To Be Sustainable, Conservation Needs to Consider the Human Factor

April 12, 2016

International researchers urge including the social sciences in ecosystem management, highlighting indicators of human well-being developed by Washington Sea Grant and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

For too long, sustainability goals and environmental management have failed to consider the human side of conservation—how decisions affect people’s lives, and how human culture, values, and equity affect conservation outcomes. Social science can contribute significantly to advancing and assessing conservation efforts. These are the conclusions of a paper published April 1 in ...

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APR

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WSG News Blog

All Pumped Up: Boaters Set New Record for Protecting Local Waters

March 29, 2016

Pumpout boats, public education, and collaboration with marinas divert 8 million gallons of onboard sewage to onshore treatment in 2015.

In 2014, Pumpout Washington, a joint project of Washington Sea Grant and Washington State Parks, helped divert a record 6 million gallons of raw sewage from Puget Sound, Lake Washington, and other state waterways. Now the 2015 numbers are in and they blow 2014’s record away. More than 8.3 million gallons that would previously have been dumped into vulnerable ...

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MAR

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WSG News Blog

Washington Team Awarded Grant to Build Community Resilience to Coastal Hazards

March 7, 2016

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management announced today that Washington Sea Grant will be awarded $879,255 for a three-year project to assist coastal communities in Washington State facing significant risk from the impacts of sea level rise, storm surge and shoreline erosion.

With 3,067 miles of coastline and more than 45 coastal cities, Washington needs to prepare people, infrastructure, and fish and wildlife habitat for these hazards, which is anticipated to worsen over time.

Washington Sea ...

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MAR

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WSG News Blog

Local Conservation Expert to Lead Washington Sea Grant Outreach

March 1, 2016

When Paul Dye focuses on marine conservation, change happens. Dye now brings that focus to Washington Sea Grant, where he recently began serving as the new assistant director for outreach for the marine research, education and outreach organization.

Dye’s previous work in Washington has conserved fish and shellfish habitat, supported fisheries innovations to create sustainability, helped coastal communities adapt to climate change, and reduced the risk of oil spills.

Dye has 30 years experience in the conservation field, spanning protection ...

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MAR

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WSG News Blog

WSG Staff Collaborates with Ocean Tipping Points Project

February 22, 2016

Washington Sea Grant Social Scientist Melissa Poe recently spent a week on Haida Gwaii interviewing Native knowledge holders. She is collaborating with the Ocean Tipping Points project and local partners Gwaii Haanas Parks Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation, in a social-ecological study to assess the cultural importance of Pacific Herring in Haida Gwaii.

Together with Haida Gwaii collaborators, Melissa conducted ethnographic interviews with knowledge holders about traditional practices and livelihood uses of herring. Results are expected to ...

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MAR

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WSG News Blog

Orca Bowl: A Gateway to a World of Water

The dryland underdogs in this year’s high school ocean-sciences tournament beat the odds with upbeat attitude.

“We live in a world of water,” Dean Lisa Graumlich proclaimed, welcoming high school students, teachers, families and fans, together with UW scientists and other volunteers, to the 19^th annual Washington Regional Ocean Sciences Bowl. That world embraces even the dry side of the Cascade Divide. Four of the 20 teams competing came from Eastern or Central Washington: two from Ellensburg, one from White Swan ...

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MAR

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WSG News Blog

WSG Researcher Honored by Seattle Aquarium

January 22, 2016

The Seattle Aquarium recently recognized UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences research scientist Jeffrey Cordell for his innovative work on restoring marine habitat along Seattle’s Elliott Bay seawall at their annual Chairman’s Award dinner.

Jeff led the long-term research, funded by Washington Sea Grant and the City of Seattle to design, install, and monitor large-scale test panels at three locations along the Seattle waterfront as part of the Elliott Bay Seawall Project. Jeff and his team tested the ...

