Quality Assurance Project Plan
Intertidal Forage Fish Spawning Surveys in
Three Washington State Aquatic Reserves
Washington Department of Natural Resources
Ensuring regulatory effectiveness in
Puget Sound’s most special places
Grant #: PC-00J29801-0
Prepared for:
Fidalgo Bay, Nisqually Reach,and Smith and Minor Islands Aquatic Reserve Citizen Stewardship Committees
Prepared by:
Michael Grilliot
Nisqually Reach Nature Center
and
Jerry Joyce
Washington Environmental Council
June 2013
Publication Information
This project has been funded wholly or in part by National Estuary Program (NEP) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under assistance agreement PC-00J29801-0 to Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).
The EPA and Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) require a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) for studies, such as this one, that generate environmental data. This QAPP describes monitoring of environmental conditions that will be conducted in 2013 at three of Washington’s aquatic reserves. However, the contents of the QAPP do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
Copies of this QAPP and final project publications will be available from the Washington StateDepartment of Natural Resources (
Author and Contact Information
Michael Grilliot
2525 Minor Ave E. Apt 410
Seattle, WA 98102
740-503-8111
Jerry Joyce
11740 Exeter Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125
206-440-8688
Intertidal Forage Fish Spawning Surveys in
Three Washington State Aquatic Reserves
Quality Assurance Project Plan
June 2013
Approved by:
Signature: / Date:Yvonne Shavalier, Principal Investigator (PI)
Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve
Signature: / Date:
Daniel Hull, NRARCitizen Stewardship Committee
Signature: / Date:
Robin Clark, PI and Stewardship Committee,Smith and Minor Islands Aquatic Reserve
Signature: / Date:
Pete Haase, PI and Stewardship Committee,Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve
Signature: / Date:
Wendy Steffensen, Staff Scientist, RE Sources
Signature: / Date:
Kerri Cechovic, Washington Environmental Council
Signature: / Date:
Jerry Joyce, Washington Environmental Council
Signature: / Date:
Kyle Murphy, WDNR
Signature: / Date:
Dion Jamieson, WDNR
Signature: / Date:
William Kammin, QAOfficer, Ecology
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Distribution List
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Kyle Murphy, Program Manager
WDNR Aquatic Reserves
1111 Washington Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98504
Dion Jamieson
WDNR Aquatic Reserves
1111 Washington Ave SE
Olympia, WA 98504
Pete Haase
Beach Watchers
Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve (FBAR)
Citizen Stewardship Committee
Yvonne Shevalier
NRAR
Citizen Stewardship Committee Volunteer lead (Mainland committee)
Robin Clark
Whidbey Watershed Stewards
Michael Grilliot, Board
Nisqually Reach Nature Center (NRNC)
2525 Minor Ave E. Apt 410
Seattle, WA 98102
740-503-8111
Daniel Hull, PI
NRNC
4949 D’Milluhr Dr NE
Olympia, WA 98516
360- 459-0387
Kerri Cechovic, Grant Manager
WEC
1402 Third Ave,
Seattle, WA 98101
206-631-2607
Jerry Joyce, Science Advisor
WEC
11740 Exeter Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125
206-440-8688
Tom Gries, NEP QA Coordinator
Ecology
300 Desmond Drive SE
Lacey, WA 98503
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Table of Contents
Page
Distribution List
Table of Figures
Table of Tables
Abstract
Background
Project Description
Organization and Schedule
Project schedule
Training
Budget and funding
Quality Objectives
Sampling Design and Procedures
Invasive species transport prevention
Quality Control and Data Management
Audits and Reports
References
Appendix A: Protocols and Data Forms
Collection Protocol and Data Recording Form
Condensing Bulk Samples Protocol
Appendix B: Glossary, Acronyms, and Abbreviations
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Location of the aquatic reserves (circled) in Puget Sound.
Figure 2: Example of labeling sample jar.
Table of Tables
Table 1: Lead organizations for organizing activities in each reserve
Table 2: Key individuals and their responsibilities
Table 3: Schedule of important milestones in this project
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Abstract
As steward of 2.6 million acres of state-owned aquatic lands, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) established aquatic reserves throughout Puget Sound to protect important native ecosystems. These reserves are an effort to promote the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of state-owned aquatic lands that are of special educational, scientific, orenvironmental interest. This project establishes forage fish beach surveys in three aquatic reserves in Puget Sound: Fidalgo Bay, Nisqually Reach, and Smith and Minor Islands. The sampling will be conducted by trained citizen-science volunteers that have been organized by each aquatic reserve citizen stewardship committee.Forage fish are a vital component in the Puget Sound ecosystem,and themonitoring of their status is an important component to the recovery of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea. The citizen scientist groups will use established Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) sampling and processing protocols.Surveys will be conductedmonthly June-November and twice monthly beginning in December. If the program continues beyond the scope of this grant, sampling will be done twice monthly in January and February and once monthly from March through November.Retrieved samples will be returned to WDNR for identification and quantification of the forage fish eggs recovered in the study.
