Up to 90 percent of adult salmon in urban creeks die before spawning, which can be devastating to the population. Stormwater runoff carrying pollution from roads and impervious surfaces seems to be the main reason for this mortality. Washington Sea Grant-funded researchers tested the effectiveness of bioretention materials, like raingardens, in removing toxicity from runoff.

Bioretention systems are often used to treat stormwater in low-impact development areas and can prevent hazardous materials from reaching salmon-bearing streams. Researchers found that all fish exposed to soil-filtered runoff survived, whereas all salmon exposed to untreated runoff died. These results inspired a Seattle software firm to redesign their new campus to filter runoff from a nearby highway. This not only helps salmon survive, but protects public health by mitigating pollution entering local water supplies.

Aggressive, adaptable and highly invasive, the European green crab has disrupted coastal ecosystems worldwide. Despite being present on Washington’s outer coast since 1997, green crabs hadn’t appeared along inland shorelines until 2016. European green crab have since been found at five sites across Washington’s central Salish Sea, signaling the early stages of a potential invasion. Early detection monitoring is vital to protecting the environment, shellfish economy and tribal resources.

Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team was launched in 2015 at the urging of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The team administers a volunteer-based early detection and monitoring program that includes extensive outreach to the public and provides technical expertise to state, federal and tribal resource managers. Most recently, the team facilitated transboundary management planning between Washington and Canada and launched a genetics study and oceanographic modeling research project to identify sources and dispersal pathways. Since detecting the first green crab in 2016, the team has expanded the number of monitoring sites to 54, trained over 200 volunteers, and logged 7,000 trapping days, resulting in early detections at 5 sites of a total of 105 green crabs.

Commercial fishermen suffer 35 times the average workplace fatality rate. Short seasons and intense competition push fishermen to brave hazardous conditions in the harsh North Pacific environment. Better safety skills and understanding of marine weather can reduce risks for anyone who goes out on the water.

Washington Sea Grant provides U.S. Coast Guard-approved vessel safety and first-aid courses for fishermen and boaters. In 2017, Washington Sea Grant held twelve safety workshops covering topics including first aid at sea, marine weather, and hypothermia. Nearly 200 fishermen participated in these workshops. A Cold Water Training workshop that was held for the Suquamish Tribe in preparation for the 2017 Tribal Canoe Journey provided skills that Canoe Journey participants had to use during the actual event, as the canoe flipped over when they were paddling. Thankfully, the paddlers knew exactly what to do, and safely got back in the boat and emptied it of water.