On behalf of the state interagency team, Department of Ecology is releasing the Draft Marine Spatial Plan for Washington’s Pacific Coast for review and comment by interested parties, agencies, and tribes. The comment period runs through December 12, 2017. The draft plan provides information on ocean uses and resources and a framework for evaluating proposed… Read more »
Posts Categorized: News
New Habitat Framework Products Available
The Hoh, Makah, Quileute Tribes and the Quinault Indian Nation, in collaboration with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and NOAA Fisheries, recently released several products in support of their ongoing Habitat Framework Initiative. This project aims to improve the understanding and management of marine resources and ecosystems off Washington’s… Read more »
MSP Preliminary Draft Documents Available
The Preliminary Draft Marine Spatial Plan is now available! These preliminary documents are intended to provide key stakeholders and tribes an opportunity to conduct an early review of the plan and provide feedback to state agencies on plan content. A formal draft is currently expected to be released for public comment in May. The preliminary… Read more »
Olympic Coast Survey and Data Collection for Multiple Uses
Read NOAA Coast Survey’s blog post about how the seafloor and water column data from the coast of Washington is now being collected by NOAA’s Ship Rainier high priority data areas. These areas were selected in a seafloor mapping prioritization exercise in 2014. A group of state and federal managers, tribal governments, and academia delineated… Read more »
Seafloor Atlas: Complete Maps of Substrate Now Available
The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS), the Active Tectonics & Seafloor Mapping Lab (AT&SML) at the Oregon State University, and several contributing partners worked together to compile raw seafloor mapping data and stitch them together into a seafloor atlas. The group remapped data when necessary, standardized the classifications and methodologies, and applied existing ground-truth… Read more »
How are we doing? New tool reports progress on the MSP
How are we doing? In a planning process that has so many moving parts, many participants are wondering, overall, how are we doing? This tool provides an updated progress report on the overall process. The goals and objectives used in this tool were identified through stakeholder workshops, tribal government consultations, and a public SEPA scoping… Read more »
Ecosystem Models for the Coast – Describing Nature
The Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) developed conceptual peer reviewed models of habitats within Washington State’s marine spatial planning study area that represent important ecological components, physical drivers, and human activities within each habitat. The habitats include the large coastal estuaries of Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, rocky shores, sandy beaches, kelp forests, seafloor, and… Read more »
Q & A: What are some of the lessons learned from other planning processes?
Q: What are some of the lessons learned from other planning processes? A: In 2009, an international workshop hosted by The Nature Conservancy documented the best practices for healthy ocean planning. Since then, many more lessons have been learned within different regions of the country. Ocean planning best practices include: Using existing boundaries that cover… Read more »
Q & A: It seems like there should be other fishing data available on the map viewer. Why don’t I see it there?
Q: It seems like there should be other fishing data available on the map viewer. Why don’t I see it there? A: To protect the livelihood of commercial fishers providing the information. Washington State Law exempts some commercial fishing data from public disclosure if the release of the data would result in an unfair disadvantage… Read more »
Q & A: Would a marine renewable energy project be allowed within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary?
Q: Would a marine renewable energy project be allowed within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS or Sanctuary)? A: Unlikely at this time. Marine renewable energy projects are not explicitly prohibited by sanctuary regulations, but project components that would disturb or place a constructed object on the seafloor would require a sanctuary permit. OCNMS… Read more »
