Should You Install Solar Panels on Your Roof? Let Google Help You Decide. – Slate

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Al Bergstein

This is an interesting application from Google to help you determine whether solar will be worth it for you.

Google’s been busy rebranding itself as a 21st-century jack-of-all-trades. On Monday, it announced a revolutionary way of finding an easy answer to one of the most difficult questions for climate-conscious homeowners: Should I install solar panels?

Google_project_sunroof_an_astoundingly_simple_way_to_get_started_with_solar

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Dungeness River Fish Passage Video

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Al Bergstein

An update on the efforts to allow returning salmon to get up the Dungeness River. Thanks to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, who continue to show leadership and dedication to saving the historic runs of fish on the river that their people have fished forever. This is the effects of our inability to deal with the root causes of climate change, which is out of control fossil fuel use.

Dungeness River Fish Passage 2015C from NW Indian Fisheries Commission on Vimeo.

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State fines Brinnon boat owner more than $16,000 for spill after sinking; DNR presents $123,446 bill for vessel’s recovery – PDN

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Al Bergstein

An unfortunate set of events, both for the owner, and taxpayers that had to pay to have it towed away and dismantled.

The state Department of Ecology has fined the owner of Avalon, a 1929 wooden purse seiner, $16,244 after it sank and spilled diesel near Brinnon on Sept. 14. The owner, Randall Schleich, 56, of Brinnon, said he plans to partially contest the ruling, although he said he doesn’t have the resources to hire legal counsel and accepts responsibility for the spill. “I am going to contest it because I can’t afford to pay it,” he said. Charlie Bermant reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150816/NEWS/308169980/state-fines-brinnon-boat-owner-more-than-16000-for-spill-after

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Volunteers provide crucial surveys of sea stars to monitor a mysterious, devastating disease – Everett Herald

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Al Bergstein

I’ve not seen an article on the sea star wasting disease issue lately. Here’s a short update.

Touching sea stars sheltering during low tide will reveal not sturdy, sandpiper skin but a soft and pulpy texture with white and oozing lesions, its limp, weakened rays and strained tube feet unable to grasp at craggy surfaces.  But what has caused such a gruesome change in our ochre sea stars?

Will the sea stars ever be able to recover?http://www.islandsweekly.com/news/319471421.html Anna Meyer reports. (Islands’ Weekly)

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Biotoxin infesting part of Hood Canal usually free of it – PDN

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Al Bergstein

Warning for those of you going out to do some shellfish gathering.

…. The Department of Health found high levels of the marine biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning in Hood Canal early this summer, leading the state to close several beaches in Jefferson and Mason counties to shellfish harvest, many for the first time. Aria Shephard Bull reports. (Kitsap Sun)

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/biotoxin-infesting-part-of-hood-canal-usually-free-of-it_77950401

See also: More shellfish harvest closures in effect in Clallam County; shut areas stretch from Cape Flattery to Jefferson line http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150816/NEWS/308169987/more-shellfish-harvest-closures-in-effect-in-clallam-county-shut (Peninsula Daily News)

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Interest flags in pink salmon fishery at Dungeness River mouth after number of returning fish turns out lower – PDN

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Al Bergstein

I’ve shot video on the small group of tribal fishermen that work the beaches at the mouth of the Dungeness. They are out at dawn and often working hard to catch a few fish. It appears that this year will be a washout for them. The fish just aren’t returning in numbers large enough to warrant going out.

