News

2/3/13


The health of the Eel River and the fisheries it supports has long been a point of interest throughout the North Coast. At one time, this river provided abundant habitat for migratory fish and was California’s second largest producer of steelhead and third largest producer of salmon. A 2010 report out of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences estimat­ed that the Eel River once produced more than one million salmon and steel­head in good years.



These once-abundant fish populations both signaled a healthy watershed system and supported fishing and canning industries in this region. Now they suffer from unpredictable boom and bust cycles.



Even with the occasional year of strong salmon runs like we witnessed in 2012, there is little dispute that the Eel River ecosystem has become degraded for fish and other creatures that live in and around the river. In recent decades, salmon and steelhead populations returning to the river to spawn have declined dra­matically. There is much speculation as to what fac­tors have caused the collapse of these fisheries. Different groups and individuals point to different causes.



Is the loss of high quality nursery habitat in the Eel River estuary in Ferndale the culprit? Are low summer stream flows — from forest re-growth or illegal stream diversions to support the marijuana industry — to blame? Did the legacy of the timber industry swamp the river with sediment? Or should we set our sights on the miles of habitat blocked and diversion of headwaters established by the dams and diversion of the Potter Valley Project?



The reality is that all of these factors have worked together to compromise the health of the Eel River watershed. But the strength of this river and its fisheries can be restored, and a new task force of interested par­ties has just been formed to develop a realistic, sci­ence-based approach to do just that.



The Eel River Task Force is group of volunteers working collaboratively to gain a bet­ter collective understanding of the Eel River. It does not have policy-making power. Rather, the task force is a coalition of public agencies, Indian tribes, conservation partners, and other stake­holders with interest in or responsibility for the envi­ronmental stewardship of the Eel River. Task force members all have a deep commitment to restoring this watershed.



Task force members have many shared interests and are committed to identifying a realistic way forward. In the past, differing perspec­tives have sometimes come between these stakeholders. By coming together as one body, interested parties are signaling a renewed commitment to the daunting task of healing this watershed.



Perhaps the most impor­tant aspect of the Eel River Task Force’s approach is its commitment to science.



The group is committed to establishing a scientifical­ly sound baseline of what is happening with native fish­eries on the river. Rather than assuming that one fac­tor or another is the main source of trouble for the river, the ERTF will identify, evaluate, and prioritize among all of the recovery issues and associated challenges.



The task force is dedicated to leveraging opportunities for increased restoration funding and taking advan­tage of the best and latest methods for monitoring and restoring imperiled salmon and steelhead populations.



Its ultimate goal is to restore abundant fish popu­lations and healthy ecosys­tem conditions for the people who call the Eel River basin home.


The challenges con­fronting the ERTF are complex and it will take commitment and creativity to identify solutions. This group will wrestle with the complex issues of how to fairly distribute public resources, respect the rights of private landowners with­out sacrificing the river’s long-term health, and fulfill our region’s legal responsi­bilities to protect and restore endangered species. It will be no easy matter to find acceptable solutions to these challenges, but the diverse members of the ERTF are committed to working together to find appropriate compromises that respect all members of the North Coast community.



With such an impressive group of diverse and com­mitted stakeholders at the table, the future of the Eel River and its fisheries looks brighter than it has in many years. 



Darren Mierau is North Coast Regional Manager for California Trout, a fish and watershed advocacy organization. California Trout convened the Eel River Task Force to set a new path forward for the sustainable restoration of the Eel River.

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2/3/13

Humboldt Bay tug operator and master mariner Leroy Zerlang will be the featured speaker at the Humboldt County Historical Society’s 53rd annual lunch­eon set for 12:30 p.m. next Sunday (Feb. 10) at the Ingo­mar Club. All members of the Humboldt County His­torical Society and their guests are invited to attend.

Zerlang will present “Humboldt Bay Adventures: Tales of a Master Mariner,” with photos and stories of his 54 years on Humboldt Bay. As a tug operator and master mariner, Zerlang has had many exciting experiences and adventures during his long tenure. He will regale the audience with personal stories of bringing boats, from log barges to cruise ships, across the dangerous bay entrance. He’ll also share stories of shipwrecks and sal­vages, of bringing ships into the various docks in the har­bor and of his experiences as a ship agent, taking care of ship owners’ interests during their stay.

Additionally, Zerlang will provide background for his­torical boats and their mean­ing, most notably the 104­year history of the M.V. Madaket, which he operates as senior captain on Hum­boldt Bay for the Humboldt Bay Maritime Museum, owner of the vessel. He’ll also share some historical tales of the North Spit and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The afternoon with Leroy Zerlang will include a buffet luncheon, with vegetarian options available, and a Dutch raffle and silent auc­tion.

Tickets are $30 per person. Humboldt County Historical Society members and their guests can make reservations for the luncheon through Thursday.

For more information or to make a reservation, call the society at 445-4342.

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1/28/13

With plans to develop a district-operated RV park on Woodley Island on hold after local fishermen and community members balked at the idea, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District now has its eye on the former Samoa pulp mill site as a potential revenue source.

Chief Executive Officer Jack Crider said the cash-strapped harbor district is currently in negotiations to acquire property from Freshwater Tissue Co., owners of the Samoa pulp mill which closed in October 2008.

”Freshwater has given us an excellent opportunity to acquire this property, and we are trying to take advantage of it,” Crider said Friday. “We understand there is all kinds of potential revenue here. If we could lease out 100,000 square feet of this facility, the district would be just fine, cash flow wise.”

Crider said the harbor district has several projects -- including a public docking facility, commercial aquaculture and a Humboldt State University research facility -- in the works, should the property acquisition go through.

But it's not a project without challenges.

For one thing, the site is huge.

