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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Vignette 04: Olympia Oysters, Jodie Toft, Betsy Peabody
Vignette 04: Olympia Oysters, Jodie Toft, Betsy Peabody
Institute Publications
Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida) are our only native oyster species here in the Salish Sea. Olympia oysters once covered an estimated 13-26% of the intertidal area in Puget Sound, mostly near the heads of inlets. A combination of overharvest, pollution, and habitat loss reduced the current population to less than 4% of historic numbers, though sparse numbers of Olympia oysters can still be found throughout most of their historic distribution. Looking to the future, as our region’s marine waters experience effects of climate change and ocean acidification (OA), native species such as the Olympia oyster may prove to …
Vignette 06: Living Shorelines In Puget Sound, Jason Toft
Vignette 06: Living Shorelines In Puget Sound, Jason Toft
Institute Publications
Nearly one third of Puget Sound’s shorelines are armored (e.g., seawall, bulkhead, riprap). Armoring has documented negative impacts on the flora and fauna that benefit from healthy intertidal beaches. Although shoreline armor may be necessary in some cases to protect people and property, there are often promising “living shoreline” options to restore natural features, also referred to as soft or green shorelines. These options can be applied to situations where complete restoration is either impractical or not feasible given human constraints. Living shoreline techniques often include a mix of design options, including armor removal, sediment nourishment of beaches, log placement, …
Vignette 12: The Blob, Nicholas Bond
Vignette 12: The Blob, Nicholas Bond
Institute Publications
A marine heat wave of unprecedented severity, areal extent and duration occurred in the Northeast Pacific Ocean during 2014-2016. This event, known as the “Blob,” had a wide variety of far- ranging effects on physical, chemical, and biological ocean properties. Because the Blob was such a massive perturbation, it represents an attractively large signal for inquiry in the Salish Sea. It represents a dress rehearsal for typical conditions in future decades due to global climate change.
Vignette 07: Stormwater Effluent Exerts A Key Pressure On The Salish Sea, Emily Howe
Vignette 07: Stormwater Effluent Exerts A Key Pressure On The Salish Sea, Emily Howe
Institute Publications
One of the primary terrestrial pressures on the Salish Sea estuarine and marine environment is urban stormwater runoff. When rainfall runs across hard, impervious surfaces, rather than soaking into the soil, it picks up and delivers toxic contaminants directly to nearby streams, rivers, and eventually the Salish Sea. In fact, for most toxic substances, surface runoff is the largest contributing source of loading to Puget Sound. Unfortunately, the Salish Sea’s relationship with stormwater effluent is no outlier; stormwater is the fastest growing cause of surface water impairment in the United States as urbanization transitions forested and other natural landscapes to …
Vignette 13: The Salish Sea Model, Tarang Khangaonkar P.E.
Vignette 13: The Salish Sea Model, Tarang Khangaonkar P.E.
Institute Publications
Given numerous concerns related to the health of the ecosystem and the possibility of anthropogenic impacts—from population growth to climate impacts, such as sea level rise—scientists, engineers, and planners seek an improved basic understanding of the biophysical behavior of the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea Model (SSM) development was motivated by this urgent need for a comprehensive predictive model that could diagnose water quality issues and concerns and serve as a planning tool in support of Puget Sound restoration efforts. The SSM was developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) …
Vignette 05: Blocking Culverts Impact Salmonid Survival, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Vignette 05: Blocking Culverts Impact Salmonid Survival, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Institute Publications
During the first six years of implementing the U.S. v. Washington culvert case injunction, the State of Washington has corrected 150 fish-blocking culverts in the Puget Sound Region. At the current rate, if additional support is not gained, the corrections of the remaining 799 culverts would be completed in 32 years or the year 2052.
