S’Klallam tribes apply for oyster aquaculture permit for Dabob Bay – Port Townsend Leader

Posted on June 7, 2017 by Al Bergstein

It’s being reported in the Port Townsend Leader this morning that the Jamestown and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribes are proposing a new aquaculture farm on 10 acres in Dabob Bay. It’s worth noting that clamming and oyster harvesting are treaty resources of these tribes.

Pick up the leader or go online to read it. You will need to subscribe if you go online or purchase a copy at the newstand.

The public has until June 23 to comment on a proposed shoreline substantial development permit for 10 acres of suspended tumble oyster aquaculture, submitted by the Jamestown and Port Gamble S’Klallam tribes for Dabob Bay.

The tribes are proposing to produce shellfish – oysters and Manila clams – for human consumption

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West Coast Ocean Acidification Rates Among Highest In World – KUOW

Posted on June 7, 2017 by Al Bergstein

These findings spell bad news for our shellfish industry as well as our fisheries. It appears we are ground zero for ocean acidification and we have a administration in Washington D.C. that ignores any science that doesn’t fit it’s narrative. It’s all up to us folks. Thankfully we have a governor and representatives  in Olympia that still do believe in science.

The United States is stepping away from the Paris Climate Agreement, but the consequences of climate change will be more difficult to leave behind. Take ocean acidification, a major emerging threat to West Coast fisheries.

Researchers at Oregon State University have recorded some of the highest levels of ocean acidification in the world – and they exist right off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

http://www.tinyurl.com/y7sjphuy

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So… after Paris, now what?

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Al Bergstein

I doubt that anyone reading this hasn’t heard that the President of the 2nd largest polluting nation in the world has decided to walk away from a voluntary agreement to reduce greenhouse gases in the face of irrefutable proof that the earth is heading towards disaster within the lifetime of people alive now. He did this by saying he “supports the environment”, which one? And exactly how?

If this was an asteroid heading towards Earth, I doubt he would be equivocating. And if 99 engineers told him that if he drove his car across a certain bridge that it would fall down, would he pile his kids and wife into his limo and head off across? As Sally Field as “momma” told Forest Gump so clearly, “Stupid is as stupid does.”

So now, we go on without the federal government’s support. We can do that, we must do it and we will do it. Real leaders, not the fake ones in the White House and the EPA, have stood up and declared they will. Our Governor Jay Inslee, Oregon and California’s governors, Bloomberg in NYC, ex-Governor of California Arnold Schwartznegger and many many others are committing to simply go around and through the Federal Government.

The President has abrogated his primary role, which is to protect the people of the United States from harm and protect the Constitution. It will be meaningless to protect the constitution if the planet dies. His scientific brain trust and numerous business leaders advised him not to pull out of the agreement. Our allies and religious leaders did too.Add to this, his office of Emergency Management, during the beginning of this hurricane season, still is without a leader. .Mr Trump spends more time tweeting  at 6 AM  than actually doing something about filling key roles in his administration. His lack of leadership and his filling his closest ranks with traitors to this country, people who lack the moral compass to not fraternize with the enemy behind the backs of our own intelligence community is unprecedented. In making the announcement the other day, he had he nerve to say he “represented Pittsburg” when he lost Pittsburg to Hillary Clinton by almost 80 to 20%. He is a habitual liar and a small percentage of the American people believe him all the time.

So stay calm and carry on. This too will pass. And let’s find a leader for 2020 that can win in Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin before the Republicans realize that Trump is more of a liability than an asset and impeach him. In the meantime there is a lot of work to do.

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‘Bold actions’ to save Puget Sound salmon gain qualified support – Chris Dunagan

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Tribes now looking at next steps to save remaining salmon stocks.

Native American tribes in the Puget Sound region are calling for “bold actions” to reverse the decline of Puget Sound Chinook salmon, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Such actions would include:
— Protecting all remaining salmon habitat in and around Puget Sound with more consistent and enforceable land-use regulations;
— Preventing water uses that would limit salmon recovery;
— Improving management of predators, including the seals and sea lions that eat Chinook; and
— Increasing dramatically the current spending on salmon recovery — some 50- to 100-fold — with perhaps additional new funding sources to be added.
The ideas were presented to the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council on Thursday by tribal representative Dave Herrera, speaking for the Puget Sound Tribal Management Conference. “The way we are managing lands is not working,” Herrera said. “It may be working for people, but it is not working for fish.” Chris Dunagan reports. (Puget Sound Institute)

http://www.pugetsoundinstitute.org/2017/05/bold-actions-to-save-puget-sound-salmon-gain-qualified-support/

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President’s fiscal 2018 budget would slash EPA spending by 30% – CNN and NY Times

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Trumps dead on arrival budget and the disaster that it wants to create.

