January 3, 2018
Commerical fishermen, don’t sacrifice sleep to bring in a good catch. Fatigue increases your risk of vessel incident. For one man, fatigue cost nearly $70,000.
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DEC
2017
DEC
2017
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December 20, 2017
Ocean acidification is threatening ecosystems, cultures and economies in Washington State – today. In 2012, Governor Jay Inslee recognized the importance of developing a strategy to address these challenges by creating the Washington State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification. After reviewing the scientific literature, the panel outlined a plan in its seminal report, Ocean Acidification: From Knowledge to Action.
The science on ocean acidification has come a long way over the last five years. Today, the Marine ...
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20
DEC
2017
DEC
2017
December 12, 2017
Four graduates of the University of Washington (UW) have been selected for the National Sea Grant College Program’s prestigious John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship for 2018 to study, develop and implement policies addressing issues in ocean and coastal management, fisheries and marine resources. The one-year fellowship pairs motivated, forward-thinking graduates with legislative and executive host offices in Washington, D.C.
The Knauss Fellowship honors the influential legacy of the late John A. Knauss, who was an internationally-renowned ...
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12
DEC
2017
DEC
2017
November 21, 2017
One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.
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21
NOV
2017
February 5, 2018: CORRECTION
Since this report was made, we have determined that the evidence originally submitted of the crab’s identity was not verifiable as a direct observation of the crab. Because European green crab is currently very rare in Washington’s Salish Sea, the majority of reports are of mistaken identity. This is why photographs of the crabs captured are required before we can confirm a sighting. It is therefore with some relief that we retract this ...
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9
NOV
2017
NOV
2017
November 7, 2017
Five years ago, the state legislature allocated funding for the development of a marine spatial plan (MSP) for Washington’s coast. A MSP is a public process of analyzing and allocating the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in marine environments to achieve ecological, economic and social objectives. The Washington coast plan outlines a strategic approach to incorporate new uses in coastal waters by identifying ecologically important areas and areas in which current ocean uses takes place. It ...
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7
NOV
2017
NOV
2017
November 3, 2017
Aquaculture has been a mainstay of Washington’s economy since the state’s founding, and there is still potential for more growth. Three federal grants announced this week will provide total funding of $1.1 million to Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington’s College of the Environment, for research that will sustainably further shellfish and finfish aquaculture in the state. The organization is among 18 Sea Grant programs around the country that have been ...
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4
NOV
2017
NOV
2017
Header image courtesy of Zach Moore/USFWS
October 25, 2017
At the end of August, Crab Team received an email on our “tip line” from a beachwalker who had spotted a European green crab near Hobuck Beach in Makah Bay. The photograph submitted enabled us to immediately confirm the sighting, which was a new record for that area. The crab was located on Makah tribal land, and the Makah subsequently undertook a rapid assessment trapping effort to determine the extent of any green ...
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25
OCT
2017
OCT
2017
October 12, 2017
Following the recent capture of a single European green crab at Lagoon Point, on Whidbey Island (read more), Crab Team staff and volunteers, in consultation with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), headed back to the site last week to carry out assessment trapping as an expanded early detection effort. Over three days, the group conducted 114 trap sets, and captured only one additional European green crab.
This type of assessment trapping is the first step ...
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12
OCT
2017
OCT
2017
October 4, 2017
A new paper suggests using streamer lines and fishing at night are good albatross bycatch prevention options for longline fishermen in California, Oregon and Washington
Longline fishing is a technique that involves deploying a long line with baited hooks attached at intervals behind a boat. It’s a common technique used to catch many high-value species including halibut, tuna and sablefish. However, those fish are sometimes caught along with unintended targets—known as bycatch—including about 160,000 seabirds a ...
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4
OCT
2017
OCT
2017
September 22, 2017
Members of the 2017 class of Marc Hershman Marine Policy, Knauss Marine Policy and the Sea Grant – National Marine Fisheries Service fellowships programs met today for an orientation, followed by lunch and a tour of Seattle’s Fishermen’s Terminal.
This year’s class of fellows include:
- The Marc Hershman Marine Policy Fellows spend a year working with government or NGO host offices in ...
22
SEP
2017
SEP
2017
September 19, 2017
Crab Team volunteers at Lagoon Point, on the west side of Whidbey Island, captured a single European green crab in their final sampling effort for this year. The male crab, at 47 mm across the carapace, is most likely a 2017 crab, part of this year’s cohort. A team of four volunteers from the island has been monitoring the site, April through September, for the past two years, but this is the first evidence of European green crab ...
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19
SEP
2017
SEP
2017
August 23, 2017
A single European green crab was captured in Sequim Bay last week by Neil Harrington, an Environmental Biologist with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. Since the discovery of a small population of green crab in nearby Dungeness Bay this April, Harrington has been steadily trapping his way around Sequim Bay on the lookout for more of the invaders. Intensive trapping by Harrington and coworkers over the last week did not capture any additional European green crab, suggesting that ...
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23
AUG
2017
AUG
2017
August 17, 2017
Washington Sea Grant expands its clean marina and small oil spill prevention programs on Lake Chelan
Head down to Lake Chelan on a hot summer day, and its vast surface will be speckled with jet skis and motor boats. The locals all know there’s no better way to beat the heat in eastern Washington than to get in some quality time out on Chelan’s transparent, aquamarine water. What’s less commonly known, however, is that these very activities can ...
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17
AUG
2017
AUG
2017
August 14, 2017
It looks as though Crab Team, now a network of 52 early detection sites monitored by more than 200 volunteers and several dozen staff from partner agencies, might have another ally out in the mud. Last week, during regular monthly sampling in a channel at the south end of Padilla Bay, Lindsey Parker found a European green crab. This was definitely notable, because we would rather not find any green crab, but not entirely surprising because the monitoring ...
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AUG
2017
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2017