Resource Library
Our library contains a collection of materials from projects and meetings brought to you by the Northwest Straits Commission and the seven Marine Resources Committees. Please contact Commission staff if you are unable to find what you are looking for online.
Enter keywords to search below. Results will include resources that contain any, but not necessarily all, of the keywords.
Marine Shoreline Protection Assessment for Skagit County
This assessment prepared by the Skagit Land Trust (SLT) is intended to help identify and prioritize marine shoreline parcels in private ownership. SLT wants to use this assessment to promote proactive outreach to landowners in targeted areas, those that have the most conservation value potential.
By: Kari Odden, Skagit Land Trust
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Habitat
Location: Skagit County
Length: 41
SoundIQ Tutorial
This is a step by step guide for startup, and basic functions with the SoundIQ program.
By: Northwest Straits Initiative
Published:
Benchmark: Sound Science
Location: Island County, Northwest Straits
Length: 2
Snohomish County 2013 Derelict Fishing Gear Project
The goals of the 2013 Snohomish MRC derelict gear project were to locate and remove derelict fishing gear from a specific study area in the commonly fished commercial, Tribal and recreational crab fishing area of Port Gardner. Additionally, derelict crab pot removal data summarizing number of pots lost and
escape cord compliance was also analyzed.
By: Natural Resources Consultants, Inc
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Habitat
Location: Snohomish County
Length: 24
Fidalgo Bay Day 2013
Fidalgo Bay Day 2013, A Public Education Program Sponsored by Skagit County Marine Resources Committee, Anacortes Community Maritime Center
By: Skagit Marine Resources Committee
Published:
Benchmark: Education and Outreach
Location: Skagit County
Length: 30
Juvenile Salmon and Nearshore Fish Use in Shallow Intertidal Habitat Associated with Cornet Bay Restoration, 2012
This report is meant to inform local citizens and Cornet Bay project partners about fish populations currently using the Cornet Bay area. It focuses on fish species composition and relative abundance along the altered shoreline at the Cornet Bay Day Use Area and adjacent natural nearshore habitat in spring 2012, the fourth and final sampling season prior to restoration.
By: Sarah Schmidt
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Species
Location: Island County
Length: 17
Pigeon Guillemot Study
The objective of this study was to establish baseline data on the population of Pigeon Guillemots on Whidbey Island, Washington. These are the only seabirds that regularly nest on Whidbey Island and remain in the Salish Sea year-round, making them an ideal indicator of Salish Sea conditions. The colonies were monitored for prey fed to chicks, fledgling success, and population.
By: Kelly L. Zupich
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Species
Location: Island County
Length: 16
Preventing the Loss of Gillnets in Puget Sound Salmon Fisheries
This report provides recommendations to prevent the loss of nets in order to avert the re-accumulation of gillnets in current and future saltwater gillnet fisheries.
By: Caroline Gibson, Northwest Straits Commission, with The Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: Northwest Straits
Length: 15
Capitol Hill Ocean Week 2013: Summary Report
A summary report from Capitol Hill Ocean Week in June 2013 in which pressing issues of habitat protection, ocean acidification, and climate change adaptation featured prominently in many discussions.
By:
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: Northwest Straits
Length: 16
Promoting ISO Metadata Standards Through Application to Puget Sound Nearshore Data
The Northwest Straits Commission completed the creation and subsequent conversion of metadata to ISO format for eleven data layers served on the City of Bellingham server via Sound IQ - a web mapping application of nearshore data layers. This document describes the process of creating/converting metadata and some of the associated technical and policy issues.
By: Suzanne Shull and Caroline Gibson
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: Northwest Straits
Length: 12
Proceedings of the 8th Annual Elwha Nearshore Consortium Workshop
This summary in includes preliminary data presented at the 2013 Elwha Nearshore Consortium, updates of work to date on the Elwha nearshore restoration, and a discussion of the next steps to best inform management needs.
By: Anne Shaffer
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Habitat
Location: Clallam County
Length: 44
Deepwater Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Protocols: Identifying and Assessing the Feasibility of Removal of Deepwater Fishing Nets from Puget Sound, Washington
This report explores various removal protocols for deepwater derelict net removal, including the use of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), grapples, and deepwater divers.The most promising is the use of ROVs, and a pilot project to test this removal method in shallow water prior to testing in deeper water is recommended. The report was commissioned by NOAA Protected Species Program in the interests of deepwater rockfish recovery planning.
By: Natural Resources Consultants, Inc.
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: Puget Sound
Length: 26
Restoration of the Native Oyster in Fidalgo Bay Year Ten Report- Skagit Marine Resources Committee
In 2002, a restoration project began in Fidalgo Bay to establish several native oyster beds. Since the project began and several more plantings have occurred, the survival rate, growth, and natural recruitment have been deemed high and additional natural recruitment has been seen in Fidalgo Bay at areas outside the seed planting sites. This report covers the monitoring activities carried out in 2012, ten years later.
By: Kailey Gabrian-Voorhees, Paul Dinnel and Nam Siu
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Species
Location: Skagit County
Length: 56
2012 Aerial and Underwater Videography Assessments of Eelgrass in Island County
The objective of this eelgrass assessment project was to monitor the health of eelgrass (Zostera marina) beds in Island County. Aerial and underwater videography were used to measure the area of the largest eelgrass beds in regions sensitive to damage from human or environmental threat. The primary regions of interest included Holmes Harbor, Penn Cove and Cornet Bay. The key finding was that little had changed over the four years of observation.
