12/12 Seahurst seawall, Vic sewage, blocking trains, hatcheries, ferry reservations, shrimp crash

(PHOTO: Chris Menges/Highline Times)

If you like to watch--SLIDESHOW: Removal of the Seahurst seawall
For the City of Burien, Seahurst Park is one of its most important assets, and the city has worked the past 10 years to remove the hard armoring lining the shore and restore natural nearshore processes... The project will improve marine habitat for salmon and other endangered species, restore natural sediment processes, the beach to pre-seawall conditions and the park's recreational features. Chris Menges documents.

Esquimalt gets what it wants in sewage pact
Greater Victoria politicians approved a multimillion-dollar sewage compensation package for Esquimalt Wednesday, but took so long dickering over the details that they might incur $1.8 million in extra expenses. The Capital Regional District sewage committee voted to approve a new rezoning application for a treatment plant at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt — one of the last major hurdles before the contentious megaproject can begin construction. The proposal includes up to $13 million in amenities, such as barging construction materials to the site, as well as previously promised oceanfront walkways, bike lanes and road improvements. However, the CRD needs Esquimalt council to approve the deal. Esquimalt says it can’t hold a required public hearing until mid-February at the earliest. Rob Shaw reports.

How Coal and Oil Trains Will Block Traffic: Skagit and Whatcom Counties
If fossil fuel companies succeed in shipping the volumes of fuel they have planned, they will—by sheer physical necessity—disrupt vehicle and rail traffic all along the rail route. In our final chapter of the series, we examine the effects in Skagit and Whatcom Counties. Coal and oil trains—loaded in the interior of North America and bound for the coast—would close off streets for hours each day. South of the junction in Burlington that leads to the Anacortes refineries, we estimate that coal and oil trains would close streets by an average of between 49 minutes and 1 hour and 50 minutes, each day. North of the junction, streets would close 43 minutes to 1 hour and 37 minutes daily. At the slower speeds that are typical of urban areas, fossil fuel trains could shut down streets for roughly 3 hours a day, on average. Eric de Place and John Abbotts show the numbers

Lawsuits Put NW Fish Hatcheries In The Crosshairs
A string of lawsuits around the region highlights a groundswell of opposition to the practice of raising salmon and steelhead in hatcheries to then be released into the wild. Wild fish supporters argue that hatcheries harm wild fish populations and that governmental agencies charged with protecting salmon and steelhead under the Endangered Species Act are in fact violating the Act in some instances by releasing hatchery-raised fish to intermingle with the wild ones. Ashley Ahearn reports.

Reservations? Full steam ahead
Those who travel by ferry in the San Juans will likely be able to do what they’ve always done at any hotel or restaurant, come this time next year: make a reservation... The latest concept no longer would require those making reservations to be tied to a WSF frequent-user program, such as its Premier Account, a popular program with riders down sound, and would allot a percentage of automobile space for reservations made well in advance, those made closer to the time of a particular sailing, and then a portion reserved for those traveling without reservation at all. Scott Rasmussen reports.

Shrimp crash forces first fishery closure for 35 years
SOMETHING fishy is happening off the coast of Maine. Shrimp populations have collapsed. After recording alarmingly low stocks in its yearly survey, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission has now banned shrimp fishing in the region. It is the first time in 35 years that the Gulf of Maine fishery has been forced to close. Global warming is one of the suspects. What is so unusual about the latest survey is a decline in shrimp of all sizes. The fishery targets 4 and 5-year-old females, so reduced numbers of these would be expected. But there was a drastic reduction in younger shrimp, too. This suggests a sudden upsurge in some other source of mortality, such as predation or disease, and means the fishable population is not restocking. Cat de Lange reports.

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST THU DEC 12 2013
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON
TODAY
SE WIND 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 7 FT AT 14 SECONDS. RAIN.
TONIGHT
S WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS. SHOWERS...THEN A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT.
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