Approved Minutes
Island County MRC
March 6, 2002 meeting
Heller Road Firehall, Oak Harbor, 4pm to 6:10 pm

MRC Members Present-Chair Tom Campbell, Phyllis Kind, Dick Toft, Hi Bronson, Mike Gallion, Roger Sherman, Sayed El-Sayed, Jeff Tate, Tom Roehl; Exec. Dir. Gary Wood; Technical Advisory Member Julie Buktenica; Admin. Assist. Kate Poss. Excused MRC Members-Don Meehan, Sharon Hart, Marty Behr. Visitors: Doug Dobyns, Tribal Liaison with NWSC; Burt Blakeley, Coupeville; Steve Miller, Coupeville; Ed Jones, Coupeville; George Bingham, Naval officer from Oak Harbor; Frank Roberts, Lagoon Point.

Call to order: Chair Campbell called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m.

Approval of today's agenda-Today's agenda was approved

Approval of 2/20/02 minutes-The minutes were approved. Corrections-Tom Roehl clarified his statement regarding the draft salmon recovery plan; El-Sayed added his edits and correction of minor typos.
Action: Bronson moved and Kind seconded approval of the 2/20/02 meeting minutes. The motion was carried by all.

Discussion on proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)-Keystone, Admiralty Head and Scatchet Head-by Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) led by Phyllis Kind and Roger Sherman
· Sherman passed around copies of the WDFW proposals for MPAs as well as an MPA talking point sheet, aimed at today's discussion. Copies are on file. Even though the MRC submitted its comments to WDFW earlier this year, WDFW's Mary Lou Mills' 2/20 presentation on MPAs shed new light on some of the previous decisions and we wish to revisit our previous comments.
· Keystone Jetty
Action: Gallion moved to re-endorse WDFW's proposal as written. Kind seconded the motion. Considerable discussion followed, to which the following amendments were made:
Action: Roehl and Sherman moved to endorse WDFWs current proposal and amend it to include clarification to exclude the pilings/dock from the protected area. Kind seconded the motion, which was carried by all.
· Discussion:
o Sherman proposed that both sides of the jetty be included in order to protect lingcod, which could easily swim from a protected area to one where it could be caught. In addition he said it is beautiful under the old dock/pilings. A resident octopus lived there on his last visit.
o Toft said he supported the idea of having an area of protection for the divers on the east side of the jetty and wants to allow fishing on the west side as currently proposed by WDFW.
o Gallion suggested that the pilings-remnants of an old dock-be left out of WDFW's protection area as it is a favored fishing spot with a sandy bottom with little likelihood of the rockfish populations WDFW wants to protect.
Public discussion:
o Coupeville resident Ed Jones said he dives there and questioned the need to protect lingcod when he said their numbers are plentiful. He questions why spear fishers are considered dangerous when the visibility is clear. Sherman explained to him that the reason why lingcod are plentiful is because most divers consider the area a no-take zone since it is a state park. While one can technically spearfish there, state parks ask that divers consider it a no-take zone.
o Burt Blakeley, also of Coupeville, owns his own big boat, but spoke for the fisherman who fishes from the shore or a little boat near the pilings.
o Frank Roberts passed around a memo regarding the misuse of science and the dangers of its drawing the wrong conclusion. He quotes from an unnamed book and said he would be glad to have our MRC members read the book, believing it will help the MRC draw conclusions about MPAs and other levels of protection. Campbell reminded Roberts that this discussion was about taking public comments for Keystone. Roberts said he understood that his memo was about MPAs and that he agreed with Sherman's suggestion of closing both sides of the Keystone jetty.
o Steve Miller of Coupeville said he concurs that a marine park ought to be approved; that the intention is more one of people management than it is one of marine life management. Keystone is slated for protection to prevent fishermen from casting buzz bomb lures at divers.
o George Bingham of Oak Harbor supports keeping the west side of the jetty open for fishing. He supports signs saying what would be open and what would be closed.
· Admiralty Head
· Action: Roehl moved to support the designated MPA as described by WDFW and allow fishing for migrating fish such as salmon and steelhead; as well as allow fishing for urchin in order to protect the bull kelp beds. Bronson seconded the motion, which was carried by all.
· Discussion
o Bronson noted the proposal's coordinates are not clearly marked.
o Toft asked that we write and ask WDFW to be clear on the exact coordinates on all three of the MPAs.
· Public Discussion
o Steve Miller wondered why this area was selected for protection when it is one of the few places there is a public beach where folks can pull up and fish from the bank. People who camp there and fish there would no longer be able to do so. He suggested the better choice would be closer to Partridge Point where the fishing isn't as popular and there is no camping.
o Burt Blakely asked the MRC to keep in mind that fishing from this point is enjoyable for many people and that right should not be taken away. Kind advised Blakely to contact Mary Lou Mills of WDFW, since our MRC had no authority to decide the issue. Toft added that our MRC is trying to avoid complete closures in the future by (working with WDFW and ) creating little fish nurseries.
o George Bingham fishes these waters and agreed it was worrisome that WDFW listed two different coordinates. Furthermore he said the decision to chose Admiralty Head was based on "Bad science and bad politics," since he fished there nearly every day from August to October last year and saw very few bottom fish caught. He supports Partridge Point, with its huge kelp beds as a better consideration for protection. Wood encouraged Bingham to bring his concern to the WDFW, since it matters to them when the public speaks. Sherman said the area was proposed for protection because a park ranger reported declining numbers of bottom fish populations.
· Scatchet Head
· Action: Roehl moved that the MRC oppose designation of the MPA as proposed by WDFW due to the lack of compelling scientific evidence to warrant such a measure. Gallion seconded the motion, which was carried by all.
· Discussion
o WDFW's plan is confusing on whether it is or is not a no take for shellfish; the borders are difficult to know clearly, and that good data shows it is not a great rocky reef habitat for protection of rockfish.
· Kind passed around copies of Science Magazine's 2/15/02 article on Marine Reserves and Fisheries Management. She suggested we get Wayne Palsson of WDFW to come and explain the network of proposed MPAs. Kind suggested inviting Ray Hilborn of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, UW to speak to us about his critique of MPAs.
· Gallion added that Paulson's colleague Jim West would also be a speaker worth the invite.
· Campbell thanked Kind and Sherman for all their hard work to keep the rest of the MRC informed and up to date on the subject of MPAs.

