Friends of the San Juans restore beach on Lopez

The surf smelt certainly deserve a gift this holiday season.

They are unique forage fish that get their name not because of their own foraging behavior, but because they serve as food for other fish, birds, and marine mammals. Surf smelt are one of only six different species of forage fish that call Washington home, including Pacific sardines, surf smelt, northern anchovies, eulachon, Pacific sand lance and Pacific herring. Of these species, three rely on nearshore waters of the Puget Sound for their survival. Surf smelt and sand lance use the upper beach habitat exclusively as spawning grounds, and Pacific herring spawn in eelgrass and macroalgae beds below the beach.

On December 3, Friends of the San Juans worked with local contractor Michael Budnick of Northwest Concepts, Inc. to remove a derelict concrete and creosote structure from critical marine habitat on the shores of Shoal Bay. This removal directly restores the upper beach habitat that surf smelt, a prey forage fish for salmon, use for spawning and incubation of their eggs and also improves water quality.

San Juan County has over 400 miles of marine shoreline. With just 12 miles of documented forage fish spawning habitat in our county, “it is imperative that we protect and restore these critical spawning beaches as they are a vital food staple for birds, fish and mammals,” said Tina Whitman, Friends of the San Juans Science Director.

Rich Carlson, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, offered praise for the project, saying, “sometimes small projects like this can have big benefits. In addition to the big issues such as contaminants and suburban sprawl, Puget Sound is suffering from thousands of small problems like this that have accumulated over the last two centuries. Luckily, this landowner recognized a problem and sought out people who could help. Together, the landowner, FRIENDS of the San Juans, and the USFWS Puget Sound Coastal Program have accomplished more than we could have individually. Together we have restored the beauty and ecological function of a Lopez beach, and made a contribution to the restoration of Puget Sound.”

Friends of the San Juans would like to thank landowners Gary and Patty Bergren for their early and ongoing support for the project, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Russell Family Foundation for project funding. Additional partners and contractors include Coastal Geologic Services, Drayton Archeology and San Juan County Public Works.

Friends of the San Juans is currently working with multiple private landowners and San Juan County Public Works to implement additional nearshore restoration projects at priority sites across San Juan County. These projects respond to priorities established at the local, state, and federal levels – damage from shoreline modifications has been identified as one of the top three threats to the San Juan County Marine Stewardship Area, and the Puget Sound Chinook Salmon Recovery Plan identifies restoration of modified shorelines as a top action item. Hundreds of structures currently impact the shoreline habitats of San Juan County; often they are outdated or no longer functioning as intended.

For more information about shoreline protection and restoration efforts, please contact Friends of the San Juans at 378-2319 or www.sanjuans.org.