Background
The WDNR is steward of more than 2.6 million acres of aquatic lands. As steward,it has established aquatic reserves throughout Puget Sound to protect important native ecosystems. The Aquatic Reserves (AR) Program focuses on conserving high-quality native ecosystems. It is a state-wide effort to promote the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of state-owned aquatic lands that are of special educational, scientific, or environmental interest.
One benefit of the AR Program is the partnerships WDNRestablishes to aid in development and implementation of site-specific aquatic reserve management plans. WDNR works with federal, state, local, tribal and non-governmental organizations and private citizens in an effort to identify and manage important resources for conservation at each reserve. An additional benefit of ARdesignations is that management plans can be designed to compliment other protective measures within or adjacent to the reserve.
The types of Aquatic Reserves include:
- Environmental— promote conservation and restoration.
- Scientific—provide unique aquatic habitats for research.
- Educational—promote opportunities for field-based environmental education.
Some of the anticipated benefits of these aquatic reserves include:
- Ensuring environmental protection through site-based preservation, restoration, and enhancement.
- Enhance the health of native marine and freshwater aquatic habitats, and the fish and wildlife that depend on them.
- Encouraging public use and access.
- Providing for greater public input into conservation management.
- Working with stakeholders, including citizens and state, local and federal governments, to develop and implement site-specific management plans.
WDNR plans to coordinate with citizen science groups to conduct spawning surveys in theFidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve (FBAR), Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve (NRAR), and Smith and Minor IslandsAquatic Reserves (SMAR). The Citizen Stewardship Committees (CSC) selected to conduct the research in these reserves due to importance of the habit for forage fish spawning while avoiding duplication of monitoring being conducted in other areas. The locations of these reserves are shown in Figure 1.
Specific management plans were written for each of these reserves. These plans include requirements and recommendations for research and monitoring within these areas. The recommendations include:
- Identify data gaps, baseline inventory to fill gaps and establish standards for trend monitoring.
- Establish baseline conditions.
- Trend monitoring to determine the effectiveness of management activities and document natural variation.
- Research, to better understand observed changes and the interactions between management activities and natural resource conditions.
Descriptions of each ARand their management plans are available from WDNR at the AR Program internet site
aqr_rsve_aquatic_reserves_program.aspx (accessed on January 17, 2013).
In the development of the 2012-13 Action Agenda, the Puget Sound Partnership(PSP) established a near-term action for forage fish in Marine Protected Areas, including the aquatic reserves (PSP, 2012)
B3.1 NTA 1: Marine Protected Area Effectiveness. By June 2014, PSP, in collaboration with WDFW and DNR will identify the threats, coverage gaps, and conservation concerns addressed by existing Puget Sound marine protected areas and assess the potential effectiveness of these MPAs to protect threatened species and habitats, including rockfish and forage fish.
The importance of forage fish in the Puget Sound ecosystems has long been recognized. WDFW (1998) established a policy (POL-C3012) on the management of forage fish that requires management policies based on monitoring data. A poster by Pierce, et al (2012) summarizes much of the past sampling of forage fish in Puget Sound.
A symposium on forage fish was also was also held in September 2012 (Liedtke, 2013) that both summarized current work and presented new research. One of the conclusions of the symposium was that
“The lack of a reliable, and stock-specific, abundance estimate is a large data gap for most forage fish species in the Salish Sea. It is difficult to assess whether forage fish populations are stable, growing, or declining without a baseline population estimate and a means of assessing abundance on a relevant time scale. Herring are the only forage fish species in Puget Sound that are regularly monitored (by WDFW), and the group recommended that future effort be more balanced across all forage fish species.”
Forage fish beach spawning surveys have been recognized as a reliable way of monitoring forage fish spawning abundance and determining critical spawning habitat sites.( Moulton and Pentilla, 2001).
Forage fish are also considered a major issue in the establishment of the aquatic reserves. In the Fidalgo Bay ARManagement Plan (WDNR, 2008), it recognizes that a primary goal of establishing the reserve was to protect herring spawning habitat.
Project Description
The goals of the intertidal forage fish spawning surveys in the ARs are to:
- Collect time sensitive baseline data throughout each reserve
- Document changes over time in forage fish usage of the beaches using established methods that will provide data comparable across reserves and monitoring years.
The objectives of this project are to:
- Train and empower citizen scientists in conducting surveys using a standardized protocol
- Implement the surveys on a regular and consistent basis that can contribute to the time series from previous monitoring studies conducted in these reserves and concurrent monitoring studies in other ARs and other regions of Puget Sound, as described in this QAPP.
- Create a sustainable, locally operated structure in each reserve to continue this work after the end of this grant.