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 budget request would slash EPA spending by almost a third, according to a copy of the President’s proposal obtained by CNN.

The budget blueprint, which the White House plans to submit to Congress next week, would cut the EPA’s total budget by more than 30% and its operational budget by 35% compared to current funding levels.
Some of the biggest cuts would go to categorical grants for science and technology and environmental program and management spending, which would face 40% and 35% decreases, respectively. Some of the hardest-hit programs would include clean air efforts in the environmental program and management category, which would be cut nearly in half.
The budget would also zero out money for states for dealing with such problems as non-point source pollution, radon, lead, underground storage tanks, pollution prevention and beach protection.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/politics/congress-epa-final-budget-cuts/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/climate/trump-epa-budget-superfund.html

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Disabled tug towed into Port Angeles harbor-PDN

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Al Bergstein

We dodged a big bullet on Wednesday. A disabled tug, towing a barge that if I had to guess was loaded with bunker fuel, was aided by the rescue tug from Neah Bay. A reminder that many of us, from Fred Felleman (currently a Port Commissioner in Seattle), People for Puget Sound (Kathy Fletcher, and their staff and board, myself included), the Makah Tribe, and especially then Representative now Senator Keven Van De Wege (who was awarded environmentalist of the year by People for Puget Sound for this bill) pushed a bill over the goal line after 11 years of trying to get this tug funded in Neah Bay.  Whatever small costs per year to keep this tug operational pales in comparison to the environmental damage done to the Strait and coast if this disabled tug was allowed to go ashore.

The 113-foot Mauna Loa along with its 320-foot barge were met by the crew of tug vessel Lauren Foss of Neah Bay, which is towing the disabled vessel to Port Angeles. It is expected to arrive at 11 p.m. tonight.  (Wednesday evening)

Disabled tug towed into Port Angeles Harbor, then taken to Seattle

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On the Trail of an Oil Tanker – The Globe and Mail

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Al Bergstein

What is happening now, and what our future will increasingly look like until we, at some distant point in time, wean ourselves off petroleum. That is not going to happen soon. We will be very lucky not to have an Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Strait or the San Juans.

Don’t miss the incredible interactive web illustration that goes with this.

The Globe follows the Eser K, carrying more than 356,000 barrels of Alberta crude oil destined for California, through the most hazardous stretch in B.C. waters to observe the risks and safeguards in place, Justine Hunter reports from aboard the Seaspan Raven

On the Trail of a oil Tanker

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Damage estimate soars to $57M, but insurers likely to pay in flood at West Point wastewater plant – Seattle Times

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Al Bergstein

The real damage is likely to not be known for decades. That’s the effect on our fisheries and underwater world from this massive, unprecedented spill that in effect, brought Seattle to the 1920s all over again dumping untreated sewage into the Sound for months.

The new price tag for the catastrophic Feb. 9 flood that crippled the West Point Treatment Plant is up to $57 million — more than double the previous estimate. But taxpayers may be off the hook for most of it. The Wastewater Treatment Division, in a letter Friday to the Metropolitan King County Council, updated its initial estimate of $25 million in damage, stating major repairs and replacement of equipment will continue through October and cost $49 million to $57 million. Christine Willmsen reports. (Seattle Times)

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/damage-estimate-soars-but-insurers-likely-to-pay-in-flood-at-west-point-wastewater-plant/

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Hood Canal property will compensate for Navy construction at Bangor – Watching our Waterways

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Good news. Some movement on getting property to offset the Navy’s construction on the shoreline.

Hood Canal Coordinating Council has finally found some shoreline property to compensate for environmental damage from the Navy’s $448-million Explosives Handling Wharf at Bangor.
The shoreline of a 6.7-acre property to be used for mitigation of the Navy’s Explosives Handling Wharf at Bangor. // Photo: Hood Canal Coordinating Council The 6.7 acres of waterfront property — located near Kitsap County’s Anderson Landing Preserve on Hood Canal — becomes the first saltwater mitigation site in Washington state under an in-lieu-fee mitigation program. The $275,000 purchase was approved Wednesday by the coordinating council, which manages the in-lieu-fee program. Chris Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2017/05/19/hood-canal-property-will-compensate-for-navy-construction-at-bangor/

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Washington state loses big legal battle over salmon culverts – AP

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Al Bergstein

As if it’s not bad enough with the lack of money to deal with the public schools, now this. I think a change to a state income tax is a way forward to properly make the wealthiest of our high tech workers, etc. pay their fair share. Property taxes are a joke. You can’t get to funding of all our needs by property taxes and you end up hurting fixed income elderly the worse.

