BLYN — The Northwest Straits Commission will outline the details of a newly funded project to remove derelict fishing nets from Puget Sound during a meeting today.
The commission will present information from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Community Center, 1033 Old Blyn Highway.
The project started seven years ago through the work of the Clallam County Marine Resources Committee and grew into a regional project managed by the commission.
$4.6 million in funds
The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative was recently awarded $4.6 million in economic stimulus funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to pull derelict fishing nets from Puget Sound.
These funds, directed to the nonprofit foundation arm of the Northwest Straits Initiative, will allow the immediate hiring of crews and vessels to remove an estimated 3,000 nets from the sea floor.
According to the commission, the project will employ 40 people, restore 645 acres of marine habitat and be completed in 18 months.
“Derelict fishing nets are actively killing enormous numbers of fish, seabirds and other marine animals,” said Ginny Broadhurst, director of the commission.
“We now have the funding needed to get 90 percent of the derelict nets out of Puget Sound forever.
“These waters will be safer for boaters, divers and marine life.”
Since 2002, the Northwest Straits Initiative has removed more than 1,200 derelict fishing nets, restoring more than 240 acres of marine habitat.
For more information, click on www.nwstraits.org or www.derelictgear.org.