Interest has waned in a pink salmon fishery at the mouth of the Dungeness River now that the numbers originally expected haven’t developed, said the natural resources director for the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe. The beach seine fishery, in which weighted nets are used to pull fish to shore, was developed by co-managers of the Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam and Point No Point Treaty Council and approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to weed out some of the 1.3 million pinks expected to return this season, said Scott Chitwood on Friday. Leah Leach reports. (Peninsula Daily News)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150816/news/308169973/interest-flags-in-pink-salmon-fishery-at-dungeness-river-mouth-after

See also: Crews deepen channels to help struggling salmon amid drought http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/crews-deepen-channels-to-help-struggling-salmon/ Hal Bernton reports. (Seattle Times)

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Letters of opposition needed now on Navy Electronic Warfare Range

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Al Bergstein
This in from the Protect Olympic Peninsula people:
The Executive Director of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics told citizens that letters to Mr. Bonnie may be the best shot we have to defeat the plan of the Navy’s to turn the Olympic Peninsula into an Electronic Warfare Range.  We only have a few weeks left before the Forest Service makes its “decision”.
The letters don’t have to be long…but we need a lot of them! Can you spread this Alert through your own network, and perhaps share it with the younger generation who are so adept at social media? Know any groups who would post it on their Facebook page?
ACTION ALERT: SAVE OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
Please help save beautiful Olympic National Park from becoming a Warfare training Range! We have only a few weeks before the decision is made. YOUR voice is needed! See how you can help:
It has been recommended that the letters to Mr. Bonnie also be cc’d to our representatives. Thank you for caring and taking action.
Derek Kilmer’s exec secretary’s email address:

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Geoduck farms expand along with rules and critics -KING

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Al Bergstein

The conversion of Puget Sound beaches into industrial aqua farms continues. For some participants, like the Tribes, it’s all about attempting to continue a tradition that goes back thousands of years, and now has an economic component to it. The Tribes are reaching the end of having high quality geoducks for the ever expanding Chinese market.

For others like Taylor, it’s all about profit. (nothing wrong with that, as they are working within the system). And with all the governmental entities, like NOAA, Department of Ecology, and others convinced that “nothing is wrong with expanding aqua farming on our shores”, there is little left but lawsuits for those attempting to slow or stop their expansion. Follow the money.

While the number of acres seems so small as to make the general population wonder, “what’s the issue?”, the conversion often takes place on very beautiful beaches, many times with expensive homes sitting right above the commercial farm. Who wants a sea of nets covering their beaches, or a compression going all night in December at low tide. No beaches will likely ever be converted back once they have been put into industrial use.

New geoduck farming rules are rolling out across Puget Sound, prompting a renaissance in the clam harvest and a growing movement to stop it. In the last decade, Taylor Shellfish has expanded geoduck farms by 30 acres, with another 25 awaiting permit. They produce 700,000 pounds of geoduck per year, through which hundreds of jobs have been created. Their nursery is filled with tens of thousands of growing geoduck seed…. Now, counties across Puget Sound are adopting the new geoduck rules. That’s prompted renewed interest, along with big demand in Asia. The Department of Ecology counts 28 new geoduck farm permits since 2012. However, geoduck growth has also grown grit from critics. Alison Morrow reports. (KING)

http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/environment/2015/08/13/geoduck-farm-taylor-shellfish/31679243/

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Foundation removes 5,667 lost fishing nets from Puget Sound – AP, KOMO, and others

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Al Bergstein
nwstraits derelict

The boats used to haul up the derelict nets deliver the speakers to the celebration. Some of faces of the celebration.

Thursday in Everett, the Northwest Straits Initiative celebrated the culmination of it’s shallow water derelict net removal project. It’s been a great project and they hope to eventually get funding to go after the deep water nets next. But the numbers below are really impressive. The takeaways from today’s celebration was how politicians of both sides of the aisle actually came together to fund this project. Furthermore, both Republicans and Democrats who spoke, including Senator Patty Murray, hailed the fact that this is an environmental project that actually accomplished what it set out to do. The Northwest Straits fund our local Marine Resources Committee, which has established the eel grass protection zones in Port Townsend Bay, and helped implement and monitor shellfish protection zones in Mystery Bay and Lower Hadlock.

