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Marine Nearshore Indicators Subcommittee Report to the Governor’s Forum on Monitoring July19, 2005 Task of Subcommittee This subcommittee is to bring recommendations to the Forum at its next regular meeting on a specific indicator or set of indicators to be included in the State of Salmon report that would characterize marine conditions in Puget Sound, the coast, and the lower Columbia River estuary. Members and meetings held The subcommittee met on July 12th, from 10:00-3:00 A second meeting took place on July 14, 10:00-1:00. Subcommittee members: Jan Newton, UW Tom Mumford, DNR Curtis Tanner, US F&W Michael Rylko, EPA Casey Rice, NOAA Scott Redman, PSAT Wayne Palsson, DFW Brian Grantham, Ecology Margaret Dutch, Ecology Kim Stark, King County Lydal Johnson, NOAA Russell Stranton, NOAA Jim West, DFW Sandra O’Neill, DFW Mary Lou Mills, DFW Dave Nysewander, DFW Sarah Brace, PSAT Steve Leider, GSRO Terry Wright, NWIFC Tim Determan, DOH Recommended Options In the process of developing indicators for the estuary and marine waters, the subcommittee agreed that one or a few indicators was not sufficient to characterize the ecosystem of the estuaries and coastal waters of Washington. The subcommittee Estuary Subcommittee Report 1 July 13, 2005 developed a suite of indexes that more fully reflect the complexity of the estuary and marine ecosystem. The indexes fall under the main categories of “Inputs from Watersheds”, “Habitat” and “Ecosystems, Communities and Species”. These indexes are integrators of many key components of the ecosystem and data availability for these components is variable. The table below provides a summary of: information the index provides, key components of the index, availability of data for the index, and next steps needed to complete the index including estimated level of funding. To fully characterize the condition of the estuary and how it relates to effort to recover salmon, marine birds, orcas and other species, one or two indexes alone will not be sufficient. However, the subcommittee recognizes that the effort to develop the full suite of indexes listed below will require significant time, staff resources and funding investments. The Subcommittee will work with the Forum to develop a strategy (with options and proposed timeline) for prioritizing and completing the development of the indexes. Estuary Subcommittee Report 2 July 13, 2005 Category Habitat Indicator Shoreline modification index Components of indicator Extent of altered and shoreline, bulkheads, armoring, etc. What does this tell us? Characteristic of shoreline and nearshore – altered drift cells, changes in gravel size, sediment structure, etc. Also track where shoreline relatively intact/natural. Inventory of restoration efforts? Aquatic and wetland habitat composition index Relative abundance of intertidal and subtidal habitat types (such as marine riparian vegetation, tidal saline, brackish and freshwater wetlands, kelp, eelgrass, mudflats, marshes, rocky habitat. Condition of habitat for forage fish, salmon, and other organisms that utilize the aquatic and emergent vegetation, and unvegetated areas (i.e. mudflat/sandflats, etc.).. . Readiness of indicator Next steps and their Associated costs. (Still needed: coastal and Columbia R input. Low $ = 10s of K Mod $ = $100 of K High $ = Millions of K Shoreline inventory should be continued and repeated at a regular frequency - every 5 years (moderate $) DNR – one time shoreline inventory (ShoreZone) (2000). Counties – shoreline inventories variable depending on county. Other: MRCs Academia Tribes Columbia R. Estuary DNR/PSAMP on-going eelgrass; one-time shoreline modification AG: on-going aquatic and wetland nuisance species, invasives DFW/PSAMP: Data for San Juan (10% of WA ecosystem). Additional data needed from remainder of the estuary/coastal waters Other: Estuary Subcommittee Report 3 July 13, 2005 Analysis of 2000 data to refine the ShoreZone index. Product: description of the condition (moderate $) Develop index (one time low-med $) Continue with existing Species (no new $) Add new species (moderate – high $) MRCs, local governments Academia Tribes Columbia R. Estuary Ocean and deeper water (+30 ft) Seafloor, substrate type, habitat type, Condition of habitat for forage fish, salmon, and other organisms that utilize the deeper water habitats. DFW/PSAMP data for San Juans seafloor map Continue existing monitoring (no new $) Patchy data from Navy, Build a consortium or fund all at once (high $) Other? Measure human impact (low $) Marine water quality index Sediment Quality Index Extent of eutrification, info on physical properties (temperature, nutrients, DO, salinity, fecal contam.)PSP. Chemistry, toxicity, infauna (triad index), other Eutrification changes primary productivity, changes food availability, oxygen