Washington state lost a major legal battle Friday that could force it to spend nearly $2 billion to restore salmon habitat by removing barriers blocking fish migration. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year affirmed a lower court’s 2013 ruling ordering the state to fix or replace hundreds of culverts — large pipes that allow streams to pass beneath roads but block migrating salmon. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/washington-state-loses-big-legal-battle-over-salmon-culverts

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More concerns raised about flame retardants – NY Times

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Al Bergstein

The New York Times has a story that is quite disturbing, about new concerns with flame retardants, found in almost every home and office these days. It now looks like they could be the root cause of a cat wasting disease that has been rampant throughout the U.S. and the developed world. Our State Senator Kevin van de Wege has been a leader in trying to get these chemicals permanently banned in our state and with this article, perhaps he can finally convince remaining holdouts to get these chemicals banned from our homes.  PBDEs are found throughout Puget Sound waters. They likely are found in our fish. And they are found in our homes. Almost every couch seat cushion contains them. As does our electronics. You can help by letting Senator Van de Wege know you want to see him push to get this finalized next legislative session.

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EVENT: June 5th- New Giants of the Salish Sea

Posted on May 17, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Worth attending!

Calambokidis_June5_2017

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British Columbia Green Party shakes the vote

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Expanding their reach from 1 to 3 members of Parliament, the BC Green party under the leadership of Andrew Weaver, has shaken BC politics to it’s core. The current situation after the vote showed Premiere Christie Clark losing her majority and having to form the first minority government in 65 years. Credit the Green Party for this change.

The Greens have obviously brought better candidates to the election, and some races are still too close to call. But Clark was clear that she is going to be governing from a minority position.

It is great to see a party that has been unable to bring significant candidates that can win to a position to influence the ability to govern. The tradeoffs to be made to allow Clark to continue governing means that the environment and other key Green issues, are going to be heard in a new and more significant way.

I like Vaughn Palmer’s take on the outcome.

http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/vaughn-palmer-not-sure-who-won-yet-but-clark-definitely-lost

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Sudden Oak Disease Arrives in Washington State – KUOW

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Very disturbing news given that the disease can attack rhododendrons, Douglas firs, and western larches. 

A Disease That’s Felled Forests in California and Oregon Shows up in Washington http://www.opb.org/news/article/a-disease-thats-felled-forests-in-california-and-oregon-shows-up-in-washington/

It’s a sunny spring morning at the Bloedel Reserve, a public garden on Puget Sound’s Bainbridge Island. Roads lead to paths lined with blossoming bushes and trees. Darren Strenge, the reserve’s plant health manager, is showing me the rhododendron glen. That’s where a gardener first spotted a problem back in 2015: a plant that wasn’t healthy…. Strenge took a sample and sent it into a lab. The answer came back: the plant had the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. The disease has decimated forests in California and infected forests in southwestern Oregon. And now it’s made a return to Western Washington, where rhododendrons, Douglas firs, and western larches are most susceptible. It has the potential for such disastrous effects that agencies, scientists, and citizens are working together to try to keep it under control. Eilís O’Neill reports. (KUOW/EarthFix)

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EVENT: Digging for Dinner! Saturday!

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Al Bergstein

This is always a fun day. Never dug for clams? A chance to learn with a pro. Bring the kids! My son always loved digging clams. Still does.

Diggin' for Dinner 2017v_6POSTER

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More on the Green Crab invasion

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Al Bergstein

April 26, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

MaryAnn Wagner, Washington Sea Grant, 206-616-6353, maryannb@uw.edu

Allen Pleus, Aquatic Invasive Species Unit Lead, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, 360-902-2724, allen.pleus@dfw.wa.gov

Lorenz Sollmann, Deputy Project Leader, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 360-457-8451, Lorenz_Sollmann@fws.gov

Invasive Green Crab Found at Dungeness Spit

Sequim, WA — A new population of invasive European green crab has been found at Dungeness Spit, near Sequim, Washington, rekindling concern over the potential for damage to local marine life and shorelines.

Staff and volunteers from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which manages Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), captured a total of 13 European green crab over the past two weeks as part of Washington Sea Grant’s (WSG) Crab Team early detection program. These numbers indicate that the invasive crabs are more abundant at Dungeness Spit than at the two other known locations in Washington’s inland waters.

“Directly addressing the threat of green crab requires both early detection and rapid response, with the goal of finding isolated populations when they are still rare and reducing or eliminating them,” said Allen Pleus, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Aquatic Invasive Species Unit Lead.

