Nearshore Project Front Page
Identifying and locating salmon forage fish stocks, mapping near-shore eelgrass (zostera marina) beds and spawn deposition areas, and the identification of shoreline hardening are priorities set by the Island County Marine Resources Committee (MRC). These three near-shore habitat elements will then be considered in the science-based design of local Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) or other recommended protections. Surf smelt, sand lance, and herring all spawn extensively on Whidbey and Camano Islands; where native eelgrass beds and sandy or graveled beaches nurse forage and salmon alike. This proposal is to locate, map and protect the county's active beach and near-shore spawning areas. "No net loss" state regulations protect such spawning sites (WAC 220-110), but only where spawn is properly detected and so designated. (Similar "no net loss" policies apply to eelgrass as well; while the benchmarks set for the MRC include increases in healthy habitats and species.)
It is critical for protection of these habitats that spawn deposition site inventories be complete and comprehensive. This project will employ the San Juan County MRC's Early Action Grant training and collection protocols (April, 2000) for this undertaking. The primary objective of the forage fish assessment is to biologically identify county beaches utilized as spawning areas by surf smelt and Pacific sand lance, and subtidal regions supporting herring spawning. The MRC is mandated to protect and conserve these near-shore marine resources. Once accurate assessments and baselines of these three habitat elements are superimposed, they will enable the rational design and community acceptance of voluntary MPAs or other protective measures that will best preserve and enhance these marine resources.
A forage fish is any fish eaten by large predatory fish, seabirds or marine mammals. They are usually abundant and often swim in large schools. Forage fish are an important link in the marine food web because they transfer energy between primary and secondary producers, such as plankton, to top predators such as seabirds and larger fish. Pacific sand lance, juvenile Pacific herring, juvenile walleye pollock, surf smelts, and juvenile salmonids are important forage fish. Various suitable beaches in Island County are historic spawning habitats for two of these species - sand lance and smelt - while a third, herring, spawn directly onto the lush vegetation in the many intertidal eelgrass beds. The MRC is completing the underwater videography (UV) mapping of those eelgrass beds (per its Early Action NWSC grant), and needs to accurately locate and record these three spawning habitats. While the WDFW sporadically identified a few such areas some years ago, funding was exhausted before Dan Penttila of that agency could undertake the planned mapping of the county's 212 miles of civilian shoreline.