10/7 Sablefish, beluga whale, Dungeness crab, NEPA reversal, Washington Wild awards

Sablefish [Seattle Aquarium/Burke Museum]

Sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria
Sablefish are a large robust fish with an elongate body and two dorsal fins. They range from Japan north into the Bering Sea and south through Alaska and British Columbia to Mexico, with highest concentrations in Alaska. Sablefish are wide-ranging and often migratory. Adults can be found on mud bottom in depths of 300 to 1,500 m (984-4,900 ft). Commonly caught off the Washington coast by commercial harvesters using otter-trawls, jig handline, and longline gear. Juveniles are occasionally caught by recreational harvesters in Puget Sound, which is a sablefish nursery. (WDFW)

A beluga whale in Puget Sound? Rare visitor startles boaters in first sighting here since 1940
In a flash of white out of the blue, a beluga whale has been seen at least six times around Puget Sound since Sunday, the first such sightings since 1940. It began Oct. 3 with a report from the south end of Fox Island, then another from Point Defiance, and then in Commencement Bay. In the fourth sighting, the whale was reported at West Seattle and on the fifth it was aglow in the waters of the Bremerton Ship Yard, according to Michael Milstein, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration West Coast Region. (Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)

Dungeness research aims to predict future harvests
The stars are still out when the work begins – sifting through samples of shore rock to measure crawling young Dungeness crabs...Working for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Environmental Specialist Sarah Grossman and Fisheries Technician Claire Cook have been conducting this survey once a month, on beaches near Skyline Marina and Cornet Bay at Deception Pass State Park since 2018. With this research, they hope to predict what the crab harvest will look like in four years, which is the time it takes for larvae to grow into harvestable-sized crabs. It’s for good reason – Dungeness crabs are the most profitable fishery in the Northwest and an important food source for the Swinomish community. Questen Inghram reports. (Anacortes American)

White House proposes restoring key parts of landmark environmental law, reversing Trump
The White House proposed restoring three core provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, reversing a significant rollback of President Donald Trump. The move received praise from environmentalists but could delay some of the infrastructure plans the Biden administration has in the works. Maxine Joselow reports. (Washington Post)

Washington Wild honors locals for their work to protect Skagit River headwaters
The nonprofit conservation organization Washington Wild looked back last week on efforts to protect the Skagit River headwaters in British Columbia from logging and mining, and rallied supporters to continue that work. During an annual ceremony held Thursday over YouTube, two of the organization’s three awards went to environmental leaders in Skagit County — Scott Schuyler of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe and Richard Brocksmith of the Skagit Watershed Council — for their roles in protecting the river. Kimberly Cauvel reports. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  248 AM PDT Thu Oct 7 2021   
TODAY  SE wind to 10 kt becoming NE in the afternoon. Wind  waves 1 ft or less. W swell 4 ft at 8 seconds. 
TONIGHT  SW wind to 10 kt becoming SE after midnight. Wind  waves 1 ft or less. W swell 2 ft at 7 seconds. A slight chance of  rain after midnight.

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