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January 21, 1999 Contact: Carolyn Duncan, 206-296-8304 Salmon workshop The health of Puget Sound shorelines and the role they may play in the expected listing of Puget Sound chinook as threatened under the Endangered Species Act is the subject of a workshop for local government leaders and community groups today. More than 250 leaders are attending The Nearshore Environment of King County: The Neglected Link at the Dumas Bay Centre in Federal Way. The workshop is sponsored by the seven cities located on the saltwater shores of King County and King County's Department of Natural Resources. Organizers of the workshop emphasize that saving chinook salmon means paying attention to each of the links that are key to their recovery and nearshore coastal areas should not be ignored as attention is given to habitat and other issues relating to the region's rivers. Leading scientists and policy makers will make presentations during the daylong workshop. The nearshore area of Puget Sound includes the shallow saltwater to about 100 feet of depth as well as the neighboring wetlands, estuaries, beaches and banks that are critical in the lifecycle of salmon and numerous other species. These areas are especially important to young salmon as they migrate from the rivers to the ocean. There are approximately 100 miles of saltwater shoreline in King County. As the region's population grows, beaches are stabilized and docks and bulkheads built resulting in disruption of beach nourishment. This disrupts the underlying physical processes, which reduces the number of food fish and the cover the young salmon need to hide from predators. Signs of stress in the nearshore that are already evident include declines in populations of herring and sand lance, which are food fish for salmon. The workshop is sponsored by the Central Puget Sound Watershed Forum, which is comprised of the cities of Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Seattle and Shoreline and King County. Workshop partners include the state's Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team; the Department of Ecology; the Department of Fish and Wildlife; the US Environmental Protection Agency; the University of Washington's School of Fisheries; the City of Federal Way; the King County Department of Natural Resources; the Seattle Aquarium; and Seattle Public Utilities. |
Updated: January 21, 1999