The Northwest Straits Initiative identified the problem of lost and abandoned (derelict) fishing gear in Puget Sound in 2001 and began removing this gear in 2002. Through the years, the program (now managed by the Northwest Straits Foundation) has combined aggressive removal operations with research and prevention outreach to combat this problem on all fronts. The simple goal is to eliminate harm from derelict fishing gear in Puget Sound. Over the course of 13 years, the program has evolved into a national model of how to effectively address this problem.

June 30, 2015 marked the culmination of the removal of shallow (to 105’) water legacy derelict nets in Puget Sound. 5,667 nets have been removed, recovering 812 acres of marine habitat and protecting from entanglement thousands of animals every year. This represents 94% of the estimated 6,000 nets lost over decades. This marks a major milestone in the recovery of Puget Sound.

The removed nets contained over 450,000 entangled animals representing over 260 unique species, including 65 mammals, 1,092 birds, and 5,659 fish. Animals caught and killed in the gear include porpoises, seals, otters, diving birds like pigeon guillemots and cormorants, sharks, salmon, crabs, and octopus. Removing 5,667 nets has protected more than 1,700 mammals, 28,000 birds, 110,000 fish, and over 4.4 million marine organisms in total, from entanglement in derelict gear annually. More information about this effort can be found at www.derelictgear.org. Because of this net removal work, porpoises, diving birds, and fish can now swim and dive in Puget Sound without the risk of being entangled in derelict fishing nets. They now have free access to over 800 acres of marine habitat formally covered by dangerous derelict fishing nets.

In Puget Sound, derelict fishing nets were identified as a stressor on ESA listed marbled murrelets, salmon, and rockfish. Culmination of this work marks the successful completion of Near Term Action B3.2.1 in the 2014 Puget Sound Action Agenda, the comprehensive plan designed to clean up Puget Sound by 2020.

This work was supported by literally dozens of organizations and thousands of individuals over the years. Its final funding was supported by a bipartisan team of state legislators working across the aisle to solve this seemingly daunting problem.

The Northwest Straits Foundation is now working in collaboration with the fishing industry and fisheries co-managers to ensure that newly lost nets do not become. It is also developing methods to remove derelict fishing nets from deeper water and addressing the problem of derelict shellfish pots.

The Northwest Straits Foundation is the non-profit partner of the Northwest Straits Initiative, a collaborative model for marine conservation with a vision of diverse communities working together to restore a thriving marine ecosystem in the Northwest Straits of the Salish Sea. The Foundation works in partnership with the Northwest Straits Commission and seven local Marine Resources Committees (MRCs) of the Northwest Straits whose members represent the diverse stakeholders of their communities, and who identify and implement local marine conservation and restoration projects in their communities. Northwest Straits Foundation works with the MRCS to develop projects and attain funding support, as well as implement regional restoration and education programs, including its internationally-recognized Derelict Gear Removal Program. See www.nwstraitsfoundation.orgfor more information.

KOMO short piece on NW Straits Initiative ending it’s successful Derelict

This week the organization is celebrating the removal of 5,667 such nets, a feat it calls a “major milestone in the recovery of Puget Sound,” according to a news release. The foundation has removed 94 percent of about 6,000 nets reported as lost in Puget Sound.

Mhttp://www.komonews.com/news/local/Foundation-removes-5667-lost-fishing-nets-from-Puget-Sound-321765361.html

Lost nets, crab pots pulled from Puget Sound waters http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article31054404.html
Divers pulled more than 5,660 derelict fishing nets from Puget Sound’s shallow water — within 105 feet of the surface — as part of the work to remove lost and abandoned gear that had snared and indiscriminately killed marine life, sometimes for decades. Bellingham-based Northwest Straits Foundation led the project. It started in 2002 and ended June 30 this year. About 3,800 crab pots also were removed. Kie Relyea reports. (Bellingham Herald) See also: Long-running effort to remove deadly ghost nets reaches major milestonehttp://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2015/08/13/long-running-effort-to-remove-deadly-ghost-nets-reaches-major-milestone/Christopher Dunagan reports. (Watching Our Water Ways)

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Judge declines to stop the Growler overflights on Whidbey Island  – Seattle Times