”Everything was built so large to accommodate the pulp mill,” Crider said. “When we fire that super-size monster up, that's going to be expensive.”

In addition to making sure the size of the site is even feasible for a aquaculture development, Crider said the district also worries about funding staffing positions at the site, and the possibility of left-over contamination.

”It's a little overwhelming for all of us -- taking on an operation of this size,” Crider said. “We want to make sure this thing doesn't just gobble us up.”

The harbor district is currently working with aquaculture specialists, as well as the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, to determine the feasibility of acquiring the site. Feasibility studies have been conducted in the past, Crider said, “but that was done on a very global scale. We now are looking at the project in more detail; like the cost and reality of using the site, the potential revenue we could generate.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge, Crider said, will be figuring out whether the district can even afford to purchase the property.
”That's absolutely something that keeps me up at night,” Crider said.

Hired in May 2012, Crider said he realizes that the district needs to get creative when it comes to feasible alternative revenue sources.

After years in the red, the agency has eaten away at its reserve funds. Debt from dredging Humboldt Bay in 2000, combined with lost revenue from disappearing timber companies and the closure of the Simpson pulp mill in 2008, saw the district's reserve funds plummet from $6 million in 2006 to just over $2 million in 2010.

In addition to another round of dredging -- which Crider said will likely need to happen in about four years with the rate silt sediment is piling up in the bay-- the district also needs to start thinking about replacing the more than 50,000-square-feet of marina floats that make up the harbor dock.

If something doesn't change soon, Crider said the district will be forced to increase harbor rates.

Crider said he still hasn't given up on plans to develop a proposed 65-space RV park on Startare Drive, the main access road to Woodley Island. In addition to RV parking, the site would include landscaping, a play area, and a dog area. The preliminary feasibility study estimated the start-up cost at a little over $1 million.

Although Crider stresses that the project is vital to preventing harbor district rates from rising, discussion and concerns from local fishermen and community members have kept the commission from moving forward.

”They could absolutely say, 'OK, we don't have an agreement, but are going to move forward anyway,'” he said. “But they don't want to do that. They are committed to making sure everyone has adequate input and making sure the public has plenty of opportunity to speak.”

It's an exercise in patience, Crider said.

While he hopes the RV park project will eventually move forward, Crider said the district has to look elsewhere as “the bleed continues.”

The district is hoping to take advantage of a $70,000 Headwaters Fund grant as it moves forward with potentially acquiring the Samoa Pulp Mill site and developing the aquaculture component of the project.

Headwaters Fund Coordinator Dawn Elsbree said there has been community conversation about developing aquaculture in Humboldt Bay for some time, beginning with an HSU environmental engineering class that studied the feasibility of such a project on the Samoa peninsula. Erika Blackwell took up the project, spearheading what became known as the Humboldt Aquaculture Innovation Center and she worked with the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission to originally apply for the $70,000 grant.

When RREDC learned that the harbor district was considering acquiring the Samoa pulp mill site, Executive Director Don Ehnebuske said it made sense to direct the grant funding to the harbor.

”We felt that it would be a better use of Headwaters Fund money,” Ehnebuske said. “Our plans were just getting started, theirs are moving ahead.”

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1/15/13

Biologists are gaining new information about the winter movements of endangered Puget Sound killer whales by tracking the daily activities of one orca by a satellite tag.

Since scientists attached a transmitter to a 21-year-old male orca named as Scoter two weeks ago, they've watched as he sprinted more than 1,000 miles — from the Seattle area to north of San Francisco before curiously reversing course over the weekend and heading north.

The whale, known as K-25, is traveling with other members of his group and was spotted near Crescent City, Calif., on Tuesday morning.

"One thing that has struck us is it seems to be directed movement. They haven't paused very long in one place," said Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle who is leading the satellite tagging project.

"How did they decide once they got to Point Reyes (California) to turn around?"

The satellite tag is helping scientists better understand where the black-and-white mammals go during the winter.

"It's definitely providing new information," said Ken Balcomb, senior scientist with the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash. He recently traveled to California and spotted the orca five times from shore. During the past week, he has helped researchers sight the animals so they could collect samples of whale scat and fish scales left behind after feeding to understand what they're eating.

The endangered orcas — which hang out in three groups known as K, L and J — spend a bulk of the summer months in Puget Sound, but scientists aren't certain exactly where they spend the rest of their time.

Visual sightings, ship surveys and acoustic reports have shown the animals travel as far south as Monterey, Calif., and as far as the north coast of British Columbia during winter, but the information has been spotty, Hanson said.

Tracking the animals in the winter would reveal their range and rate of travel, how far offshore they go, where they loiter and the timing of their activities, Hanson said. The information could lead to designating new critical habitat areas for the animals.

The tag is about the size of a 9-volt battery attached by barbs to the orca's dorsal fin. It doesn't provide real-time tracking but sends out about three or four good locations in a day. It'll likely fall off the animal after about 30 days.

Hanson, who has a permit to tag up to two orcas per pod a year, said he initially thought they would forage near the Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco or head south from there to Monterey.

"They didn't go as far as I thought they were going to go," said Balcomb. "Everything you find out leads you to ask another question. ... I'm wondering if they're on a scouting trip."

Balcomb has raised concerns about whether the tags could needlessly injure the animals but said Scoter is "doing fine, he's sprinting right along."

NOAA Fisheries announced last November that it is reviewing whether Puget Sound orcas should keep their protected status under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The review was prompted by a petition from the California-based Pacific Legal Foundation seeking to delist the killer whales. The petition asserts that orcas aren't in danger of becoming extinct because they're part of a larger population of thriving whales.
Whale advocates say the orcas are still endangered and should be protected.
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For more on the NOAA satellite tagging project: http://is.gd/hnyry7

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