SEP
2019
September 6th, 2019
Last week, Crab Team Program Manager, Emily Grason, and Program Assistant, Kelly Martin, conducted a trapping assessment on San Juan Island with Chelsey Buffington and Roy Clark from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). After three days and more than 330 trap sets, one male European green crab (64 mm) was found in Westcott Bay.
Westcott Bay, on the northern end of San Juan Island, is the location of the very first ...
Read MoreAugust 22, 2019
Crab Team volunteers in Drayton Harbor, just south of the border with Canada, found the shell of an invasive European green crab while walking the beach this past Saturday. The detection is the furthest northward along Washington shorelines the invasive species has been confirmed.
Margaret Santamaria and Margarette Grant are part of the Crab Team crew at a monitoring site on California Creek. They made the discovery while they were conducting a survey nearby for another citizen science project, ...
Read MoreAugust 21, 2019
Washington Sea Grant is excited to share that three of the eight graduate students selected for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)–Sea Grant Fellowship this year are from the University of Washington. Through the fellowship, doctoral students are provided with two- and three-year research opportunities in either population and ecosystem dynamics or marine resource economics, including direct experiences working closely with local NOAA experts on thesis issues of public interest and relevance to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.
The 2019 ...
Read MoreAugust 20, 2019
While you’re washing away the lingering sunscreen from the last beach day of summer, you’re probably reminiscing about carefree time with family and friends, and daydreaming about the sights and smells at the water’s edge. But have you ever thought about your sunscreen’s impact on water quality?
Summer brings a whole host of human-made threats to water quality. Sewage, oil and debris get most of the press, but the products we use on our skin, ...
Read MoreAugust 13, 2019
Growers working with Taylor Shellfish captured a female European green crab while working in oyster beds last week. This crab is the fourth that has been found in Samish Bay this year, the first three detections occurring in early January. At about 75mm (~3″) across the back shell, this crab was relatively large for a female, but had a thin, pliable shell, indicating she had recently molted. Growers noticed the crab while processing an oyster pallet, removed ...
Read MoreAugust 8, 2019
Last month WSG’s Meg Chadsey spoke to the Van Alen Climate Council — a group of built environment designers — about ocean acidification’s impacts to local seafood
With bustling waterfronts, famous seafood markets, a robust culinary scene, and an estuary rich with marine life, the Puget Sound region seems to be the picture of seafood security. But look closer at the web of people, the sea, and the climate, and the fragility and vulnerability of ...
Read MoreAugust 1, 2019
Facility funded by State Parks’ Clean Vessel Act program
OLYMPIA – A new sewage pumpout for recreational boaters is now open at the Shaw Island General Store in the San Juan Islands. The facility is expected to serve hundreds of boaters this summer.
The idea to install a pumpout facility came from Terri and Steve Mason, longtime island residents and owners of the Shaw General Store.
“I grew up on Orcas ...
July 25, 2019
We are pleased to announce that Tressa Arbow, Rachel Assink, Ashley Bagley, Angela Cruz, Alex Sweetser and Sonni Tadlock, have been awarded the Washington Sea Grant State Fellowship (formerly the Marc Hershman Marine Policy Fellowship) for 2019-2020. This fellowship places highly motivated, qualified individuals with marine and coastal host offices throughout Washington, providing fellows with a unique perspective on building marine policy and allowing them to share their academic expertise with the host offices.
This year’s host offices ...
Read MoreJuly 24, 2019
We are pleased to announce that recent graduates Katie Chicojay, Kelly Martin, Jasmine Prat and Spencer Showalter are finalists for the 2020 class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program.
Since 1979, the National Sea Grant College Program has provided one-year fellowships working in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. to over 1,300 early-career professionals. Legislative fellows typically spend their time learning about marine-related policy issues in Congress and often get the chance to further key pieces of ...
Read MoreJuly 17, 2019
Drenched and muddy, but greatly relieved, we packed all 150 traps out of the Pysht estuary this morning. Over the past three days, in partnership with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Crab Team staff participated in an expanded assessment trapping effort that resulted in roughly 300 trap sets, and, most importantly, zero detections of European green crabs.
The Pysht river estuary is a huge and beautiful marsh, with miles of muddy channels, ...
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