Vignette 23: Indigenous Management Systems Can Promote More Sustainable Salmon Fisheries In The Salish Sea, William I. Atlas, Natalie C. Ban, Jonathan W. Moore, Adrian M. Tuohy, Spencer Greening, Andrea J. Reid, Nicole Morven, Elroy White, William G. Housty, Jess A. Housty, Christina N. Service, Larry Greba, Sam Harrison, Katherine Ir Butts, Elissa Sweeney-Bergen, Donna Macintyre, Matthew R. Sloat, Katrina Connors
Vignette 23: Indigenous Management Systems Can Promote More Sustainable Salmon Fisheries In The Salish Sea, William I. Atlas, Natalie C. Ban, Jonathan W. Moore, Adrian M. Tuohy, Spencer Greening, Andrea J. Reid, Nicole Morven, Elroy White, William G. Housty, Jess A. Housty, Christina N. Service, Larry Greba, Sam Harrison, Katherine Ir Butts, Elissa Sweeney-Bergen, Donna Macintyre, Matthew R. Sloat, Katrina Connors
Institute Publications
Indigenous peoples of the Northern Pacific Rim have harvested salmon for more than 10,000 years, and Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) form the foundation of social-ecological systems encompassing communities from California to Kamchatka and Northern Japan. Through continuous placed-based interdependence with salmon, Indigenous societies formed deliberate and well-honed systems of salmon management. These systems promoted the sustained productivity of salmon fisheries. In Canada and the United States, Indigenous sovereignty and resource stewardship were forcibly disrupted by colonial government authority. Despite the destructive impacts of colonization, Indigenous culture and knowledge are resurgent in Canada and the United States. Indigenous fishing technologies and …
Vignette 19: Invasive European Green Crab, Jeff Adams, Emily Grason, P. Sean Mcdonald, Allen Pleus, Jude Apple, Roger Fuller, Lucas Hart, Alexandra Simpson
Vignette 19: Invasive European Green Crab, Jeff Adams, Emily Grason, P. Sean Mcdonald, Allen Pleus, Jude Apple, Roger Fuller, Lucas Hart, Alexandra Simpson
Institute Publications
European green crab pose documented threats to cultured and wild shellfish, eelgrass, and shoreline habitats and ecosystems. Because they can prey on juvenile crabs and shellfish, dense populations of EGC in the Salish Sea region could put fisheries and aquaculture resources in peril. After Fisheries and Oceans Canada researchers reported an established EGC population in Sooke Basin, BC in 2012, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) worked with Washington Sea Grant (WSG) to secure Puget Sound Marine and Nearshore Grant Program funding and establish a volunteer-based early detection and monitoring program. WSG launched Crab Team in 2015 with …
Vignette 14: Eelgrass Wasting Disease, Olivia Graham, Morgan Eisenlord, Drew Harvell
Vignette 14: Eelgrass Wasting Disease, Olivia Graham, Morgan Eisenlord, Drew Harvell
Institute Publications
Rising seawater temperatures can increase the risk of disease outbreaks in many taxa. Pathogens are potentially the ultimate keystone species in that their small biomass can have massive impacts that ripple through ecosystems. Disease outbreaks can be particularly damaging when they affect ecosystem engineers, such as seagrasses. Outbreaks of wasting disease in seagrasses are one of a myriad of stressors associated with declining temperate and tropical seagrass meadows around the globe. Levels of eelgrass wasting disease are high in the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound. These increasing levels of disease are a threat to sustainability of eelgrass meadows, our …
Vignette 17: Salish Sea Jellyfish, Correigh Greene
Vignette 17: Salish Sea Jellyfish, Correigh Greene
Institute Publications
The Salish Sea is home to a diverse community of gelatinous zooplankton (or "jellies"). In their adult forms, jellies comprise a relatively large proportion of biomass in the Salish Sea. Questions regarding jellyfish abundance and climate variation in the Salish Sea have been difficult to address, in part because of a lack of consistent monitoring. Research presented in this vignette suggests that jellyfish are sensitive to climate signals like marine water temperatures, but do not appear to be systematically increasing in abundance over time. Due to advances in modeling, we may gain a better perspective on the roles jellies play …
Vignette 09: Derelict Fishing Gear, Jason Morgan
Vignette 09: Derelict Fishing Gear, Jason Morgan
Institute Publications
Derelict fishing gear—nets, pots, and other gear lost during fishing operations or vessel transit—has been implicated in several aspects of degradation in the Salish Sea. Derelict gear can degrade marine habitats by scouring or preventing habitat access through accumulation of gear or by fundamentally altering habitats by trapping fine sediments and changing the substrate. Derelict gear has also been implicated in the deaths of countless fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and invertebrates in the Salish Sea. The issue of derelict fishing gear affects all reaches of the Salish Sea, albeit on different scales, and the Northwest Straits Initiative has provided its …