The first discovery of this globally damaging invasive crab in Washington’s Salish Sea was made by WSG Crab Team volunteers last August on San Juan Island, followed quickly by a detection at the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (PBNERR), near Mt. Vernon. In both cases, follow-up rapid response trapping and removal by a joint WSG, WDFW, and PBNERR team showed that the crabs were present, but still very rare in those locations.

“This is a very different situation,” says Crab Team Program Coordinator, Emily Grason. “In Padilla Bay, the crabs we found were too far apart to find and mate with each other, but at Dungeness Spit, multiple crabs are being found at the same site, over successive days of trapping. This indicates a situation where the population could grow very quickly, if we don’t intervene.”

Dungeness Spit NWR, in coordination with WDFW and the WSG Crab Team staff, immediately responded to the initial detection with a rapid response trapping effort and are currently working on a plan with local stakeholders for ongoing response and removal efforts for the area.

European green crab is one of the most globally-successful invasive species, and established populations are problems in Australia, South Africa, and the East Coast of the U.S. In places where the crab has become abundant, it has been blamed for damaging shellfish harvests and decimating sea grass beds. Research on the U.S. West Coast has indicated that native organisms such as shore crabs, young Dungeness crabs, as well as shellfish, could be harmed by invasive green crab. The nearest known population of green crab to Washington state is just across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, west of Victoria, British Columbia, in Sooke Inlet.

The sites at Dungeness Spit are part of WSG Crab Team’s rapidly expanding early detection network, which currently numbers 36 sites, maintained by volunteers, tribes and agencies.

Concerned citizens can help by keeping a lookout for European green crab when visiting salt marshes and pocket estuaries. For information on how to recognize the crab, and likely places to look, visit the Crab Team website: wsg.washington.edu/crabteam. Anyone who thinks they have found a green crab should leave the crab in place and email photographs to the WSG Crab Team at crabteam@uw.edu.

Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington, provides statewide research, outreach and education services addressing the challenges facing our ocean and coasts. The National Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. http://www.wsg.washington.edu.

Join the conversation: WASeaGrant and Facebook.com/WaSeaGrant. Crab Team Facebook.com and Crab Team Twitter

Photos available. Captions below:

1-European Green Crab found at Dungeness Spit, Sequim, April 2017. Photo by Allen Pleus, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

2- Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge Deputy Project Leader with USFWS, Lorenz Sollmann, putting out traps for the European Green Crab with UW Dr. Sean McDonald in background. Photo by Allen Pleus, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife at Dungeness Spit, Sequim, WA 2017.

 

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EVENT: SCIENCE CAFE- Port Angeles, Sequim -PT Canceled- 4/25-6-7

Posted on April 24, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Port Townsend has been canceled, but the other two are still on.

Science Cafe speaker schedule

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EVENT: Celebration of Science Day in Port Angeles Saturday April 22nd

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Al Bergstein

Science Celebration Poster

Science Celebration speaker schedule

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Invasive Green Crabs found in Dungeness Refuge

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Al Bergstein

This just in. The finding of these crabs in Dungeness  changes everything. This is a very real threat to our marine life as well as our sewer system outfalls, among other things. Those of us in the Marine Resources Committees and the county people, have known that green crabs were found randomly in isolated numbers west along the Canadian coast, and there have been limited findings of them at a few places around the north Sound. With this discovery though it means there is no turning back and stopping them is going to be very problematic, if it’s even possible. One crab can eat up to 45 clams a day and they reproduce worse than bunny rabbits or rats.

According to the USDA:

Impact: Preys on bivalves and other crustaceans, such as soft-shell clams and scallops (Grosholz and Ruiz 2002)

Heads up that 12 European green crab have been caught so far since last week at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. We have been working with USFWS and WA Sea Grant to support a limited rapid response and planning on setting up a stakeholder meeting in the next couple weeks to discuss implications and options. We’ve been in contact with Kelly Toy of Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

Allen Pleus
WDFW AIS and BW Unit Lead
(360) 902-2724 office
Allen.Pleus@dfw.wa.gov<mailto:Allen.Pleus@dfw.wa.gov>

Here is a fun short video about them.

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Climate change causes glacial river in Yukon to change direction – CBC

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Al Bergstein

No. This is not fake. Climate change is real and having real world affects. This appears to not affect anyone’s drinking water, but imagine if it were a river with millions of people living along it.

Glacier retreated so much that its meltwater switched course, in an event not documented in modern times. Brandie Weikle reports. (CBC)

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technology/climate-change-yukon-river-piracy-1.4070153

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