News

Sea Level Rise at the Arcata Marsh

“Sea Level Rise: North Unit of the Arcata Marsh,” an exhibition of photographs by Aldaron Laird, is on display through February at the Arcata Marsh Interpretive Center, 569 South G St. in Arcata. Hours are Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Waterkeeper Alliance

The international Waterkeeper Alliance connects local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. To champion clean water and strong communities, Waterkeeper Alliance advocates for issues common to Waterkeeper programs.

Each Waterkeeper program is an independent organization that reflects the needs of the waterbody and community it represents. The common thread for each Waterkeeper program is a person who serves as the public advocate for that body of water.

Waterkeepers are part investigator, scientist, lawyer, and advocate who represent all the users of the watershed who rely on clean water. All Waterkeepers also have a boat ranging in size from canoes to research vessels, but sometimes a pair of hip boots is more important than a boat. Sometimes a legal brief is more important than either. Each waterbody has its own unique challenges requiring a distinct and well-defined strategy.

Contact Humboldt Waterkeeper

Humboldt Waterkeeper

Mailing Address:

600 F Street, Suite 3 #810

Arcata, CA 95521

Physical Address:

145 G Street, Suite A

Arcata, CA 95521

707.499.3678

Jennifer Kalt, Executive Director

707.499.3678

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Jasmin Segura, Bay Tours Coordinator

707.601.1142

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Sylvia van Royen, GIS and Policy Analyst

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The Harbor District is Working On Plans for a Heavy-Duty Marine Terminal to Serve the Offshore Wind Industry. If You Have Thoughts, You Might Want to Attend a Meeting Next Week

A quick heads-up for people interested in offshore wind development on the North Coast — the Humboldt Bay Harbor District is hosting a public meeting in Arcata next week to discuss next steps for the Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal slated for the Samoa Peninsula.

If you haven’t been following the project up to this point, now is a good time to tune in.

Why now? The Harbor District is preparing environmental documents for the heavy lift marine terminal, and the agency needs community input to ensure the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) thoroughly addresses concerns surrounding the project. The June 24 meeting will be one of several opportunities the public will have to share their thoughts on the proposed project before the district recirculates the notice of preparation later this summer.

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Humboldt Bay is ‘a hidden gem’ for oyster production; Companies worry about risks to bay’s disease-free status

Humboldt Bay is one of the only places left on the West Coast where oyster seed can be grown and shipped across state and international lines, a distinction that has become the backbone of the region’s shellfish economy. Local growers say the bay’s rare disease‑free status is what keeps the industry alive as climate change, ocean acidification and fast‑moving pathogens reshape oyster farming from California to Alaska.

“It’s kind of a hidden gem, Humboldt Bay,” Justin Mojonnier, the director of science and technology for Hog Island Oyster Company, said of Humboldt Bay’s importance in the oyster and shellfish industry. “People don’t really realize it, but we’re a huge shellfish nursery; we produce a ton of shellfish seed out of this bay, we have a long history of producing shellfish seed out of this bay. It’s a really big part of the whole West Coast industry. I think last year we produced over 400 million shellfish seeds, so that’s both oysters and Manila clams. A big chunk of the West Coast supply chain has lived part of its life in Humboldt Bay, and the only reason that we could do that is the disease-free status.”

Hog Island entered the hatchery business decades ago after climate‑driven stressors such as warming waters, low pH and ocean acidification made seed unreliable elsewhere. That disease‑free certification is what allows seed to move legally across state lines. It also makes Humboldt Bay one of the only places on the West Coast where an oyster can complete its entire life cycle in the same water.

“55%-60% of California’s total oyster production comes out of Humboldt Bay, so it’s not just the seed, it’s not just the nursery, but we were a huge portion of California’s total market-ready shellfish production,” said Mojonnier. “Humboldt Bay is really unique in the way that the bay is, so just its geography and hydrology, we have a ton of mud flats, but we also have a ton of flushing, and this creates a really unique environment where we have a diverse phytoplankton assemblage in the bay, and phytoplankton are what oysters eat. If you go out and you kind of look at an aerial shot of the bay, especially during summer, it’s green, it’s just teeming with life. It’s truly a unique ecosystem.”

But growers warn that the system is fragile. Increased vessel traffic from increased ship traffic or proposed industrial projects poses the greatest risk of introducing pathogens like Ostreid herpesvirus-1 (OsHV-1), a highly contagious, viral disease that specifically affects bivalve shellfish, most notably the Pacific oyster.

“Any kind of ships coming into the bay is a promise of economic activity. You see it with the heavy lift terminal proposed by the Harbor District, cruise ships coming in, ships, but they’re all a risk or a vector for disease introduction, and that’s a big concern with the shellfish industry,” said Mojonnier. “Ballast water, hull fouling, we don’t control where these ships come from. Once that bell is rung, you can’t unring it.”

Terry Sawyer, a founder of Hog Island Oyster Co., said the value of Humboldt Bay’s shellfish industry is far greater than what shows up in state production numbers. Hog Island entered the hatchery business decades ago because climate‑driven stress of warming waters, low pH, and ocean acidification had made oyster seed unreliable across the West Coast.

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