San Juan County Assessment and Protection of Kelp Project

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San Juan County Assessment and Protection
of Kelp Project Friends of the San Juans, in
partnership with
the Washington
Department of Natural Resources
Chris Teren Photo
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SJC Kelp Project Objectives

• Complete assessment of bull kelp distribution for
  San Juan County utilizing WADNR protocol

2. Compile existing data and map San Juan
Countys bull kelp habitat 3. Distribute
habitat data to managers, planners, scientists
and conservation entities
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SJC Kelp Project Objectives
4. Apply results to existing protection, through
San Juan Countys CAO and SMP updates 5. Include
kelp in prioritization analyses for protection
through acquisition and easements and 6. Expand
voluntary protection of kelp habitat through
education with landowners, and other audiences.
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Assessment Protection of Kelp
Project

• Over one third of the canopy kelp habitat of the
  inland waters of Washington State is located in
  San Juan County (WADNR)

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What is kelp?

• Benthic algae in the order Laminariales
• Most attached, large brown algae in SJC are kelps

Chris Teren Photo
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What is kelp?

• In SJC this includes understory kelps such as
• Costaria costata (5-ribbed kelp),
• Agarum fimbriatum (fringed-sieve kelp),
• Laminaria bongardiana (split kelp), and
• Laminaria complanata (sugar kelp)

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What is kelp?

• as well as the canopy forming Bull Kelp
  Nereocystis luetkeanna.

Mark Gardner Photo
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Kelp Habitat Values
Understory and canopy kelps provide key ecosystem
services including

• High primary productivity
• Habitat structure
• Hydrodynamic effects

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Kelp Habitat Values
Kelp Beds Support Salmon

• Kelp beds support complex food webs essential
  to forage fish and salmon (Duggins, Simenstad).
• Kelp habitat is important for juvenile salmon
  feeding and migration (Fresh, Meyer, Shaffer,
  Simenstad).
• Coho, chinook, chum salmon and surf smelt have
  been documented to preferentially select
  Sound/Straits canopy kelp environments for
  shelter, migration and feeding (Shaffer, Fresh,
  Simenstad).

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Kelp Habitat Values
Kelps also support Rockfish

• Young-of-year copper and quillback rockfish
  strongly associate with understory kelps in SJC
  (Hayden-Spear, FHL)
• Copper rockfish young rely on bull kelp forest
  structure as they migrate down the plants to the
  reef habitat below (Haldorson and Richards)

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Threats to Kelp

• Pollution from shoreline development degrades
  water quality (sediment smothers tiny kelp
  spores)
• Overwater structures reduce light
• Kelps are sensitive to petroleum exposure
• Boat propellers and fishing gear physically
  damage plants and beds.
• Oceanic and climatic changes
• Invasive Species (Sargassum)
• Direct harvest

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Bull Kelp Mapping
METHODS High resolution, infra-red, digital,
aerial orthophotography Flown from 12,000 ft.
at low tide, clear day, in late July by
WADOT 2004 2006 data sets
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Bull Kelp Mapping
METHODS Field data was also collected by WADNR to
be used in aerial photography image
classification. Field work focused on
differentiating floating kelp from other
types of algae found in the low
intertidal and shallow subtidal. Field GPS data
on bed location and bed area was also
collected (by FHL WADNR) for comparison
to aerial data some flight lines were flown
multiple times. Variability in bed size due to
currents, etc. quite low (lt5).
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Bull Kelp Mapping
METHODS Follow-up field surveys were conducted
in late July 2007 in areas of poor photo quality
(glare, chop, shade)
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Bull Kelp Mapping
RESULTS High resolution, infra-red,
digital, aerial orthophotographs of all of
SJC- shorelines and upland Photos are public
and can be used to assess other resources
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Bull Kelp Mapping
RESULTS
Detailed classified bull
kelp distribution layer
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Bull Kelp Mapping
RESULTS manager data layers
Simplified kelp polygon
Parcels with kelp
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180 linear shoreline miles with bull kelp in SJC
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Bull Kelp Protection

• kelp habitat values, threats and opportunities
  content included in presentations to SJC
  council, SJC public works annual meeting,
  multiple shoreline landowner workshops, San Juan
  Initiative, etc.
• kelp maps and white papers provided to local,
  state and federal scientists, planners and
  managers
• analysis of local and state regulations and
  policies that address kelp underway for
  application to CAO SMP as well as other County
  plan and permit processes.

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• Education
• updated shoreline stewardship guide -with new
  kelp habitat page- mailed to all shoreline
  property owners (4,600)

Illustration by Katherine Eaton Skinner
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Contributors Helen Berry and Tom Mumford,
DNR Photogrammatic Lab, DNR David Duggins and
Kevin Britton-Simmons, FHL Jim Slocomb David
Loyd, MRC Katherine Eaton Skinner Funding
provided by the WA State Salmon Recovery Funding
Board
Mike Herko Photo