Salish Sea Currents magazine

A state plan calls for reductions in nutrients across 163 distinct watersheds in Puget Sound, including non-point-source pollution. Agencies and restoration practitioners are looking at ways to measure the problem and get the word out about ways to control it. This article is part of an occasional series on nutrient pollution in Puget Sound.

Social scientists around the Salish Sea are predicting the effects of environmental change through the lens of culturally important foods.

Gaps in regulations could allow invasive species to hitch a ride on ships and boats. We report on some of the potential impacts, and how state and federal agencies are trying to solve the problem. 

Concerns over the potential arrival of the European green crab have inspired a small army of volunteers. A search is underway for early signs of an invasion.

Almost twenty years ago, volunteer biologists began an intensive survey for invasive species in the marine waters of Puget Sound. In a little over a week of hunting, they found 39 such species, including 11 never before seen in the region.

The Washington Invasive Species Council evaluated more than 700 invasive species in and around Washington, considering their threats to the state’s environment, economy, and human health. They included terrestrial plants and animals, aquatic plants and animals (both freshwater and saltwater), insects and diseases. In the end, the council listed 50 “priority species” for action, including five marine animals and two marine plants, along with one virus that infects fish.