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Marine Resources Committee details abalone, kelp and forage‑fish monitoring and volunteer trainings
Summary
DRMT heard an extended Marine Resources Committee presentation on monitoring and restoration work including forage‑fish egg surveys, kelp bed mapping, Pinto abalone surveys with few juveniles observed, Olympia oyster habitat work with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, and free oil‑spill response trainings.
Alan Clark, representing the Marine Resources Committee, told the Dungeness River Management Team that the MRC is a county‑based volunteer organization formed under the Northwest Straits initiative to do monitoring, restoration and outreach. "We have been in operation since 1998 … we're doing monitoring and restoration, and education and outreach," Clark said.
Clark and MRC members outlined ongoing projects: forage‑fish egg surveys that track presence/absence and spawning locations; kelp‑bed monitoring conducted with GPS and protocols to map extent and condition; and a multi‑year Pinto abalone survey that has found mostly adult abalone and few juveniles, suggesting limited recent spawning. "We're not finding a lot of abalone … we are not seeing a lot of small abalone, which indicates that we're not getting spawning," Clark said, explaining the long‑term nature of any abalone recovery effort.
The MRC also described Olympia oyster habitat enhancement at the south end of Sequim Bay in collaboration with the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and Jefferson MRC; kelp work with Puget Sound Restoration Fund and WDFW; and outreach such as River and Ocean Film Festival appearances, school programs and interpretive booths. Clark highlighted volunteer opportunities from weekly kelp paddles to freshwater beach surveys and monitoring stations.
On preparedness, the MRC said it continues to offer oil‑spill response and HAZWOPER trainings to maintain regional capacity; the next training was scheduled for October 2026. During Q&A the group confirmed that MRC county boundaries follow county lines and that cross‑tribal conferral is important where jurisdictions overlap.
MRC leaders urged anyone interested to join the monthly meetings (hybrid) and noted a May presentation from a UW seabird and coastal observation researcher.
