3/4 Rockfish, WA climate, Wheeler's EPA, BC kelp, tourism, Hood Canal Scout camp, Britt Slough, B'ham waterfront, winter grubs, John Wayne Marina

Black rockfish [Monterey Bay Aquarium]

Black rockfish Sebastes melanops
Black rockfish range from the Amchitka and Kodiak islands, Alaska, to Huntington Beach in Southern California.  They have been found at water depths up to 366 m (1,200 ft), but are most commonly found in waters shallower than 55 m (180 ft).  This species is known to form large schools in and around kelp and artificial structures... Commonly caught by recreational harvesters off the Washington coast.  Recreational harvest within Puget Sound has been closed, with the exception of restricted fishing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. (WDFW)

Inslee's climate agenda gets rare wins in Legislature as he launches presidential bid
As Gov. Jay Inslee declared his presidential bid Friday, the Washington Senate passed a clean-power bill strongly championed by the governor. The 28-19 Senate vote to approve Senate Bill 5116 — and Friday’s passage in the House of HB 1112, another proposal sought by Inslee — marked a pair of rare wins for the governor’s climate agenda in the Washington Legislature. Sponsored by Sen. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, at the request of the governor, SB 5116 would require the state’s utilities to stop using coal-generated electricity by the end of 2025. It would also set a goal to make Washington utilities carbon-free by 2045.... Meanwhile, the House on Friday afternoon passed HB 1112. Sponsored by Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, it would phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons in equipment such as industrial refrigeration units. Joseph O'Sullivan reports. (Seattle Times)

Andrew Wheeler, who's been leading Trump deregulatory charge, confirmed by Senate as EPA chief
Andrew Wheeler is no longer the acting director of the EPA following the Senate's vote Thursday to make him the official head of the environmental regulatory agency. The Senate narrowly confirmed Wheeler 52-47, largely along party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats against him. While leading President Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda, Wheeler also has emphasized the agency's work to clean up Superfund sites and, for the first time, begin regulating a set of harmful chemicals found in drinking water systems that serve millions of Americans. Ledyard King reports. (USA TODAY)

Century-old maps are helping track B.C.'s kelp forests — and their discovery was kind of an accident
A serendipitous meeting between a professor and a colleague last year led to a treasure trove of historical maps that indicated kelp bed locations off British Columbia's coast, helping experts understand the changes in what are known as the "rainforests of the ocean." University of Victoria geography Prof. Maycira Costa saw the squiggly lines on the yellowed, hand-drawn map in a picture frame above her colleague's desk. The wall art was from 1903 and Costa said her co-worker had found it among a pile of old maps in someone's office. (Canadian Press)

Tourism is economic force in British Columbia with 6.1 million visits
Tourism in British Columbia is outpacing provincial economic growth as a record-breaking number of tourists visit the region, the tourism minister says. Lisa Beare told tourism operators at their annual conference Friday that the industry added $9 billion to B.C.’s gross domestic product in 2017, well above the province’s economic growth of four per cent that year, marking an increase of more than 6.7 per cent from a year earlier.... Tourism revenues increased by 41 per cent between 2007 to 2017, she said, adding the numbers reveal the sector added the largest value to the provincial economy over that decade, relative to the oil and gas, mining, forestry, logging and fishing industries. “We’re the third-largest industry,” Beare said. “We definitely anticipate increased growth here in B.C.” (Canadian Press)

Navy, conservation groups team to purchase old Scout camp land
More than 400 acres along Hood Canal will be protected from future development, thanks to a deal struck among the Navy, the state Department of Natural Resources, the Boy Scouts and local and national conservancy groups. The Navy purchased a $2.61 million easement on 430 acres that used to be part of the Boy Scouts’ Camp Hahobas in Tahuya, paving the way for the Great Peninsula Conservancy and the Department of Natural Resources to purchase the actual land. Arla Shephard Bull reports. (Kitsap Sun)

Meeting set to discuss Britt Slough restoration project 
Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group will host a community meeting to discuss its salmon habitat restoration plans for Britt Slough in the Skagit River floodplain. The local nonprofit is working with the state Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Skagit Conservation District on the project, which is aimed largely at restoring habitat for threatened chinook salmon, a primary food source for the region’s endangered Southern Resident orcas. The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the office for Skagit County Dike District 3, 20890 Dike Road, in the Conway area, according to a Skagit Fisheries news release. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Before the buildings go up, summer fun is planned on Bellingham’s waterfront
The Port of Bellingham and a developer are gearing up for a variety of projects for the waterfront district, including some construction work that could get going in the second half of the year. Here’s an update on what’s happening on the former Georgia-Pacific property... Dave Gallagher reports. (Bellingham Herald) See also: Port losing patience with pace of WWU plans for waterfront hub for energy and technology classes Dave Gallagher reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Vancouver's wild winter weather could aid battle against invasive beetle
Fluctuating winter weather in Vancouver, which saw warmer January temperatures turn cold in February, may have helped kill an invasive beetle with a ferocious appetite for plants, according to a University of British Columbia scientist. Juli Carrillo, who studies plant-insect ecology and evolution at UBC, says the grubs of the Japanese beetle, which spend the winter in the soil, may have been lured to the surface during January's warm spell, but then froze as below normal cold temperatures set in. Chad Pawson reports. (CBC)

Wayne family gathers options for marina, nearby land
John Wayne Enterprises Inc., is putting together options for redevelopment of John Wayne Marina and 105 acres the company owns next to the Sequim Bay facility. The Newport, Calif.-based company, run by the late actor’s family for protecting the John Wayne brand, has hired Heartland LLC, a Seattle real estate advisory and investment firm, to study alternatives for the public marina, owned by the Port of Port Angeles, and the adjacent 105 acres John Wayne Enterprises (JWE) owns. Paul Gottlieb reports. (Peninsula Daily News)


Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  248 AM PST Mon Mar 4 2019   
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON   
TODAY  E wind 15 to 25 kt. Wind waves 2 to 4 ft. W swell 4 ft  at 13 seconds. 
TONIGHT  E wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  4 ft at 12 seconds.



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