PMEP Approves 2018-2022 Strategic Plan

The Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership has plotted its course for the next five years. Its recently approved 2018-2022 Strategic Plan identifies three overarching priorities for work over the next five years:

  1. Protect, restore and enhance fish habitat in California, Oregon, and Washington Estuaries with an emphasis on juvenile rearing areas.
  2. Protect, restore, and enhance fish habitat in the nearshore Pacific Ocean.
  3. Increase Connectivity between habitats within PMEP’s geographic scope.

We will accomplish this work through the collaborative partnerships we have built over the last decade. The full Strategic Plan 2018-2022 can be found here.

PMEP Welcomes New Coordinator

PMEP welcomes Joan Drinkwin of Natural Resource Consultants as the new PMEP Coordinator. Joan specializes in designing and implementing strategic conservation programs and projects. She is an experienced coordinator with over 10 years of experience in the non-profit sector as programs director and executive director. She regularly coordinates committees, facilitates meetings, and organizes effective gatherings of stakeholders and scientific experts. She is a recognized leader in the field of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear and is regularly called on for consultation from practitioners worldwide as well as Intergovernmental Organizations (FAO, IWC).

Joan has managed on-the-ground nearshore restoration projects as well as developed and directed strategic restoration programs. She has developed invasive species management plans, organizational strategic plans and communications plans. She has extensive grant acquisition and development experience. Prior to joining NRC, Joan was Programs Director (and Interim Director) for the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Foundation, where she managed the Northwest Straits Initiative’s internationally recognized Derelict Fishing Gear Program. Joan has worked extensively throughout the Salish Sea region on marine conservation policy and on-the-ground and in-the-water projects. She brings strong communications and development skills to all her projects and is deft at communicating scientific information to lay audiences both in writing and speaking.

You can reach Joan at info@pacificfishhabitat.org.

Report on Eelgrass Habitats on the U.S. West Coast Released

Eelgrass populations along the U.S. West Coast are genetically unique; therefore, conservation and restoration of these habitats should be guided by information gained from these populations.This Spring, the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP) completed a year-long effort to compile existing knowledge of eelgrass habitats along the U.S. West Coast. This report was commissioned by The Nature Conservancy to provide a synthesis of the state of scientific knowledge of U.S. West Coast estuary eelgrass habitats and the ecosystem services they provide. PMEP synthesized the literature relevant for the U.S. West Coast and standardized existing geospatial data on the current and historic extent of eelgrass for Zostera spp. PMEP investigated the role of 444 U.S. West Coast estuaries in providing eelgrass habitat and compiled its findings in a geodatabase.

This report synthesizes information on:
1) Presence and extent of eelgrass along the U.S. West Coast,
2) Ecosystem services provided by eelgrass habitats,
3) Important and emerging threats to eelgrass habitats in U.S. West Coast estuaries,
4) Knowledge and data gaps, and
5) Management strategies to conserve and restore eelgrass habitats and their ecosystem functions along the U.S. West Coast.

 

PMEP would like to thank the many experts and stakeholders who provided data and information, participated in webinars and surveys, or reviewed a draft of this report. Their contributions ensure that this summary of the present state of scientific knowledge of ecosystem services and extent of eelgrass habitats in Washington, Oregon, and California will be an essential tool for use in estuarine restoration and conservation projects to sustain healthy fish and invertebrate populations.

 

 

View full report — Eelgrass Habitats on the U.S. West Coast: State of the Knowledge of Eelgrass Ecosystem Services and Eelgrass Extent.
View spatial data here.
View short synopsis of report content.