data from different research efforts since the 1970s. Our first thought was that perhaps sampling efforts had been too low to find this cryptic fish, but no. The sampling records we compiled showed that survey efforts have been fairly even across the whole range of Olympic mudminnow; they are simply less common along the Olympic Coast. Which is a shame, because Olympic mudminnow can be glamorously beautiful, sporting iridescent vertical bars and blue-black-fringed fins. They are also a somewhat rugged little fish, able to withstand a wide range of temperatures and very low dissolved oxygen, which helps them survive in their small wetland habitats. One of only five species of mudminnow found anywhere in the world, this unique part of our native fish community is one to celebrate. Our knowledge of Olympic mudminnow has changed considerably since they were first documented as a new spe- cies almost 100 years ago, and we look forward to seeing that story evolve over the next century. Our lab is planning a pub- lic workshop for this fall to communicate recent research and status of this fascinating fish; to request an announcement for the workshop or if you are simply interested in Olympic mudminnow, you can email the author at lkuehne@uw.edu. Eric Carlsen, fish passage consultant, measures the diameter of a culvert which poses a barrier to juvenile fish seeking cold water refuges. Photo: Luke Kelly, Trout Unlimited Mudminnows from page 4 NPC MRC — 7 Marine Spatial Plan for Washington’s Pacific Coast Adopted by State The WA Department of Ecology announced its release of the Marine Spatial Plan for Washington’s Pacific Coast in June. The plan, developed with the participation of NPC MRC members, provides information on ocean uses and re- sources and a framework for evaluating proposed new ocean uses. Final documents are available online at: http://www. msp.wa.gov/learn/resources. The plan sets out strong policies for protecting fisheries and sensitive resources that are critical to our coastal communities and ocean health. It is intended to maximize Washington’s ability to review and influence decisions in federal waters and sets a foundation for contin- ued engagement and coordination with federal agencies and tribes. The planning process also pro- duced maps, an economic analysis, ecosystem indicators and models, and a recreation study. Also in June, President Trump rescinded the executive order by Pres- ident Obama that supported volun- tary marine spatial planning. Trump issued a new executive order to replace it, which encourages more drilling and other industrial uses and no longer requires federal agencies to continue planning with states and tribes for the future of coasts and the ocean. RainFest Parade Marching Band: Deborah Dillon, Cindy Reichelt (top of head), Tina Machete, Howard Welsh and Chiggers Stokes. Photo: Tami Pokorny MY COASTMY COMMUNITY Community Hero Video Competition 2018 Submission Deadline: October 1st, 2018 You could win up to $750 in prizes and have your video shown at the Marine Resource Committee’s Summit in October! For details, visit https://washington.surfrider.org/mycoast/ or e-mail mc2@surfrider.org Members of the Surfrider Foundation Leadership Academy (R to L) Johannes Ariens, Natalie Lord, Rebecca Blasko, Audrey Lamb, Kyle Deerkop, Sarah Bisson, Deborah Moriarty, and Daniel Ravenel. Photo: Tami Pokorny Thank you, Wahkiakum County MRC for an Excellent 2017 MRC Summit! 8 — NPC MRC River & Ocean Film Festival Thanks to the timing of tides friendly to the spring beach cleanup, RainFest 2018 was a one-weekend extravaganza hosted by the Rainforest Council for the Arts in partnership with the NPC MRC and many other local orga- nizations. A huge THANK YOU to the Council and all of the vol- unteers who made it a success: too many to list, but we appreciate you all very much! Extra special thanks to the Olympic Peninsula Guides’ Association for connect- ing community members and local rivers by providing free float trips (and rootbeer floats) and to many of Forkestra’s musicians for accompanying the parade and providing entertainment ahead of the film festival. It’s not too early to think about making your own short film for submission to the 2019 festival by mid-March! For more information about the film festival and links to past films, search the internet for: “River and Ocean Film Festival.” Heather Lewis leads the Umbrella Parade down Main Street with Mr. Redd the Salmon. Photo: Tami Pokorny The audience gathers for the 2018 River & Ocean Film Festival at the Rainforest Arts Center. Photo: Tami Pokorny Forkestra members Howard Welsh, trumpet, Tina Machete, flute, Deborah Dillon, guitar, Cindy Reichelt, violin, and Barbara Norwiki ,violin, play music before the films. Photo: Tami Pokorny Rainforest Council for the Arts and friends: Jessica Mishler, Lela Kriebel, Debbie Anderson, Sue Shane, Liane White, Laura Kesey Farrell, Marina Chase, and Linda Offutt. Photo: Tami Pokorny NPC MRC — 9 2018 Washington Coast Cleanup Yeilds Tons of Debris On April 2018, 1,205 volunteers loaded 21 dumpsters with marine debris from 53 beaches, collecting 32,600 pounds of material! Approximately 120 miles of beaches, two-thirds of the miles of beaches between the mouth of the Columbia River and Cape Flattery, were cleaned. Here’s how the north coast weighed out (some beach locations share a dumpster) for a total of 12,420 pounds, or 38% of the total amount for the coast plus twenty miles along the Strait of Juan de Fuca: Hobuck (includes Tsoo Yess): 2,000 lbs Shi Shi: 1,500 lbs Ozette: 2,040 lbs Three Rivers: 1,000 lbs Rialto: 600 lbs Hoh Reservation: 2,000 lbs Ruby Beach: 1,020 lbs Beach 4: 600 lbs Kalaloch: 1,070 lbs South Beach: 600 lbs Very tired and inspired WA CoastSaver at the Ozette Triangle after 9 miles of hiking. Photo: ONP Ranger Scott Mazzone, Shellfish Biologist for the Quinault Tribe, provides the scale for the ten tons of trash collected at Point Grenville. Photo: Courtesy WA CoastSavers Collected materials from Kalaloch beaches provided by Kelsie Donelycott (WA CoastSaver of the Year 2017). Photo: Kelsie Donelycott Large truck load of marine debris col- lected from Hobuck and Tsoo-Yess beach. Photo: Kathleen McKeegan, OCNMS AmeriCorpsSave the Date! The next Washington Coast Cleanup is April 20, 2019! Watch the Coastsavers website for more information: www.coastsavers.org 10 — NPC MRC North Pacific Coast MRC c/o JCPH 615 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 Printed on 30% Post Consumer Waste Recycled paper NPC MRC Tami Pokorny Coordinator, Editor Phone: 360-379-4498 tpokorny@co.jefferson.wa.us Robin Denney (Makah Tribe) Jennifer Hagen (Quileute Tribe) Joe Gilbertson (Hoh Tribe) Rod Fleck (City of Forks) Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County) Deb Kucipeck (Clallam County) Alice Ryan (CC Citizen – Recreational Groups) John Hunter (CC Citizen – Education/Environmental Groups) Katie Krueger (CC Citizen – Scientific Community) Tony Petrillo (JC Citizen – Economic Groups) Jill Silver (JC Citizen – Conservation/Environmental Groups) Chiggers Stokes (JC Citizen – Recreational Groups) NPC MRC member Jill Silver takes a seat on a Rialto Beach “legacy” stump. What does this stump say about how the beach is changing? Write us with your ideas: tpokorny@co.jefferson.wa.us