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Al Bergstein

A setback in the work to end the Growler overflight expansion. I think it might be appropriate for the judge in this case to go live in one of these homes for a month, then make a ruling.
Judge says citizens of Ebey’s Reserve failed to show the impact of Growler overflights was significantly worse than predicted by the Navy in 2005. Mike Carter reports. (Seattle Times)

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/judge-declines-to-issue-injunction-to-stop-growler-flights-at-whidbey/

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Sunshine Coast bans all watering, moves to Stage 4 restrictions – CBC

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Al Bergstein

Our neighbors to the north have moved to banning all outside tap water use. I assume we are not far behind. Or should be!

The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) declared Stage 4 water restrictions Tuesday morning, banning all outdoor tap water use, effective Thursday, Aug. 13. It’s believed to be the first region in B.C. to enact such a ban. Residential and commercial water users are subject to the new rules, as the district says only commercial food growers with farm status and water meters are exempt from the ban. (CBC)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sunshine-coast-bans-all-watering-moves-to-stage-4-restrictions-1.3186965

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Initiative’s feat: Ridding waters of nets – Everett Herald

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Al Bergstein

This is the work of the organization that supports our Marine Resources Committees, both in Clallam and Jefferson County. It’s a great milestone. Real success at ridding one of the big scourges of the Salish Sea.

Knowing the deadly consequences abandoned fishing nets pose for marine life, a nonprofit has worked to remove 550 from Puget Sound this year alone. That brings to 5,600 the number of derelict nets the Northwest Straits Initiative and its partners have dragged out since 2002. The effect: restoring 800 acres of marine habitat. The group’s efforts to remove nets identified in shallow Puget Sound waters concluded in June. A celebration is scheduled Thursday in Everett to commemorate the milestone. Noah Haglund reports. (Everett Herald)

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20150810/NEWS01/150819965/Initiative’s-feat-Ridding-waters-of-nets

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Crews to prep Dungeness River this week for huge run of pink salmon – PDN

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Al Bergstein

With the Dungeness River at historic low flows, this is going to be a most interesting year to see if WDFW and others like the Dungeness River Management Team can make this run successful.

Work could begin this week on creating as hospitable an environment as possible for hordes of pink salmon expected to return to the Dungeness River later this month. A preseason prediction that 1.3 million pinks will return to the Dungeness this year may not come to pass, said Mike Gross, biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, who is based in Montesano. That estimate was based on a run of 400,000 pinks in the Dungeness two years ago. (Peninsula Daily News)

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150809/NEWS/308099995/crews-to-prep-dungeness-river-this-week-for-huge-run-of-pink-salmon

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Heat and Drought. Is This The New Northwest? – Salish Sea Communications

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Al Bergstein

Good read from Mike Sato.
“Some summer: Consecutive days of record high temperatures, little rain and low river runoff, rising water temperatures in rivers and Puget Sound… You staying or planning to leave?…. ”

http://salishseacommunications.blogspot.com/2015/08/heat-and-drought-is-this-new-northwest.html

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Video: A dangerously hot Puget Sound – Seattle PI

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Al Bergstein

Worth a look.

So what will a hot world look like, especially here in the Puget Sound region? Well, check out this video built around a news conference put on by Washington’s Department of Ecology July 30 in Seattle for your answer. Jake Ellison reports. (SeattlePI.Com)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/bigscience/2015/08/05/video-a-dangerously-hot-puget-sound/#34453101=0

See also: Jellyfish boom prompts research by plane and boat http://www.king5.com/story/tech/science/environment/2015/08/05/jellyfish-ecology-noaa-puget-sound/31194035/ Biologists with NOAA and the Department of Ecology are teaming up by plane and boat to track a jellyfish boom in Puget Sound. Alison Morrow reports. (KING)

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Is Anywhere on Earth Safe From Climate Change? – The Atlantic Monthly

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Al Bergstein

New article in the Atlantic Monthly, that explores the sweeping changes happening in the planet’s ecosystem, and what it means for all of us. Great read.

