Forage Fish Spawning Habitat Protection and Restoration- Case Studies from the San Juan Archipelago

Forage fish play a key role in marine food webs, with a small number of species providing the trophic connection between zooplankton and larger fishes, squids, seabirds and marine mammals.  Forage fish spawning activity occurs along only a small portion of the sand and gravel shorelines within the San Juan Archipelago and the larger Salish Sea marine ecosystem. Beach spawning forage fish such as surf smelt (Hypomesus pretiosus) and Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) are threatened by land use activities along shorelines, where development is concentrated. Human population increases and the impacts of climate change and sea level rise are expected to exacerbate the problem of forage fish spawning habitat loss and degradation in the future.   Comprehensive information on spawning habitat distribution, as well as long-term protection and restoration of known spawning sites, will be necessary to support marine ecosystem recovery as well as the recovery of multiple endangered species including Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchusts hawytscha) and marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus).  Over the past ten years Friends of the San Juans, a small nongovernmental organization located in San Juan County, Washington, has fostered public private partnerships and implemented a multifaceted approach to forage fish spawning habitat conservation, including research, outreach, protection policy, cumulative impact and climate change risk assessment, and habitat restoration.  A case study approach, highlighting key findings and lessons learned, will be presented in the areas of assessment, protection and restoration.