Local  Shellfish  Growing  Area  Upgrades  

&  The  [Upstream]  Prac=ces  That  Allowed  For  Them  

Margaret  Homerding  Shellfish  Program  Manager  

Nisqually  Indian  Tribe  June  21,  2013  

Shellfish  growing  area  classifica=on  

•  You  can’t  harvest  shellfish  from                    everywhere!  – Bacterial  loads  of  freshwater  inputs  

– Bacterial  loads  of  marine  water  

– Bacterial  loads  and  Toxin  levels  in  shellfish  meats  

– Concentra=ons  of  pollutants  in  shellfish  meat  and  sediment  

Courtesy  of  Washington  Department  of  Health  

•  Largely  residen=al  area  – Older  sep=c  systems    – Pets  

•  Lots  of  small  farms  – Manure    

•  Lots  of  roads  •  Road  runoff  

•  Shellfish  Farm  

Photo  courtesy  of  Puget  Sound  Partnership  

Henderson  Inlet  Watershed  

Photo  courtesy  of  Puget  Sound  Partnership  

Photo  courtesy  of  Skokomish  Indian  tribe  

Stewardship  partners  

Courtesy  of  Washington  Department  of  Health  

•  Urban  •  Densely  populated    – Sewer  ou[alls  – Poten=al  heavy  metal      pollu=on  from  industry  

         and  roadways  

JBLM/Chambers  Creek  Area  

•  EPA-­‐funded  NEP  grant  •  4  year  project  •  Start  date  Oct.  1,  2010  •  DOH  lead;  partners    include  Nisqually  Tribe,    

Department  of  Ecology  

Joint  Base  Lewis-­‐McChord/Chambers  Creek  Prohibited  Area  

Courtesy  of  WADOH  

Elements  of  Study  •  An  evalua=on  of  shellfish  resources    

•  A  human  health  assessment,  including  =ssue  and  sediment  sampling  

•  Circula=on  and  dilu=on  studies  

 Shellfish  Resource  Survey  

• Qualita=ve  Inter=dal  Survey  

• Underwater  Towed  Video  Survey  

• Sub=dal  SCUBA  Survey  

Inter=dal    Shellfish  Survey  

• Walking  the  shoreline  at  low  =de  • Digging  samples  of  clams  • Coun=ng  oysters  and  other  shellfish  observed  

• No=ng  any  cri=cal  Habitat  

Photo  by  Michael  Kyte  

Inter=dal    Shellfish  Survey  

• Lifle  to  few  clams  or  oysters  

• Loss  of  habitat  due  to  development  

•   armoring  of  shoreline  

Underwater  Video  Survey  

• Towing  a  video  camera  behind  a  boat  • Must  go  slowly    

• Constantly  liging  and  dropping  camera  to  stay  close  to  the  bofom  

Underwater  Video  Survey  

• Poten=al  Geoduck  and  Horseclam  beds  

• Eelgrass  beds    

• SCUBA  diving  along  set  transects  • Coun=ng  geoduck  and  horseclams  • No=ng  any  observed  species  

• Marking  any  cri=cal  habitat  

Sub=dal  Shellfish  Survey  

Sub=dal  Shellfish  Survey  

• Large  tracts  of  geoduck  beds  

• Rela=vely  few  horse  clams  

• Several  crabs  

•  Collec=ng  sediment  and  geoduck  samples  

•  Analysis  of  samples  for  likely  contaminates  

Human  Health  Assessment  

•  Contact  or  inges=on  of  sediments  will  not  have  deleterious  affects  to  human  health  

•  Inges=on  of  geoduck  meat  will  not  increase  risk  of  disease  

Human  Health  Assessment  

Circula=on  and  dilu=on  Studies  

•  Drogue  study  to  verify  =me  of  =de  change  

•  Fluorometers  installed  in  front  of  geoduck  tracts  and  public  beaches  

•  Dye  injected  for  24.8  hours    •  Dye  tracked  un=l  gone  

Mixing  dye  

Photo  courtesy  of  W

ADOH  

Dye  injec=on  into  wet  well  ager  UV  

Photo  courtesy  of  W

ADOH  

Tracking  Tracking  the  Dye  

Photo  courtesy  of  W

ADOH  

Monday  11/12/12    morning   Photo  courtesy  of  W

ADOH  

Preliminary  Dye  Study  Results  •  Lifle  or  no  dye  got  across  channel  or  to  north  Ketron  

•  Dye  was  restricted  between  Sunnyside  Beach  to  the  south  during  flood  =de  and  along  the  east  shore  north  past  Day  Island  Marina  during  ebb  =de.    

•  Final  closure  zone  for  Chambers  Creek  WWTP  should  not  impact  Fox  Island,  McNeil  Island  or  Ketron  Island  geoduck  tracts.    

Next  steps  

•  Complete  Sub=dal  Resource  Surveys  •  Dye  injec=on  study  at  JBLM  Sewage  treatment  plant  

•  Recommenda=ons  to  state  based  on  findings  

•  More  projects  

Resources  •  Mark  Toy.  Washington  State  Department  of  Health.  Restoring  Shellfish  

Harvest  to  Joint  Base  Lewis-­‐McChord/Chambers  Creek  Prohibited  Area.  2013  Pacific  Rim  Shellfish  Sanita=on  Conference.  Presented  April  3,  2013  

•  Bradbury,A.,  Sizemore,  R.,  Rothaus,  D.,  Ulrich,  M.  Washington  Stat  eMarine  Resources  unit  Fish  Management  Division  Fish  Program.  Stock  Assessment  of  Sub=dal  Geoduck  Clams  (Panopea  abrupta)  in  Washington.  January  2000.  

•  Nisqually  Reach  and  Henderson  Inlet    Shellfish  Protec=on  Districts    Combined  Shellfish  District  2008  Annual  Report.  Available  at:  hfp://www.co.thurston.wa.us/planning/natural-­‐res/docs/shellfish-­‐annual-­‐report-­‐2008.pdf.  Accessed  6/21/2013