Relocating to a landlocked city isn’t enough .Put simply: Climate change poses the threat of global catastrophe. The planet isn’t just getting hotter, it’s destabilizing. Entire ecosystems are at risk. The future of humanity is at stake.

Is Anywhere On Earth Safe From Climate Change?

Free read, but subscribe to the Atlantic Monthly if you appreciate this kind of reporting.

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Toxic algae flourishes in warm water from California to Alaska, closing valuable fisheries – AP

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Al Bergstein

More reasons to demand international work cooperation on climate change. As our fishing and shellfish industry continues to get hammered by the effects of a heating planet, many political leaders continue to stick their heads in the sand and their hands in the pockets of individuals and businesses who are working to stop any progress on this.  While this particular ‘blob’ may eventually dissipate if and when the weather patterns change, the trend is definitively moving towards planetary conditions that could make this a new normal, not an aberration.

A vast bloom of toxic algae off the West Coast is denser, more widespread and deeper than scientists feared even weeks ago, according to surveyors aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel. This coastal ribbon of microscopic algae, up to 40 miles wide and 650 feet deep in places, is flourishing amid unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures. It now stretches from at least California to Alaska and has shut down lucrative fisheries. Shellfish managers on Tuesday doubled the area off Washington’s coast that is closed to Dungeness crab fishing, after finding elevated levels of marine toxins in tested crab meat. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/33367837-76/toxic-algae-flourishes-in-warm-water-from-california-to-alaska-closing-valuable-fisheries.html.csp

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Port Townsend City Council puts water restrictions into effect – PDN

Posted on August 4, 2015 by Al Bergstein

So we are now in Phase 1 drought condition.The city is looking for everyone to effect a 10% reduction in water use. Please water only on every other day, which frankly, if you are doing it correctly, you should already be doing! Your ornamentals, if they are not native and drought tolerant, should be only watered deeply once a week. I’ve noticed that my drought tolerant natives and grasses are not seeming to need any water this summer. Soak the roots of the most vulnerable ones. The mill is being addressed separately.Odd that the Co-op is using more water than Safeway!? Charlie Bermant reports.

The Port Townsend City Council on Monday night unanimously approved Stage 1 water restrictions that include requiring outdoor watering on alternate days.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150804/NEWS/308049981/port-townsend-city-council-puts-water-restrictions-into-effect

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Dry Days Bring Ferocious Start to Fire Season – New York Times

Posted on August 2, 2015 by Al Bergstein

The Times puts our current fire situation, caused by the drought, into perspective. This gives us the view from the Mexican border to Alaska. It’s all of a piece. We are a long ways from being out of the woods on this, and if it is the new normal, we are going to need to find new sources of water for towns like Port Townsend.

Officials are warning about the potential for more catastrophe in the months ahead, as drought, heat and climate change leave the landscape ever thirstier.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/us/dry-days-in-west-bring-ferocious-start-to-fire-season.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

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‘The Blob’ may warm Puget Sound’s waters, hurt marine life – Seattle Times

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Al Bergstein

The story here is a good quick overview of the big picture of climate change that we are facing this year and likely into next. The existing conditions are possibly going to make the upcoming ones worse. The fact that the Pacific waters are 7 degrees above normal is astonishing, and that Puget Sound waters are up to 4 degrees warmer adds to that impact. We need to get very serious about the drought’s impacts, and having just passed the city street sweeper machine, out using drinking water to wash the edges of our roads, makes it very frustrating that our city government is so cavalier with water when they are on the other hand asking us to conserve.

Scientists say they are concerned about the continued ecological effects of the unusually warm and dry conditions in the Puget Sound region this summer.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/weather/the-blob-warms-puget-sounds-waters-hurts-marine-life/?utm_source=Sightline%20Institute&utm_medium=web-email&utm_campaign=Sightline%20News%20Selections

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