Puget Sound Marine Waters 2017 Report

Chinook Salmon | credit USFWS

A new report finds that Puget Sound’s unusually warm water temperatures that prevailed throughout the West Coast since 2014 finally returned to normal in 2017. Although water temperatures recovered, life within those waters has not.

In general, biological observations within Puget Sound revealed that the abundance of many marine animals throughout the food web are still lower than usual. In addition, the region experienced both the wettest spring and driest summer ever recorded in 2017.

The Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s Marine Waters Work Group, who authored the report, has been tracking the health of Puget Sound since 2011. This work group includes scientists from federal, tribal, state and local agencies, academia, nonprofits, and private and volunteer groups.

The work group looked at a number of environmental indicators, including plankton, water quality, climate, and marine life that when, considered together, provide both a long-term view and current assessment of the Sound’s health.

The Puget Sound Marine Waters 2017 Report can be accessed at: https://pspwa.box.com/shared/static/xzvxtmxv0lpomphceiotcwmr77ul75q7.pdf

The Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) supports the conservation and management of living marine resources and their habitats in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.

source: Northwest Fisheries Science Center

What is Domoic Acid?

Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin related to a “bloom” of certain single-celled algae.

Fish and shellfish are capable of accumulating elevated levels of domoic acid in their tissue, leading to illness if consumed by humans.

During late 2015 through early 2016, domoic acid along the West Coast interrupted Dungeness and rock crab fisheries from Santa Barbara to the Oregon state line.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) are working with the fishing community to collect crab samples from the northern California coast until the domoic acid levels have dissipated.

For more information, visit www.cdph.ca.gov.



source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Puget Sound Marine Waters Report 2015

A recent report by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center provides a comprehensive look at marine conditions in Puget Sound in 2015.

The report was produced for the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program's Marine Waters Workgroup.


The Puget Sound Marine Waters 2015 Overview can be found at:

http://www.psp.wa.gov/PSmarinewatersoverview.php

El Niño and La Niña Pacific Coast Effects

The projected upsurge of severe El Niño and La Niña events will cause an increase in storm events leading to extreme coastal flooding and erosion in populated regions across the Pacific Ocean, according to a multi-agency study published recently in Nature Geoscience.

“This study significantly advances the scientific knowledge of the impacts of El Niño and La Niña,” said Patrick Barnard, USGS coastal geologist and the lead author of the study. “Understanding the effects of severe storms fueled by El Niño or La Niña helps coastal managers prepare communities for the expected erosion and flooding associated with this climate cycle.”

New research data, from 48 beaches across three continents and five countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, suggest the predicted increase will exacerbate coastal erosion irrespective of sea level rise affecting the region.

Researchers from 13 different institutions, including the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Waikato (New Zealand) analyzed coastal data from across the Pacific Ocean basin from 1979 to 2012.

The published paper, “Coastal vulnerability across the Pacific dominated by El Niño/Southern Oscillation” is available online.

source: U.S. Geological Survey

2014 Pacific Salmon Predictions

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) recently released predictions for the 2014 salmon season off the West Coast of the United States.

North of Cape Falcon

The 2014 Columbia River tule Chinook forecasts are improved from 2013 at 110,000, and combined fall Chinook returns are expected to be over a million fish. The hatchery coho forecasts for the Columbia River are greatly improved from 2013. In addition, the forecast for Oregon coastal natural (OCN) coho is 230,000.

North of Cape Falcon, Columbia River hatchery coho returns were 316,000, well below the forecast of 525,000. Columbia River Chinook returns, however, were among the highest on record, and upriver fall Chinook returned at levels nearly double the expected levels.

California and Southern Oregon

Central Valley fall Chinook are forecast at over 630,000, providing salmon fishing opportunity while allowing estimated spawning escapements over 300,000. The minimum conservation goal is 122,000 – 180,000 spawning adult salmon.

The conservation goal, or escapement goal, is the optimal number of adult fish returning to spawn in order to maximize the production of the stock.

Also in California, the ocean abundance forecast for Klamath River Fall Chinook is nearly 300,000, providing reasonable sport and commercial harvest while meeting the minimum natural spawning goal of 40,700, and the 2014 management objective of an ocean harvest rate of no more than 16 percent.

source: Pacific Fishery Management Council