By: Gregg M. Ridder - Island County Beach Watchers (WSU)
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Habitat
Location: Island County
Length: 33
Summary of Ocean Acidification workshops: January - April 2013
A consortium of organizations worked together to establish a series of five workshops in the north sound area aimed at providing information to residents about ocean acidification. The Northwest Straits Commission acted as the lead for the events, providing logistical support and overall messaging consistency. Presented in this document is a summary of the workshop locations, speakers, and newspaper articles published in response to these events.
By: Northwest Straits Commission
Published:
Benchmark: Education and Outreach
Location: Northwest Straits
Length: 7
2013 Marine Managers' Workshop Agenda
2013 Marine Managers' Workshop Agenda- San Juan Marine Resources Committee
By: San Juan MRC
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: San Juan County
Length: 4
Olympia Oyster Field Guide
This is a picture guide for identifying characteristics of Washington State's native oyster, as well as recognizing habitat features that support Olympia oysters in the Puget Sound. Today less than 4% of the historic core populations of these oysters remains, but a revamped loyalty for these shellfish is bringing about increased preservation and re-introduction efforts.
By: Betsy Peabody & Hannah Davis
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Species
Location: Puget Sound
Length: 22
Snohomish County 2012 Derelict Fishing Gear Project
The goals of the 2012 Snohomish MRC derelict gear project were to locate and remove derelict fishing gear from a specific study area in the commonly fished commercial, Tribal and recreational crab fishing area of Port Gardner and to continue using this area for crab pot loss rate measurements by comparing results from past and future surveys and removal operations.
By: Natural Resources Consultants, Inc.
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Habitat
Location: Snohomish County
Length: 27
Skagit County Marine Resources Committee 2012 Annual Report
Annual report of the Skagit County Marine Resources Committee, 2012.
By: Skagit MRC
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: Skagit County
Length: 17
Port Susan Marine Stewardship Area Conservation Action Plan Phase II
The Port Susan Marine Stewardship Area (MSA) Conservation Action Plan aims to achieve a healthy marine and estuarine ecosystem with thriving biodiversity and strong recreational and resource based industries. The goal of the Port Susan MSA conservation designation is to generate responsibility within the relevant authorities and encourage stewardship by the users of marine environments for the conservation of natural, cultural, and scenic values. This report summarizes the continued collaborative efforts.
By: Meghan Massaua, Audrey Kuklok, Abby Hook, Kathleen Herrmann, Kate Litle, Jess Toro
Published:
Benchmark: All
Location: Snohomish County
Length: 146
Pigeon Guillemot Study, Whidbey Island 2012 Breeding Season
A monitoring study of breeding Pigeon Guillemots was conducted on two beaches of Whidbey Island. The objective of this study was to continue building a data baseline of the Pigeon Guillemot population on Whidbey Island. Colony behavior, active burrows, prey selection to chicks, frequency of deliveries, and fledging success were documented. The breeding success of the Pigeon Guillemot has been correlated with the overall health of the Salish Sea.
By: Govinda Rosling, Island MRC
Published:
Benchmark: Education and Outreach
Location: Island County
Length: 11
Fidalgo Bay Day 2012
Fidalgo Bay Day 2012, A Public Education Program Sponsored by Skagit County Marine Resources Committee, Anacortes Community Maritime Center
By: Skagit MRC
Published:
Benchmark: Education and Outreach
Location: Skagit County
Length: 28
Conservation and Ecology of Marine Forage Fishes- Proceedings of a Research Symposium, September 2012
Locally and globally, there is growing recognition of the critical roles that herring, smelt, sand lance, eulachon, and other forage fishes play in marine ecosystems. Scientific and resource management entities throughout the Salish Sea, agree that extensive information gaps exist, both in basic biological knowledge and parameters critical to fishery management. Communication and collaboration among researchers also is inadequate.
By: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Theresa Liedtke, Caroline Gibson, Dayv Lowry, Duane Fagergren
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Species
Location: Northwest Straits
Length: 34
Which way to the beach? and other considerations of fish as forage
The Northwest Straits Initiative has worked to protect forage fish and nearshore marine habitats since 1998. In 2010, the organization established a Forage Fish Program to bolster research and conservation efforts around the region. Documenting spawning beaches continues to be one necessary step toward forage fish protection, under a ‘no net loss’ requirement in the Washington Administrative Code.
By: Caroline Gibson
Published:
Benchmark: Marine Habitat
Location: Northwest Straits
Length: 1
Northwest Project: MRC Administration and Operations- Plastic Cap Recycling Art Project
The Skagit County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) partnered with several other organizations, businesses, and community volunteers to help create large murals made out of recycled caps and lids. The murals were used as an educational platform to carry out the message about plastics, how plastics can harm the marine environment, and how we can all make a difference by applying the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) to our daily lives. Here is a comprehensive report on the project.
By: Skagit MRC
Published:
Benchmark: Education and Outreach
Location: Skagit County
Length: 30
Community Beach Seining at Ship Harbor, Fidalgo Island, Washington, 2011 and 2012
The purpose of the Community Beach Seining project is to facilitate citizen science and provide education and outreach activities in local communities by using interested community volunteers to collect fish monitoring data. Beach seining at Ship Harbor is continuing, in part, the fish sampling initiated at this location in 2010 as part of Skagit County Marine Resources Committee’s (Skagit MRC) Cannery Pond Evaluation Project.
By: Paul Dinnel and Jude Apple, Shannon Point Marine Center
Published:
Benchmark: Education and Outreach
Location: Skagit County
Length: 22