Present: Chair Tom Campbell, Dick Toft, Jeff Tate, Sayed El-Sayed, Benye Weber, Hi Bronson, Phyllis Kind, Mike Gallion; Exec. Director Gary Wood; Admin. Ass't. Dan Pedersen.

Absent: Martin Behr, Tom Roehl, Don Meehan, Roger Sherman.

Visitors: Bill Oakes and Gwen Maxfield, director and assistant director of Island Co. Public Works; Rachelle Hein, northwest regional rep. for US Senator Patty Murray; Frank Roberts.

Call to order: 4:01 pm, Chair Campbell declared a quorum and called the meeting to order.

Introductions: Gary Wood introduced Dan Pedersen, new administrative assistant, replacing Kate Poss. Pedersen has lived near Langley since 1986 and is wrapping up a 23-year career in publications and public relations at SAFECO.

Agenda: Approved with one change by Tom Campbell, that Don Meehan will not be at this meeting, and one addition by Gary Wood, that he would like to talk about ghost nets.

Minutes of June 19, 2002: Approved with no changes.

Executive director's report:

> Ghost nets. Gary Wood shared the front page of the June 21 Seattle Times, in which the lead article and feature photograph dealt with recovery by DNR divers of 300 - 400 feet of fishing net that had been snagged on an underwater pinnacle near Stuart Island in the San Juans since last fall. "It was a proud day for the MRCs," he said. Wood was quoted prominently as executive director of Island County's MRC. The cleanup was the kickoff to a pilot project to remove 12 tons of ghost nets from Puget Sound this year. Participants included the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Natural Resources and Northwest Straits Commission. In addition to the Seattle Times coverage, Wood said the event also was reported by National Public Radio and at least two Seattle television stations. Wood said nets such as this move with the current, kill fish and other marine life, and pose a hazard to divers, submarines and surface vessels. State law has recently been changed to create an incentive, in place of the previous penalty, for commercial fishers to report the loss of nets, to facilitate future efforts to recover derelict gear and prevent further damage to marine life.

> Logo proposals. Wood reported that a graphic artist has completed a couple of preliminary proposals for the MRC logo, which were passed around the table, but that they need further work.

> Shoreline hardening. Wood reported the survey is almost done. Tom Dewitt, who was largely doing the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) part of the project alone, had to "go to work," but may be available for hire to complete it. Doug Kelly of Island Co. Health Dept. is loading the data.

> Annual forage fish report. Wood distributed copies of his 112-page comprehensive report that serves as: "1) the final deliverable for three different forage fish grants, b) the published summary of Dan Penttila's work in the first year of our forage fish habitat surveys and c) our presentation of the MRC product to the county commissioners, our partners and all interested stakeholders." He added that the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) has requested he perform the regional coordinator role once again, for eight counties. Wood also pointed out that some of the MRCs have never applied for an outside grant because they can't get anyone to volunteer to do the work. Several of the MRCs have now decided to hire executive directors and add to their staff.

> Fall training conference. Wood reported that the NWSC has set Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26, as dates of the annual training conference, and that members have been asked to respond to a questionnaire about what they'd like included in the presentations. Mike Gallion said he'd like a specific report on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), exploring the reasons why some have failed or been unsuccessful, so that we may avoid the same mistakes. Dick Toft mentioned there's a big controversy in California over the whole marine sanctuary issue. Gary said he'd like to hear a talk on what makes a successful restoration project - he would guess that monitoring is 90 percent of it. Gary will inform the NWSC that our MRC would like MPAs put on the agenda.

> Orca Pass. Wood reported the MRCs had been divided 4 - 3 in favor of the Orca Pass issue. NWSC put off a decision, to allow additional consideration by the objecting MRCs--Snohomish, Clallam and Whatcom--since they strive to have consensus before acting. Specifics were lacking in the proposal and some of the constituencies (tribes and fishermen) had not been consulted.

> Northwest Straits Initiative newsletter. Wood reported he has seen a proof of the inaugural issue of the NWSC newsletter and that it's beautiful. He invited members to give some thought to the names of those who should be placed on its mailing list, and to let him know.

> Tracking benchmarks. Wood reported that the NWSC has taken a first shot at narratives addressing our benchmark performance. Rather than wait until year five, when the NWSC must demonstrate its progress to Congress, the intention is to get started on this task early. Wood said there are seven benchmarks for which our MRC members must divvy up responsibility, and he needs volunteers to track each one. Dick Toft asked if we haven't already assigned people to each benchmark and shouldn't simply keep those assignments. Gary said that would be just fine - each person should take their benchmark and report all activity they have completed. He will provide each of them with available material to assist in this job.

New Business / Announcements

> Tall ships. Benye Weber reported that 12 or 13 tall ships are coming to Coupeville, Aug. 2.

> Coupeville Port repairs and extension. Weber reported the port has received its permits and will begin extending and installing small floats at the port, establishing a pumping station and replacing some pilings at the back of the wharf, with completion in January 2003.

> Deep ocean blues. Tom Campbell reported on a June 30 article in the Post-Intelligencer by Denis Hayes discussing his perception of what's going on in the deep ocean. Hayes proposes that a single agency should oversee US interests in the ocean, rather than multiple agencies.

> Nichols in the news. Dick Toft reported that Nichols Brothers will get some tremendous publicity this week for providing a high-speed catamaran to transport a young orca from Puget Sound to the north end of Vancouver Island, to rejoin its pod.

> Gwen Maxfield. Bill Oakes said his purpose in attending today was to introduce his new assistant director of public works, Gwen Maxfield. She comes from Woodinville and will be heading up efforts on the freshwater estuary side of water issues. She'll attend from time to time. Gwen's husband is oceanographer trained -- she's looking forward to telling him about this group.

> Next meeting Aug. 14 - the only meeting in August.

Adjournment: 5:45 pm. There being no further business, and no objections, Tom Campbell declared the meeting adjourned.