National Ocean Archives - Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

Port Gamble starts water quality and plankton monitoring programs

Post author:Tiffany Royal
Post published:July 9, 2008
Post category:News

PORT GAMBLE BAY (July 9, 2008) – An upclose study of plankton in Port Gamble Bay and Hood Canal could provide telling results about the health of Puget Sound for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries department.

The tribe is monitoring plankton levels along with water quality because plankton are the most basic level of the food chain for the marine ecosystem. The study will also show biologists how the ecosystem itself is changing.

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MPAs Only One Tool

Post author:Billy Frank, Jr.
Post published:July 29, 2003
Post category:Being Frank

July 29, 2003

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about the health of our oceans these days. Most of the news isn’t good. Declining sea life, pollution, overharvest of marine resources – the list goes on.

According to the recent Pew Ocean Commission report, pollution and poor natural resource management are the main causes for the trouble our oceans are in. This private group’s assessment will be followed later this year by a report from the U.S. Commission on Oceans Policy. This federal commission is charged with developing findings and making recommendations to the president and Congress for a coordinated and comprehensive national ocean policy. We suspect their findings will be similar to the Pew report.

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