In 2020, PMEP commissioned a report Eelgrass Restoratin on the U.S. West Coast: A comprehensive Assessment fo Restoration Techniques and Their Outcomes.  The report synthesize eelgrass restoration project successes along the U.S. West Coast and identifies best practices for eelgrass restoration and mitigation. PMEP created a webpage summarizing the synthesis findings and providing guidance for eelgrass restoration practitioners. Drs. Melissa Ward and Kathryn Behishti conducted the reveiw and recently published their findings. Their paper,”Lessons learned from over thirty years of eelgrass retoration on the U.S. west coast” was published in Ecosphere and can be  found HERE. The project was supported by Pew Charitable Trusts.

PMEP is proud to announce that the Neskowin Fish Passage Improvement Project was selected by the National Fish Habitat Partnership as a 2022 Waters to Watch project! A project of the Nestucca, Neskowin & Sand Lake Watersheds Council, the project received  PMEP funding in 2020, and the project was completed in 2022.

The project included a strong partnership with the Tillamook County Public Works Department and restored fish passage within the Neskowin Estuary-Wetland complex benefiting multiple species including ESA listed Coho salmon at the same time providing emergency egress to the local community during flooding events. The project increased access to 250 acres of riverine estuary, tidal scrub/shrub and tidal forest wetland rearing habitat and 5 miles of spawning habitat for Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, Chum salmon, Steelhead trout, Pacific lamprey, and Cutthroat trout. The project replaced three undersized culverts and two tidegates with two 32’ bridges sized to meet federal and state fish passage requirements.

The Waters to Watch Program highlights ten outstanding fish habitat restoration projects nationwide to focus attention on rivers, streams and shores that will be cleaner and healthier habitats for the many fish and wildlife species and people who call these areas home

You can read about this and the other Waters to Watch projects here.

PMEP is delighted to announce that the State of the Knowledge of U.S. West Coast Nearshore Habitat Use by Fish Assemblages and Select Invertebrates report and data products are now available!

PMEP has compiled standardized spatial data on nearshore habitats within defined nearshore zones to reflect what we know about nearshore habitat classification and extent along the entire U.S. West Coast. PMEP developed the Nearshore Project with three main objectives:

1. Define and map boundaries for delineating nearshore zones along the U.S. West Coast.
2. Compile and standardize spatial data on nearshore habitats within defined nearshore zones.
3. Produce a state-of-the-knowledge report on U.S. West Coast nearshore fish and invertebrate habitats.

Nearshore areas are delineated by PMEP ecoregions, which include the Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest, Central California, and Southern California Bight. Each ecoregion section describes the habitats by nearshore zones, fish assemblages, and invertebrate use. Nearshore habitat data from multiple sources was standardized using the Coastal Marine Ecological Classification System (CMECS).

The report and data products provide a baseline for investigating changes, shifts, and adaptations of habitats for nearshore marine species along the entire U.S. West Coast. The geodatabase includes feature classes of nearshore zones and biotic and substrate habitat layers, and the data products are designed for use by resource managers, restoration practitioners, and researchers.

Please check it out!

Photo credit: A. Obaza, Paua Marine Research Group

PMEP and the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve (SSNERR) are teaming up again to host the second training session for the PMEP Estuary Viewer and Estuary Explorer online mapping tools on April 5th and 6th. This training will be held from 10 am to 12 pm over two days, with a $10 registration fee. Participants must be able to attend both days.

In the training, you will learn how to use tools that have been developed for scientists and managers to provide easy access to compiled geographic and biophysical information on estuaries and coastal fish habitats of California, Oregon, and Washington.

By the end of the four-hour training, participants will be able to explore and filter estuary data on regional and local scales for conservation and restoration planning and management purposes, learn how to effectively use the compiled data in both tools and how to download available datasets, upload personal data sets, or data from outside of PMEP, and customize their queries and data overlays.

For more information and to sign up, click here!  

PMEP, the Pacific Lamprey Conservation Initiative, and the California Fish Passage Forum just published a new report, Barriers to tidal connectivity for native lamprey species, which documents what we know about lamprey species and how they interact with barriers to tidal connectivity. The report was commissioned in 2019 to fill data gaps identified at the October 2019 Barriers to Tidal Connectivity Workshop. The report was written by Dave Ward of Fish Forward.
 

Check out the report here!  

The Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership has extended the deadline for submitting proposals for funding for fish habitat restoration and protection projects for its FY2023 funding cycle. PMEP will award an estimated $100,000-$350,000 in 2023 for projects that advance its mission.

PMEP Recently prepared this video for new members of the National Fish Habitat Partnership board of directors. Its a good overview of our focus and priorities and highlights our assessments and partners projects.

PMEP is pleased to announce the following projects have been selected for funding through the National Fish Habitat Partnership.  These projects represent important conservation priorities of PMEP.  $175,956 has been awarded to the partnership through the Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the following five projects:

• Blind Slough Wetland Reconnection Project, OR
• Rose Point Embayment Restoration Project, WA
• Catalina Island Eelgrass Restoration Project, CA
• Restoring Tidal Swamp, Marsh and Connectivity in the Yaquina Estuary, OR

Read more about these and other PMEP funded project here.

Congratulations to PMEP Steering Committee member Stan Allen, who was recently elected to the newly reformed Board of Directors of the National Fish Habitat Partnership (NFHP)! Stan, who works for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, will be representing the Marine Fisheries Commissions/Councils on the NFHP board. Stan was a long-time member of the previous NFHP Board of Directors and has been instrumental in ensuring that NFHP achieves its goals of restoring and conserving fish habitat nationally. Congratulations, Stan!

About the National Fish Habitat Partnership:

Since 2006, the National Fish Habitat Partnership has supported over 1,030 projects benefiting fish habitat in all 50 states. The National Fish Habitat Partnership works to conserve fish habitat nationwide, leveraging federal, state, tribal, and private funding resources to achieve the greatest effect on fish populations through priority conservation projects of 20 regionally-based Fish Habitat Partnerships. In 2020, the National Fish Habitat Partnership was recognized by Congress as part of the America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act. For more information, visit http://fishhabitat.org/.

We are happy to welcome Marina Cazorla, the Coastal Programs Manager for the California Department of Parks and Recreation in Sacramento, as the PMEP Steering Committee’s newest member! Before working for the parks department, Marina worked with the California Ocean Protection Council, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the Coastal Commission, as well as with an association of environmental philanthropies supporting coastal conservation in Mexico. She holds a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and a Master’s degree from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. One of her fondest college memories is meeting novelist Haruki Murakami. She currently pursues pandemic hobbies, including failed gardening, happy chickens, and a new camper trailer.