PORT ANGELES — Business should pay attention to offshore conservation efforts because of the economic value of the ocean, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Superintendent Carol Bernthal told the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
The 10th-year superintendent gave an overview of what’s happening at the research center, including its revised management plan, at the chamber luncheon at the Port Angeles Red Lion Hotel.
Ecotourism potential
“There’s a huge potential for more development around ecotourism, and we’re interested in your ideas about that,” Bernthal told a crowd of about 70.
“And I think one of the biggest challenges that we will face in the next 10 to 50 years is how do we deal with climate change. What impact is that going to have on our community? How do we prepare ourselves for that?”
The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary opened in 1994. It’s offices and visitor’s center are located at The Landing mall in Port Angeles.
“The ocean is actually a huge [economic] driver for the United States, both in terms of market values that we can measure directly, including transportation, fishing and shellfish,” Bernthal said.
“But there are also non-market values that we’re starting to quantify. . . . If you look at the total for of the ocean, the value has recently been estimated at over $100 billion a year. That’s enormous. It’s something that, as business people, it’s important to pay attention to.”
Blue-green economy
Bernthal discussed a “blue-green economy,” or extracting value from the ocean while sustaining it over time.
“If we use those values in the short term, we don’t sustain them over time,” Bernthal said.
“We’re basically bankrupting ourself for the future.”
The revised management plan will basically lay out a blueprint for the future.
Using public comment already received, the sanctuary will develop an action plan on the following key topics.
• Oil spill prevention.
• Determining the social and economic values of the sanctuary.
• Deciding what kind of research should be done.
• Encouraging ocean understanding for the next generation.
• Determining the values of marine heritage.
“It’s a big scope of topics, and we’ll be working with different community groups over the next six months to develop strategies for those areas,” Bernthal said.
2010 draft release
A draft of the updated management plan will be released next year.
After another public comment period, the revised management plan will likely be released in 2011, Bernthal said after the meeting.
The sanctuary’s visitor’s center is open seven days a week in the summer from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce. It is one of 14 federally designated protected areas and the only one in Washington.
These protected areas have been determined to have “an outstanding ecological, cultural or historical value,” Bernthal said.
“Not every place can be a national marine sanctuary, and we’re very fortunate to have one here.”
The sanctuary extends into the outer ocean from Cape Flattery to Copalis Beach north of Gray’s Harbor.
It extends anywhere from 25 miles to 40 miles offshore and boasts 135 miles of shoreline.
“It includes a wide variety of habitats,” Bernthal said. “It is a very large area, so we have a big job protecting it.”
The sanctuary is 1.7 times larger than Puget Sound and 2 ½ times bigger than Olympic National Park.
It contains 29 species of marine mammals, 90 species of birds and 120 species of seaweed. It has offshore canyons and a maximum depth of 4,500 feet.
Bernthal was asked if the sanctuary has any “dead zones,” or oxygen levels low enough to kill animals and organisms.
“So far, we’ve only had a few events that have come close, but nothing like what we’ve seen off the Gulf of Mexico,” she said.
“It’s something we need to continue to monitor over time.”
Bernthal was asked if the NOAA research ships would return to Port Angeles.
“This year we did not get any of the big NOAA fleet ship time,” she said.
“Hopefully, next year we’ll see them back.”
Bernthal said she had no information on the prospect of NOAA moving its Seattle-based research fleet to Port Angeles.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
