nearshore assessments
Identification and mapping of San Juan County's
Forage Fish Spawning Habitat and
Eelgrass Prairies
Beginning in the Spring of 2001, FRIENDS of the San Juans began inventories linked to salmon recovery with Phase 1 of the San Juan County Forage Fish Spawning Habitat Assessment Project. During Phase II of the Forage Fish Assessment Project, FSJ identified and mapped the San Juan Archipelago’s nearshore eelgrass beds, and in Phase III, FSJ assessed San Juan County’s habitat suitable to support herring spawning. In the course of forage fish and eelgrass assessments, over 2,000 shoreline landowners, 200 community volunteers, and 350 local students were engaged.
  
FRIENDS' Forage Fish Spawning Habitat Study was a 3-year project to identify and map forage fish spawning areas within the County's 414 miles of shoreline. Forage fish-surf smelt, Pacific sand lance, and Pacific herring-are critical to rebuilding salmon stocks, since they are the small fish that salmon forage on. Protection of nearshore habitats utilized as spawning and rearing areas for forage fish will be needed if salmon recovery is to be successful. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) presently has authority to protect all known, documented Pacific herring, sand lance, and surf smelt spawning sites from impacts of shoreline development.
Research has shown that forage fish are vital not only to salmon, but also to other large fish, to many birds, and to marine mammals. Forage fish constitute the major part of the diets of Coho and Chinook salmon, halibut, and ling cod. They are essential to the diets of many seabirds, and over the past twenty years, the decline in seabird numbers has closely correlated with falling forage fish populations. Forage fish are also critical to the health of marine mammals. They are direct prey for porpoises, seals, and sea lions, while orca whales depend on the salmon for which forage fish are essential diet.
 FRIENDS' Eelgrass Survey involves mapping the County's nearshore eelgrass beds-essential salmon and forage fish habitat-to create a comprehensive eelgrass inventory to support salmon habitat protection strategies. "No net loss" regulations exist for the protection of eelgrass and are applied by WDFW marine habitat managers during considerations for granting Hydraulic Permits for in-water development proposals. Thus it is critical for overall protection of these habitats that site inventories of eelgrass location and extent be complete and comprehensive.
Further research has revealed losses of eelgrass habitat in numerous embayments in the San Juans, and an almost total loss in Westcott and Garrison Bays. FRIENDS is working with the University of Washington, USGS and Washington Department of Resources to identify the reasons for these losses. See Eelgrass Health for more information about the project.
Nearshore Assessments - Final Reports and Mapbooks
Click below to access our final reports in PDF format.
Call to request a CD of these reports if you are unable to download them.
Spatial Data (for Geographic Information Systems) is available on a CD. Please contact Tina Whitman for this information.
Current uses of nearshore assessment results:
Nearshore habitat assessment results have directly protected over 12 miles of forage fish spawning habitat and 140 linear miles of eelgrass and informed planning and policy decisions at the site, county and regional scale.
 Protection & Restoration - Over the past 2 years, FSJ has used nearshore assessment results to identify and rank restoration priorities and implement pilot improvement projects, including four marine riparian replantings at summer surf smelt spawning beaches. FRIENDS is currently identifying shoreline restoration priorities for San Juan County. See Shoreline Restoration for more information.
Salmon Habitat Protection - FSJ is applying the results of the forage fish and eelgrass habitat surveys and other best available science to identify priority shoreline properties for conservation protection. FSJ has begun initial work with San Juan County’s land conservation entities to incorporate project results in their strategic land acquisition, conservation easement and long-term stewardship plans. Concurrently, FSJ has been educating private shoreline landowners, teachers, land managers and realtors about nearshore habitats and shoreline protection techniques through expert lectures, feature newsletter articles, new homeowner fact sheets and media outreach and has multiple private landowners interested in long-term protection and restoration of priority shoreline properties. See Habitat Protection for more information.
The Project has been a collaborative effort between FRIENDS, the University of Washington's Friday Harbor Labs, the San Juan County Marine Resource Committee, and the State Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Washington State Salmon Recovery Funding Board has been the primary funding source for our nearshore assessments. Other funding support has been generously provided by the Russell Family Foundation, the Bullitt Foundation, the Harder Foundation, Horizons Foundation, Sea Doc Society (MEHP), the Northwest Straits Commission, Duroboat, NOAA/FishAmerica, the Town of Friday Harbor and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation.
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