Eelgrass focus group discussions

[jssailem]

If you cruise in the PacificNW you will hear about the importance of Eelgrass to the survival of salmon and other species in the Salish Sea waters. There is now a push, by many groups to alter the availability of anchorages to protect the Eelgrass.

Scheduled are three focus groups to support this discussion by boaters.

Here is their link.

Focus Groups Participants – Recreational Boaters Wanted - Waggoner

Join the Northwest Straits Commission for a Focus Group on Anchoring Around Eelgrass Beds in the Salish Sea. Are you a recreational boater who anchors in the Salish Sea? The Northwest Straits Commission is working with multiple local and transboundary partners on a campaign to promote...

waggonerguide.com

Boaters need to be able to know what is being considered and share their voice to the discussion.

 

[RoyS]

This Save the Eelgrass nonsense is also on the East Coast. Between the save the eelgrass restrictions and the private but vacant mooring explosion our anchorages are disappearing. Not to mention expanding rental mooring fields taking entire anchorage areas. We sailors who use our anchors are dinosaurs and our time is up. Our children will not get to experience a night on the hook.

 

[jssailem]

For the Chesapeake it was the Strippers disappearing. For us it is Salmon.

 

[Mark Maulden]

I signed up for the Nov session.

 

[RoyS]

In Boston Harbor there is an anchorage at Peddocks Island that has been used by sailors since the Pilgrims arrived. Well protected with a pure mud bottom, I have anchored here many times. My dog loves to walk on the island although dogs are banned. The signs appeared a few years ago when the Department of Conservation and Recreation was installing 71 rental moorings ($27 a night) throughout the anchorage. I wrote a letter to the then Commissioner advising him that there is no eelgrass in the anchorage. The probable reason is that in the murky water of Boston Harbor sunlight cannot penetrate even three feet to support plant life on the bottom. The signs were removed after the rental moorings filled the entire anchorage. Our tax dollars at work.

 

[MikeHoncho]

While diving all over the south Puget sound, the only place I have seen eel grass is at depths of 10-15 feet. I have never seen it deeper and it is always on a noted slope. I can’t remember the last time I anchored in that shallow of a depth. I’ll keep a eye out for salmon at that depth but in 35 plus hours of underwater time I’ve logged this year, so far it’s been zero salmon no matter the size.

 

[jssailem]

The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has been contracting a research boat named ‘Research’ to survey the Eelgrass in the Sound, Islands and Juan D’Fuca since 2000. Every summer they spend weeks of backing there boat up to the shore, dipping a camera sled with GPS and Sonar depth sensors to just above the seabed and powering out to 35 feet video recording the density, range and depth of the eelgrass beds.

Their research is consistent with your observations. The bed patterns are not uniform nor are they every where. The depths are from 10 to 23 feet.

The 2018-2020 report can be seen here.

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www.dnr.wa.gov

The focus groups are a way of boaters having a voice about the issue of the DNR goal to grow the eelgrass beds by 20%.

Interesting they have discovered non-native species of “sea grass” growing in the beds.

Perhaps soon they will be hiring divers to tend the patches, weeding out the non-native plants seeking a pure environmental impact.

 

[jssailem]

I found my picture of the research Vessel. It is a refurbished fishing vessel

Here she is out of the water being repaired after a grounding.

Her owner shared the story of her running a ground on an uncharted rock in Westcott Bay. She sat high and dry on her keel. The owner had installed stout ladders to be used to get on and off the boat. They could be affixed to the gunnels. The crew deployed them to support the boat as the tide went out. They provided a way for crew to get off the boat during the 12 hour wait for the tide to refloat the boat. No damage to the rock, no serious damage to the boat, just the Captains pride was bruised.

 

[Terry Cox]

One thing that I have noticed in the eel grass covered bays and coves in the PNW; large numbers of salmon fry schools.

 

[jaysweet]

For the Chesapeake it was the Strippers disappearing. For us it is Salmon.

Pretty sure the strippers haven't disappeared from the Chesapeake just yet, John.

 

[jssailem]

They have come back to the Chesapeake. In the 80’s there was a chance they would disappear.

 

[JamesG161]

Remember EelGrass is a Carbohydrate converted by the Sun.

Seaweed Could be Used for Jet Fuel, Battery Materials - Market Insights

Farm it!
Jim....