6/20 Giant sea nymph, BC fish farms, plastic bans, illegal clamming, Oly mountain goats

Giant sea nymphs [Jeff Adams]

Giant Sea Nymph Nereis sp.
.... Sea nymphs are large (some very creepily so!) worms that stretch out of their burrows and use inordinately fierce looking jaws to grab a nibble of algae or maybe a soft invertebrate. However, when the moon and tides and light are right, they have a different priority. Kind of like a werewolf, their bodies change with the coming of the full moon. The once burrow-dwelling omnivore becomes an actively swimming, gutless baby-making machine called an epitoke. On full moons in the winter and summer, the males epitokes will vigorously swim from their holes and rise into the water column, shedding sperm as they go. Once the females sense the males in the water, they follow closely spewing eggs. The sperm and eggs are often released through ruptures in the body wall (ouch!). The close proximity of eggs and sperm help ensure many of the eggs will become fertilized, but mom and dad contribute to the next link in the food chain. Jeff Adams blogs. (Puget Sound Blogs)

B.C. government sets new 2022 deadline for coastal fish
The B.C. government will not cancel provincial tenures for 20 coastal open-pen fish farms, instead giving the industry and its thousands of jobs a four-year reprieve while the province waits for Ottawa to take the lead on the issue. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham is expected to announce that the B.C. government will allow 20 provincial tenures for fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago to expire today, and then automatically renew them month-to-month until 2022. That’s when federal licences that control the location of those farms come up for renewal. The idea is that the two governments will act then together in the renewal process. Popham will announce that, after 2022, the province will only approve renewals or new fish farm licences that meet two strict conditions: a stipulation from the federal Fisheries Department that the farm won’t endanger B.C. wild salmon and consent from local First Nations. Rob Shaw reports. (Vancouver Sun)

City of Victoria wins court battle over right to ban plastic bags
Victoria has won a court battle over its right to ban plastic bags, meaning the bylaw approved last winter has the green light to roll out next month. The Canadian Plastic Bag Association (CPBA) challenged the bylaw in B.C. Supreme Court in January, saying the city didn't have the authority to enact the ban. On Tuesday, the court rejected that challenge. (CBC) See also: Plastic-straw ban hits Seattle next month  An exemption to the city's ban on plastics expires at the end of the month. That means, get used to paper straws. Christine Clarridge reports. (Seattle Times)
   
1,400 pounds of clams destroyed after illegal Key Peninsula harvest
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife police destroyed 1,400 pounds of clams that had been illegally harvested earlier this month in the Lakebay area on the Key Peninsula, officials said. A resident tipped off Fish & Wildlife officials June 2 to an illegal harvest along Carr Inlet, Fish & Wildlife police Sgt. Ken Balasz said. The area is closed to commercial harvesting. The responding officer arrived to find two men with 21 commercial-sized bags of clams on the beach and were still harvesting more, Balasz said. The men had a commercial license, but they didn't have certifications for the beach they were on or tags for the clams they were harvesting. The officer was able to determine that a Shelton-based company hired the two men to harvest the clams, Balasz said, but the owner initially denied involvement and said the men were supposed to be on a beach near Belfair. Kenny Ocker reports. (Tacoma News Tribune)

Olympic National Park to start capturing mountain goats this summer
Olympic National Park will begin capturing mountain goats late this summer now that the Park Service has released its record of decision for the Mountain Goat Management Plan, officials said Tuesday. Olympic National Park plans to relocate the majority of mountain goats to U.S. Forest Service land in the North Cascades national forests and to kill the remaining mountain goats that evade capture in Olympic National Park. The park will begin capturing goats during a two-week period this summer at Hurricane Hill, said Louise Johnson, chief of resources management for the park. Jesse Major reports. (Peninsula Daily News)


Now, your tug weather--

West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  253 AM PDT Wed Jun 20 2018   

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH  LATE TONIGHT   

TODAY  W wind to 10 kt becoming NW 10 to 20 kt in the  afternoon. Wind waves 1 ft or less building to 1 to 3 ft in the  afternoon. W swell 5 ft at 12 seconds. 

TONIGHT  W wind 15 to 25 kt becoming 5 to 15 kt late. Wind  waves 2 to 4 ft. N swell 4 ft at 11 seconds. A slight chance of  showers after midnight.


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