Partnerships are Key in Developing and Maintaining Healthy Resources
Our Partners
Coalition of Coastal Fisheries
The Coalition is an organization of some 15 different organizations that work together to develop legislation for issues important to the industry as a whole. The Coalition was started in 1986 by a small group of fishermen that realized the strength in being united as opposed to working individually.
A list of participating organizations follows
American Albacore Fishermen Association, Bandon Submarine Cable Council, Columbia River Crab Fisherman’s Association, Fishing Vessel Owner Association, Grays Harbor Gill-netter’s Association, Ilwaco Charter Association, Puget Sound Crab Association, Purse Seine Vessels Owners Association, Salmon For All, Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Assoc., Washington Trollers Association, Western Fishboat Owners Association, Westport Charterboat Association, Willapa Harbor Gillnetter’s Association, Willapa-Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Assoc.
Conservation Northwest
Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the BC Rockies: vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989 we have protected hundreds of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat around the state, from the coast to the Cascades to the Rockies.
Today we are ensuring the region is wild enough to support wildlife, from wolves to grizzly bears to mountain caribou. We work with local communities on forest restoration, creating sustainable timber jobs, and wilderness protection. We help ensure a safe passage for wildlife, including those moving north and south across Interstate 90 in the Cascades and across the Canadian border, and east and west between the Cascades and Selkirks of the Rockies.
Conservation Northwest is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with four offices and twenty-one staff around the state that are supported by around 5,000 families and hundreds of volunteers who together provide 70 percent of our funding. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Our non-profit federal tax-exempt number is 94-3091547 and our Washington State UBI # is 601 135 446.
Northwest Straights Foundation
An internationally- recognized success story
Every year, we pull thousands of pieces of decaying fishing material from Puget Sound. Abandoned gear, like crab pots and non-degradable nets, can sit on the ocean floor for decades—trapping and killing hundreds of thousands of marine animals, like seals, porpoises, salmon, and crabs. At Point Roberts, alone, abandoned nets were destroying $437,000 worth of crab every season.
Fortunately, since 2002, we’ve been able to remove more than 5,900 pieces of dangerous derelict gear from Puget Sound—restoring more than 870 acres of precious marine habitat. Our work also protects more than 32 seals, porpoises, and other marine animals every week.
MRAC (Marine Resources Advisory Council)
Washington's Ocean Acidification Blue Ribbon Panel is the first of its kind in the nation. Ecology, other agencies, and organizations make up the panel that was formed to address this issue.
The world’s oceans absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. As the oceans soak up excess carbon emissions, the chemistry of the seawater changes — both locally and globally. This absorption alters the ocean’s natural acid-base balance. This move toward a lower pH value is called ocean acidification.
Washington is particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification. Washington’s coastal waters experience seasonal upwelling where waters that are naturally low in oxygen and rich in CO2 rise to the surface. Coastal waters also receive excess nitrogen from human activities that can stimulate algae blooms. As these blooms die and sink, bacteria decompose them, depleting oxygen from the surrounding water. The combined effects of upwelling, nitrogen inputs, and low oxygen zones mean that Washington is likely to see increased impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms earlier than other coastal areas.