Marine Stewardship Areas

Whidbey and Camano islands -- Island County -- sit at the gateway to Washington's beautiful Puget Sound. Nearly every fish, marine mammal, ship and submarine that enters and leaves this vast estuary passes our shores.

More than 1,000 rivers and streams feed fresh water into Puget Sound. Where the fresh and salt water meet, our tides mix them in an ever changing nutrient soup. Among all the estuaries in the United States, Puget Sound is second only to Chesapeake Bay in size. Puget Sound's salmon, steelhead, orcas, birds and other wildlife are priceless to our lifestyle. Their health and that of our marine waters are tied closely to our own. They are also crucial to our economy.

To help focus greater awareness and education on the unique marine assets of our Island County waters, county commissioners in 2003 created the Saratoga Passage Marine Stewardship Area and the Admiralty Inlet Marine Stewardship Area. Their purpose is education and voluntary change -- not regulation.

Please explore this website to learn more about stewardship, these two areas and how to help.

Stewardship is an ethic people embrace willingly and voluntarily - not a set of rules imposed by law. We become stewards by choice to help assure clean water, safe food and a healthy environment for the next generation. We take responsibility to learn about, respect and care for that which is in our trust. As we learn we gain new insights about the land we own and beaches we use. We begin to see in new ways and enjoy them more. We make wiser decisions about how to manage and treat them.

Click the image for a detail view of the
Marine Stewardship Areas map.

Our Sponsor, the MRC:
Island County Commissioners created The Admiralty Inlet and Saratoga Passage Marine Stewardship Areas in 2003 at the request of the Island County Marine Resources Committee (MRC).
>> Resolution Creating Stewardship Areas

The MRC is an advisory committee charged with helping protect and restore our local marine species, habitat and water quality through scientific research, education and voluntary action. We work to build community awareness of the issues and support for the remedies. The marine stewardship areas are part of our educational and stewardship outreach.

Learn more about the Marine Resources Committee.

Stewardship Area Photographers:
Craig Johnson. Marine bird photography is used with the permission of Craig Johnson of Whidbey Island. Craig and Joy Johnson are authors of Our Puget Sound Backyard Birds. Their work also appears in Getting to the Water's Edge, the MRC's guide to the Saratoga Passage and Admiralty Inlet Marine Stewardship Areas.

Jim Ramaglia. Keystone Jetty underwater photography is used with the permission of Jim Ramaglia of Skagit Marine Resources Committee. Ramaglia has completed hundreds of dives at Fort Casey Underwater State Park, better known as Keystone, in the Admiralty Inlet Marine Stewardship Area. He also contributed photography to Getting to the Water's Edge. He is a passionate champion of this marine treasure of Island County.

Mary Jo Adams. Shoreline creature photography is used with the permission of Mary Jo Adams of Oak Harbor, a WSU Beach Watcher, diver, photographer and publisher of Intertidal Invertebrates of the Salish Sea, a set of laminated ID guides to shoreline life. Much more of her work appears in Getting to the Water's Edge and on the website of WSU Beach Watchers.

Dave Ellifrit. Orca photography courtesy Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research. Please report any orca sightings to The Orca Network, www.orcanetwork.org or call 1-866-ORCANET. .