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JAN

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WSG News Blog

Governor Launches 2nd Phase of Washington Shellfish Initiative

January 20, 2016

Governor Jay Inslee announced the second phase of the Washington Shellfish Initiative, a partnership of local, state, and federal partners from government, business, tribes, and nonprofit groups. The Initiative’s efforts to tackle pollution in Puget Sound and coastal waters have successfully led to the reopening of shellfish beds and, through a new shellfish restoration hatchery, native shellfish restoration efforts are growing. Washington’s $184 million shellfish industry supports approximately 2,700 jobs.

Leaders from the partnership convened at the National Fish & ...

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JAN

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WSG News Blog

Dr. John A. Knauss Passes Away

November 30, 2015

Dr. John A. Knauss, administrator of NOAA from 1989 to 1993 and an instrumental founder of NOAA’s Sea Grant program, died peacefully at the age of 90 on November 19 in Saunderstown, Rhode Island.

Knauss was widely known as an international leader in oceanography and marine policy for more than three decades. As such, the respected and highly successful John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship was created in his name. In 1966, Knauss was instrumental in the formulation of the ...

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NOV

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WSG News Blog

High School Juniors Get a Taste of Real Science Through Washington Sea Grant’s Outreach Program for High School Students

November 10, 2015

Meg Chadsey, WSG’s ocean acidifcation specialist, has teamed with scientists at NOAA ‘s Pacific Environmental Laboratory to provide hands-on seawater chemistry monitoring experience for several students from Eagle Harbor (on Bainbridge Island) and Garfield high schools. The students met at the NOAA Sandpoint campus on a recent cold November morning to analyze Puget Sound seawater samples they’d collected as part of their summer field work. The students conducted their first set of tests in a “container lab” — literally a shipping ...

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NOV

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WSG News Blog

Gear, Not Geoducks, Impacts Ecosystem If Farming Increases

October 25, 2015

The equipment used to farm geoducks, including PVC pipes and nets, might have a greater impact on the Puget Sound food web than the addition of the clams themselves.

That’s one of the findings of the first major scientific study to examine the broad, long-term ecosystem effects of geoduck aquaculture in Puget Sound, published in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea’s Journal of Marine Science.

The study also found that under one scenario, geoduck farming ...

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OCT

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WSG News Blog

Urban Runoff Killing Coho Salmon, but Simple Solution Within Reach

Filtration through column of soil and sand eliminates toxic effects of urban stormwater on fish.

October 20, 2015

Toxic runoff from highways, parking lots and other developed surfaces is killing many of the adult coho salmon in urban streams along the West Coast, according to a new study that for the first time documents the fatal connection between urban stormwater and salmon survival.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the same study published a paper in the ...

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OCT

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WSG News Blog

Welcome Six New Hershman Fellows

October 15, 2015

This month six new Washington Sea Grant (WSG) Hershman fellows are embarking on one-year fellowships, tackling topics as varied as assessing paddlesports safety in Washington to addressing climate change for the Makah Tribe. Last week WSG hosted a general fellowship orientation for all new fellows, followed by a tour of Fisherman’s Terminal, led by WSG Seafood Industry Specialist Pete Granger and WSG Director Penny Dalton.

The Hershman Fellowship was created in 2005 by WSG Director Dalton, in honor of Marc ...

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OCT

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WSG News Blog

2015 Hershman Fellows Announced

From Addressing Climate Change to Assessing Paddlesports Safety:

Washington Sea Grant Assigns Six New 2015 Hershman Fellows

The fellowship provides emerging professionals with a unique inside perspective on building marine policy and also allows them opportunities to share their academic expertise. For one year, fellows craft marine and resource policies and are teamed with mentors in state government or non-profit offices around Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle, working on ocean and coastal science or management issues. Many of WSG’s former fellows have gone ...

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OCT

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WSG News Blog

4th Annual Report On Conditions of Puget Sound’s Marine Waters Released Today

September 20, 2015

The Puget Sound Marine Waters workgroup of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program released the 4^th annual report on marine water conditions in Puget Sound.

The report combines a wealth of data from comprehensive monitoring programs and provides a concise summary of what was happening in Puget Sound’s marine waters during 2014. It covers areas such as climate and weather, river inputs, seawater temperature, salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, ocean acidification, phytoplankton, biotoxins, bacteria and pathogens, shellfish resources, and more.