availability. Sediment quality and contaminant effects on benthic biota ECY/PSAMP:on-going water quality UW/PSAMP/PRISM: ongoing water quality DOH/PSAMP: on-going fecal Other: Academia Tribes Columbia R. Estuary Some local gov’ts ECY/PSAMP ongoing. Suspended sediments – needed. Measures of contamination in the sediments Continue existing monitoring (no new $) Expand spatial coverage (mod $) Develop index (one-time low-mod $) Continue on-going sediment sampling (no new $) Develop additional indexes on for other seafloor organisms. (mod $) Look at different strata – focus studies to look at nearshore. (mod $) Estuary Subcommittee Report 4 July 13, 2005 Ecosystems, communities and species Community integrity Taxa richness, diversity, trophic structure (relationship between trophic levels in the food web; i.e. producers and consumers) Large scale changes in the ecosystem communities affected by climate change, habitat change, contaminants, invasives, etc. . Species condition (status) Harmful Algal Blooms All major biotic groups, salmon, groundfish, forage fish, marine birds, shorebirds, marine mammals, invertebrates and plants. PSP, domoic acid, others Other invasives (i.e., Spartina sp., European green crab, mitten crab, colonial tunicate, etc.) Abundance biomass, and population health for all stages of life history Presence of biotoxins Food model tools but have not been applied – data are available. Partial data exists; more integration needed Academia DFW DNR ECY NOAA Fisheries EPA IBI Modules for wetlands (see BAWWG on EPA website) Academia DFW/PSAMP DNR ECY NOAA Fisheries EPA/PSAMP USGS/US F&W Tribes 5 Continue with existing Species (medium $) Expand food web studies to include plankton, additional key species, (mod-$) Develop index (one time low-med $) Continue with existing Species (medium $) Augment existing Programs (mod $) Other: Olympic Coast Marine Sanctuary NGOs Northwest Straits Commission Plankton studies needed (mod $) DOH /PSAMP : ongoing PSP Continue on-going monitoring (no new $) NOAA Fisheries: on-going PSP Expand coverage to include other regions (Mod $) Other: Estuary Subcommittee Report Develop index (one time low-med $) July 13, 2005 Inputs from Watersheds Marine biota contaminant index Fish and wildlife, invertebrates, plankton and plants Movement of contaminants through biota and effects (exposure and effects) Are contaminates increasing or decreasing? Is the ecosystem contaminated ? (PS eco System more contaminated than the Columbia River Est.? Extent and magnitude of contaminants through the food web. Estuary Subcommittee Report 6 Academia Tribes EPA – EMAP DFW/PSAMP: Ongoing fish contaminant NOAA Fisheries: Ongoing fish contaminant USGS/US F&W: terrestrial bird and mammal data other: Academia Tribes July 13, 2005 Develop index (one-time low-mod $) Continue with existing Species (no new $) Add new species (med-high $) Issues Critical for Success Marine and estuary ecosystems too complex to be characterized by one or two indicators. Data on many of the important indicators exists – funding needed to take to next step and develop integrated models Need to tie indicators to management activities and to stressors. Use indices as “fuel” for an adaptive management process Costs to accomplish the task See table above. Approach A possible approach is to prioritize the indices as to their degree of readiness and importance; 1. Relatively ready to create (low hanging fruit) a. Marine water quality index b. Sediment quality index c. Biotic contaminant index 2. Moderate to high cost but important a. Aquatic habitat composition index b. Community integrity index c. Species condition index 3. Wish list a. Harmful algal bloom index b. Shoreline modifications index c. Ocean index Players and their part of the solution Players Proposed Role (Lead, or support) Ocean and deeper water (+30 ft) (lead) Marine biota contaminant index (lead) Harmful Algal Blooms Species condition Community integrity Sediment Quality Index (lead) Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership Estuary Subcommittee Report Shoreline modification index (Lead) 7 July 13, 2005 Aquatic habitat composition index White papers linking VEC’s to ecological processes, structures, and habitats Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership Species condition? Aquatic habitat index Community integrity Sediment Quality Index? Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Species condition? Academia Marine water quality (lead) Marine biota contaminant index Harmful Algal Blooms Species condition Sediment Quality Index Tribes Species condition Community integrity Sediment Quality Index Marine water quality Local government, MRC’s, LE’s Species condition Community integrity NGOs Species condition Community integrity USGS, US F&W, other federal partners Marine biota contaminant index Estuary Subcommittee Report 8 July 13, 2005