Grants update with Gary Wood
o NWSC approved $50,000 in an action grant to our MRC-the funds include outreach programs for forage fish and feeder bluff studies.
o Pending still is the SRFB or Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant request-about $220,000 for our MRC-the funds would complete our eelgrass, forage fish and shoreline hardening projects. In addition the funds would cover a multi-layered database to provide cross-reference for all the data we've collected.
o In addition the funds would cover a shoreline stewardship program, similar to the Nat'l Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife program. The program would provide covenants to residents, government and commercial shoreline owners on how to be stewards of their property. If approved by SRFB, Wood said The Wildlife Federation would post our program on its popular website.
o Campbell asked Wood to discuss where the grants come from and their impact on taxpayers' pocketbooks for one of our regular visitors. In short this is what Wood said:
§ The Northwest Straits Commission was created in 1999 to use federal funds-which are returned to Island County-to decide what to do with our marine resources. We started with a $35,000 grant and now the NWSC was granted $950,000 for year 2002-2003.
§ Salmon Recovery Funding Board is a state agency with $33 million of state and federal funds. SRFB was created when salmon were listed as an endangered species.
New/Unfinished Business
· Paul Dinnel, a crab specialist, will speak tomorrow at 7:30 pm at the Bayview Senior Center.
· Wood will give a Power Point presentation on derelict gear 3/19 at 7 pm at the Holmes Harbor Rod and Gun Club.
· Matt Klope will speak 3/7 on rescuing stranded marine mammals. Klope wants to train volunteers. He will speak at 7:30 pm at the Race Road Firehall in Coupeville.
· Visitor Bob Blakely asked if Island County has any tribal participation. Wood told him now we do with Doug Dobyns, tribal liaison with NWSC.
· Dobyns said the Nooksak Tribe declined our invitation to join in our MRC meetings, citing they have too much work; however the Nooksaks will be glad to share their information and will rely on the information Dobyns brings to them.
· Buck Meloy, a renowned commercial fisherman and a member of the Whatcom County MRC, will speak at our 3/20 meeting in Freeland.
Our meeting was adjourned at 6:10 pm. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, 3/20/02 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland from 4 pm to 6 pm.