FORAGE FISH PROTECTION PROJECT

This article is a general introduction to the purpose and scope of this project. For more information on achievements to date and on-going work, please visit the link from this site to the Friends of the San Juans, the MRC's primary partner in this project.

Article by: Lawrence L. Moulton, Forage Fish Coordinator for San Juan County Marine Resources Committee

A key attribute to living in the San Juan Islands is the abundance and diversity of marine fauna in the surrounding waters, including marine mammals, sea birds and a diverse fish assemblage. The marine mammal populations attract observers from far and wide, but are showing signs of being under stress. Several populations of Puget Sound salmon have recently been listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In addition, San Juan County (SJC) has initiated a program to recover depressed bottomfish stocks. A key to the health of the marine ecosystem and to the success of recovery programs is ensuring that critical elements of the habitat and food chain are available to recovering populations.

The San Juan County Marine Resources Committee (MRC) has been committed to pro-active planning to ensure continued viability of marine resources within the county's boundaries since the committee's inception in 1996. In 1998, the MRC recognized that current planning for bottomfish recovery, salmon recovery and continued viability of marine mammal and sea bird populations using county waters, required that forage fish stocks receive aggressive protection from potential depletion.

Many of the marine mammals and sea birds in the region, and salmon populations migrating between coastal streams and the ocean, use waters around the San Juan Islands as feeding grounds. Some of the more abundant forage fish species used by these diverse species include Pacific herring, surf smelt and Pacific sand lance. All of these forage fish species spawn in intertidal or nearshore regions. Surf smelt and Pacific sand lance, in particular, use the upper intertidal portion of mixed sand and gravel beaches for spawning.

WDFW presently endeavors to protect all known, documented Pacific herring, surf smelt, and Pacific sand lance spawning sites from impacts of shoreline development. "No net loss" regulations for protection of known spawning sites of these species are included in the Washington Administrative Code "Hydraulic Code Rules" (WAC 220-110), which are applied by WDFW marine habitat managers during considerations for granting Hydraulic Permits for in-water shoreline development proposals. However, forage fish habitat protection regulations only apply to shorelines where spawn has actually been detected by WDFW or other qualified surveyors. Thus it is critical for overall protection of these habitats that spawn deposition site inventories be complete and comprehensive. Not all outwardly suitable-appearing shorelines seem to be used by spawning forage fishes. In fact, it appears that less than 20% of suitable-appearing beaches actually support spawning. On the other hand, large areas of formerly productive spawning habitat have been degraded or destroyed by shoreline practices in the absence of a database (or concern) regarding forage fish spawning activity (see Figure 1).

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) conducted a systematic survey of forage fish spawning beaches from 1991-1996 throughout Puget Sound, but lost funding for the effort in 1997, just as the San Juan County beaches were to be surveyed. As a result of the diminished program, only a small portion of potential beach spawning habitat has been surveyed (Penttila 1999). To complete surveys initiated by WDFW, the SJC MRC is conducting a project to identify forage fish spawning sites within the county. The objective of this project is to provide information to help prevent further loss of forage fish spawning habitat. Identifying spawning areas will allow more complete protection as provided for under existing regulations.

The initial two phases of the forage fish assessment project were to:

1. develop field protocols to be used during sample collection to ensure that information resulting from the project would be standardized and acceptable to WDFW habitat managers, and

2. identify and map known and potential intertidal spawning areas

The protocols essentially document methods developed and used by Dan Penttila and Kurt Stick of WDFW in previous forage fish investigations throughout Puget Sound (see Penttila 1995 and Stick 1990). The protocols document was published in June 2000 (Moulton and Penttila 2000).

Mapping of potential spawning areas was accomplished by identifying potential spawning beaches from low-level oblique aerial photographs looking towards the beach. Potential spawning beaches were mapped onto 1:24,000 scale USGS topographical sheets, and each mapped beach was assigned a unique identifying number. Mapped potential spawning beaches on Shaw Island were visually surveyed to evaluate the reliability of the classification based on interpretation of aerial photographs. Field verification reduced potential spawning beaches on Shaw Island by about 20%, so it is expected that a similar reduction will be achieved when other islands are field-verified. The beach information was then transcribed to the San Juan County GIS base map, where it is being made available to the county Permit Center for use when evaluating development proposals. The report for this phase of the project was completed in August 2000 (Moulton 2000).

The amount of potential forage fish spawning habitat varies greatly by island, with Lopez Island containing the greatest linear amount of potential habitat, and Waldron Island containing the highest percent of shoreline as potential habitat (Table 1). To date, fourteen surf smelt and eight Pacific sand lance spawning areas have been identified, all through the WDFW sampling program (Penttila 1999).

As part of the mapping program, a letter was sent to each landowner whose property adjoined a potential spawning beach. The letter informed the landowner of the project and their proximity to potential forage fish spawning habitat. Permission was requested to access their beach during the field investigation phase of the project.

The initial phases of the project were funded by a grant to the SJC MRC through the Northwest Straits Commission. The results of the project are in some ways specific to San Juan County, but many elements of the protocols and mapping process are adaptable to other Puget Sound regions. Both the protocols document and habitat report can be obtained through the Northwest Straits Commission.

The forage fish assessment project is now entering the third phase, in which the SJC MRC, the FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS, WDFW and the UW Friday Harbor Labs will cooperate in a field study to identify the spawning beaches actually used by forage fish. The MRC will manage the project. The Friends of the San Juans will conduct the field sampling with guidance from WDFW and the MRC. WDFW will also train UW/FHL laboratory personnel in the processing of samples from the field. Results of the study will be used to guide decisions on shoreline development and may lead to acquisition of key habitats.

References

Moulton, L.L. 2000. Distribution of potential surf smelt and Pacific sand lance spawning habitat in San Juan County. Report to Northwest Straits Commission, Mount Vernon, WA. 19 p.

Moulton, L.L. and D.E. Penttila. 2000. Forage fish spawning distribution in San Juan County and protocols for sampling intertidal and nearshore regions. Report to Northwest Straits Commission, Mount Vernon, WA. 36 p.

Penttila, D.E. 1995. The WDFW's Puget Sound intertidal baitfish spawning beach survey project. In: E. Robichaud (ed). Puget Sound Research 95 Proceedings Volume 1. Puget Sound Water Quality Authority. Olympia, WA.

Penttila, D.E. 1999. Documented spawning areas of the Pacific herring (Clupea), surf smelt (Hypomesus), and Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes) in San Juan County, Washington. Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Resources Division. Manuscript Report. LaConner, WA. 27p.

Stick, K. 1990. Summary of 1990 Pacific herring spawning ground surveys in Washington State waters. Washington Department of Fisheries Progress Report 283. Olympia, WA. 51p.

San Juan County Foragefish Assessment Project:

Distribution of Potential Surf Smelt and Pacific Sandlance Spawning Habitat in San Juan County. Final Report. July 2000.

Foragefish Spawning Distribution in San Juan County and Protocols for Sampling Intertidal and Nearshore Regions. June 2000.