The Vashon-Maury Island nearshore area is one of Puget Sound’s “last best places” and holds significant habitats that are vital to the health of Puget Sound.

 
With over 50 miles of shoreline, the Island acts as an important ecosystem oasis in the otherwise heavily developed and damaged Central Puget Sound Region. While forage fish populations are decreasing in other parts of Puget Sound, the Quartermaster Herring Stock – which spawns on Island beaches in the early winter months – has one of the largest biomass volumes in the state. Similarly, Island shorelines are documented as spawning areas for sand lance and surf smelt – which combined with herring, create the prey base that is critical for at-risk species that are higher on the food chain such as the endangered chinook and orca.

In fact, our shorelines are so valuable that in the Federal chinook recovery plan, the National Marine Fisheries Services notes the significance of the Island nearshore to Chinook recovery – specifically directing that the Maury nearshore be given the highest level of protection from development and noting that the “preservation of this area cannot be overestimated in its value to the species recovery.”

In recent studies, the Maury Island nearshore was found to have the second highest population of juvenile chinook of all sites sampled in the Central Southern Puget Sound region – with the fish utilizing the site found to have come from as far away the Skagit Valley river systems.

In recognition of the importance of the Island shorelines, the nearshore area along Maury Island and Quartermaster Harbor was designated as a state aquatic reserve area in 2004 and in 2010 was designated federally under the National System of Marine Protected Areas. Far from being a commonly granted designation, there are currently only 7 Aquatic Reserves in the State of Washington and less than 300 federally designated Marine Protected Areas in the entire US.
 

The endangered southern resident orcas rely on Island waterways.

 
While the forage fish and chinook habitat values are critical components to both the health and recovery of Puget Sound, the regular presence of the endangered Southern Resident Orcas along Island shorelines is one of the most thrilling reminders of how important Vashon-Maury Island is to the greater Puget Sound ecosystem.

In the late fall and early winter months the orcas travel to forage along Island shorelines – a time when salmon is abundant here and scarce elsewhere. While their visits to the island vary annually, in some years the orcas have been documented by the NMFS appointed sighting network in Island waterways with a similar frequency as the peak season summer sightings at the state whale watching park on San Juan Island.

Most significantly, as the majority of orca births occur during the late fall and early winter months – it is common that newborn and very young calves are in tow when the orcas come to the island. And, as lactating mothers require a significant increase in food intake, the availability of salmon during this time period may be a critical component to species recovery.
 

There is continued risk to Island shorelines.

 
Although our success in defeating Calportland removed one of the most significant threats to the Islands nearshore ecosystem, there are still a range of issues that present risk to these important habitat functions.

For example, Quartermaster Harbor – a shallow, low flushing embayment – is currently suffering from low-dissolved oxygen levels during the late summer. Should these periodic anoxic conditions worsen, the harbor may see fish kills and a detrimental change to the harbor ecosystem. As nitrogen loading is a known contributor to low-dissolved oxygen, there are currently several studies being conducted in an attempt to better understand both the sources of excess nitrogen into the harbor, as well as actions that my correct the contamination pathways. This includes analysis of the water quality of the stream flows and groundwater discharges into the harbor, evaluation of shoreline septic systems and review of the harbor sediments which have been determined to be a prime pathway for nitrogen releases. This issue is of high importance to the health of the Quartermaster Harbor, and continuing work is needed to address and correct the problem.

There is also concern regarding the existing management plan for the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve. While the designation of this area was an important first step in the protection of this corner of the Island nearshore, the management plan drafted was developed with many non-protective loopholes which would allow impacting development to occur. And, to date, nearly 8 years after the reserve was created, the required environmental baseline analysis and monitoring work has yet to be implemented – which itself is a violation of the management plan.  Without strong implementation of the environmental components of the plan, the reserve stands to be a “reserve” in name only and the ecosystem functions, natural resource values and recreation components that the program is designed to protect will be lost.
 

Preserve Our Islands will continue to work to protect local shorelines.

 
In addition to our work providing regulatory oversight to the permitting process in the greater Puget Sound region, Preserve Our Islands is committed to ensuring that the agencies working on the nitrogen loading and low–dissolved oxygen issue follow a pathway that provides an informed resolution to the problem. And we will be working directly with the State to develop and implement a new management plan for the reserve that places environmental protection and ecosystem services as a priority for the Maury Island Aquatic Reserve.