Increased Clam Mortality in Oakland Bay

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Extremely cold weather combined with very low tides in November 2008 or the unusually large influxs of sediment from the December 2008 and January 2009 storms seems to be taking a toll on clams in Oakland Bay.  Growers report that there are many more dead clams than usual–maybe twice the ususal number especially in upper Oakland Bay and Chapman Cove.

The increase in clam mortality will set up an interesting experiment this summer.  There seems to be a relationship between clams dying and summer nutrient levels/bacteria concentrations in Oakland Bay.  If the hypothesis is correct, this summer’s bacteria concentrations should be higher than 2008 or 2007.   A hot and sunny summer will likely enhance the increase.  We will have the results of the experiment by October 2009.

Uncle John Creek Still a Leading Source of Water Pollution in Oakland Bay

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Fecal Bacteria Concentrations (MF/100 ml) at Stream Mouths

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The Squaxin Island Tribe released their winter 2008-09 water sampling results to the Oakland Bay Clean Water District Advisory Committee on March 4th.  Five samples were collected at nine stream mouths between October 2008 and February 2009.  Two of the sampling days, 11/12 and 1/7, occurred during major storm events.  All the samples were analyzed for fecal coliform bacteria at the Department of Ecology Manchester Lab.

The sampling results from the storm days were much higher than the non-storm days.  This is a very common pattern in Western Washington because stormwater picks up large quantities of bacteria as it moves across the landscape.

The results indicate that Uncle John Creek is still a leading source of non-point water pollution entering Oakland Bay.  While there have been significant improvements over the last couple years that have taken Chapman Cove (downstream of Uncle John Creek) off the Department of Health’s water quality threatened list, there is still need for additional improvement to meet water quality standards.

Other creeks like Shelton, Malaney and Goldsborough also play a significant role in moving bacteria from the uplands to marine water.  Their contributions to water pollution must also be investigated and reduced in the near future to meet water quality standards.

Oakland Bay Residents Fail To See the Environmental Connection

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In 150 interviews sponsored by the Sa-Heh-Wa-Mish Stewardship Initiative, we found that residents living around Oakland Bay are having a hard time connecting their actions at home with water quality in the bay.  Owners of homes with septic systems that have not been checked in the last five years see no reason to inspect their systems.  Most livestock owners feel that they have so few animals that the waste their animals produce could not possibly harm Oakland Bay.  Yet the water quality results tell a different story–we know for a fact that human and ruminant fecal bacteria are ubiquitous.

The Oakland Bay results mirror surveys from elsewhere around Puget Sound.  That surprised us because we think that the residents around Oakland Bay have a closer relationship to the bay than might be found elsewhere around Puget Sound.  We thought the environmental connections would be more obvious.  Oakland Bay residents at least see it everyday when they drive past, many have jobs dependent upon the shellfish or timber industries, or they recreate in some form or fashion there.

With such close contact, the fact that local residents do not connect their actions at home with the health of Oakland Bay does not bode well for the rest of Puget Sound.  We would expect that elsewhere where residents have far less awareness, it will be an even tougher sell to improve land stewardship.  If we can’t build an effective program in Oakland Bay, we won’t be able to do it elsewhere!

For more info, the full results of the interviews can be downloaded from this site.

Squaxin Net Pens – Coho Transfer Photos

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Juvienle Coho in the Squaxin Net Pens

Thousands of Juvenile Coho in the Squaxin Net Pens

Above is just a snap shot of the 1.5 million coho that will be released in June 2009.  On average only 3 % of these released coho will return as adults in Fall of 2010.  That is approximately 45,000 adult coho available for harvest by Sport and Commercial fisheries in South Puget Sound.

Pictures of Coho Transfer to Net Pens on Flickr

Short Video of Coho Transfer on You Tube

Squaxin Tribe begins Transfer of Juvenile Coho to Net Pens

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The Kisutch transfering coho to the Net Pens.

The Kisutch transferring coho to the Net Pens.

This week the Squaxin Island Tribe Natural Resources (SINR) and Washington State Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) started hauling the first batch of juvenile coho to the South Sound Net Pens (SSNP) located in Peale Passage.   SSNP is a co-managed facility by the SINR and WDFW that has released an average of 1.5 million coho smolt yearly to benefit  Sport and commercial fisheries through out the Puget Sound.

Offloading coho into a Net Pen

Offloading coho into a Net Pen

SINR staff will be monitoring and feeding these juvenile for the next four months;releasing them in June.   These coho are at around 31 fish per pound when they arrive and will be released at about 15 fish to the pound.   After release these coho will make the journey to the ocean feed for a year and return to the deep South Puget Sound as adult coho in the Fall of 2010.

Coho in the Net Pens

Coho in the Net Pens. Photo courtesy of Rana Brown-Shellfish

The fish arriving this week are reared at Skookumchuck Hatchery. Early next week we will be transferring fish from Wallace.     Stay tuned for more photos!

How recreation will be impacted by the restoration of the Deschutes Estuary

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Fishing chums in Kennedy Creek by oysters4me.

This Thursday morning, CLAMP will discuss how the restoration of the Deschutes Estuary would impact recreation around where Capitol Lake is now.

A draft chapter of our Alternatives Analysis outlines the options. It pretty basically says that certain docks would be high and dry during low tide and that different sorts of fish would be available because a freshwater lake is different than a estuary. For example, the non-native bass that prey on salmon smolts wouldn’t survive in an estuary.

One thing the chapter doesn’t spell out is the benefit to fishermen, most obviously hook-and-line sport fishermen. Anyone can take a look at the crowds along the estuary of nearby Kennedy or McLane creeks in the fall and see the interest that those fishing opportunities generate. Access to these tidelands, which would increase if the Deschutes Estuary were restored, would benefit sport fisherman access to returning salmon. Over 10,000 chinook returned to the hatchery on the Deschutes River this last year (here’s a pdf of the state’s hatchery report).

You can read the entire draft chapter here or download it here.

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Join the conversation about the future of the Deschutes Estuary

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Between now and June, a local committee charged with coming up with a recommendation of what to do with Capitol Lake and the Deschutes River Estuary (CLAMP) will come to a decision. If you’re interested in restoring the Deschutes Estuary, now is the time to start getting engaged.

The City of Olympia is already talking about how to engage their citizens in the process. You can read more about that here, here and here.

CLAMP’s agenda’s are regularly posted on the website of the Thurston Regional Planning Council. Here is this month’s agenda.

There have been regular reports presented to CLAMP covering various broad topics, such as how the various options presented to CLAMP would impact wildlife, flooding, public restoration, among other topics. I’m going to try to over the next few months go back to these papers and blog a bit about how restoring the estuary would be a benefit.

This month we’re going to talk about public recreation and how it would be impacted by the eventual fate of the estuary.

The Squaxin Island Tribe is firmly committed to the restoration of the estuary. The tribe has always depended on the natural resources of the region and the Deschutes River estuary was a big part of supporting these resources.

You can go here to find out more about the tribe’s position on restoring the estuary.