Monitoring is essential to determine if and how forage fish are using beaches in the reserves. The natural and/or human-induced impacts on reserve beaches cannot be measured without such data. Moreover, environmental questions posed by governmental agencies and interested groups cannot be scientifically answered without such data.
Figure 1:Location of the aquatic reserves surveyed in this study (circled) in Puget Sound. Base map source: WDNR (2011).
Efforts will be made to establish continuity with existingWDNR and WDFWdata in an effort to define trends and develop an understanding of the conditions and processes affecting the study areas over time.To achieve this, the studies will use established standards and sampling methodologies developed and made available by WDFW. As the planned monitoring program is implemented over succeeding years, it will generate data that can be used to establish baseline conditions, define trends, document changes, and identify potential restoration opportunities.
Monitoring within each reserve will be constrained by two primary factors: Human resources to conduct the monitoring and public access. In each reserve, interested citizens will be recruited and trained to conduct the Forage Fish monitoring. Table 1 lists the lead and associate organizations for each reserve that will seek recruits and coordinate training.Table 2 identifies the key individuals and their responsibilities.
Public access is the second constraint to the monitoring work.In each reserve, beaches at or near public access points will be used for sampling. Additionally, permission may be sought to conduct sampling on tribal or private land, as necessary.
The analysis of samples for identification of species and the volume of eggs requires scientific expertise that is beyond the capabilities of this citizen science program. Therefore, the samples will be fully documented and then turned over to WDNR or WDFW for appropriate laboratory analysis. An appropriate chain of custody will be maintained and documented throughout this process.
Organization and Schedule
Washington Environmental Council (WEC)is the coordinator for this program. This monitoring is being conducted in three aquatic reserves, each with its own stewardship committee and associated organizations. The Statement of Work (SOW, 2013) describes the structure as “Washington Environmental Council, with the project partners, will train the citizen committee members using established protocols and will work with the resource agencies to add value to their existing research and monitoring programs…” Table 1 shows the partners involved in this project. These partnerswill be responsible for all aspects of intertidal forage fish spawning monitoring including recruitment of volunteers, coordinate training in association with WDNR, provision and distribution of equipment, coordinate and supervise sample collection, review completed data forms,catalogue and safeguard collected materials, and coordinate the processing of the samples through WDNR in association with WDFW. Results from the laboratory analysis will be made available to the WEC and the partner organizations for inclusion in their reports. Table 2 lists the key individuals and their responsibilities in this project. Table 3 shows the schedule for this program under this program. It is anticipated that work will continue under the guidance of the stewardship committees and partner organizations.
The WEC will assist in the standardization of protocols across the reserves as well as assist in communications and coordination with local and state agencies.
Table 1: Lead organizations for organizing activities in each reserve
Reserve / Local organization(s)Fidalgo Bay / Puget Sound Corps (PSC); Beach Watchers
Nisqually Reach / PSC, NRCSC, Nisqually Reach Nature Center (NRNC)
Smith and Minor Islands / PSC, Whidbey Watershed Stewards
Table 2: Key individuals and their responsibilities
Individual / ResponsibilitiesDion Jamieson (WDNR) / Coordinate activities between PSC and ARCSC
Pete Haase / Coordinate collection in FBAR
Yvonne Shevalier / Coordinate collection in NRAR
Robin Clark / Coordinate collection in SMAR
Project schedule
The sampling program requires adequate training of the citizen scientists. Once collection is started, it will be performed monthly June-November and twice monthly December.If the survey continues beyond this survey year, monthly data collection will begin in March and twice monthly surveys will be conducted December-February.The schedule is shown in Table 3. Additional sampling may occur if resources are available.
Table 3: Schedule of important milestones in this project
Activity / DateRecruitment of volunteers / February-May, 2013
Training of sampling procedures / April-May, 2013
Begin Monthly sampling: / June, 2013
Begin Semi-monthly sampling / December 2013
Publication of draft report for comment by Ecology’s NEP QA Coordinator and peers / November 2013
Publication of final report / December 31, 2013
Training
Eachpartner organization will coordinate training events with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Reserves' Program.In some cases, The PSC Team will be available for additional on-the-job training for those citizen science volunteers wishing to expand their knowledge and understanding of the monitoring protocol. Online resources from WDFW are also available, and all citizen-science volunteers will be directed to these resources. These include forage fish beach survey training materials and established protocols, available at (accessed March 26, 2013).
All volunteers will also receive training in safe operations during collection and transport of samples. Additional training will include methods to avoid the transport and introduction of invasive species.
Budget and funding
This program is primarily a volunteer-run project and therefore does not incur costs for personnel. Only minor equipment costs are anticipated, and funding for these purchases is available through this grant, as stated in the SOW (SOW, 2013). Volunteer hours are used as indirect matching to grant funding.
Staff support, including coordinating activities between reserves and preparation of reports, are provided through this grant, including general activities such as development of the stewardship committees and evaluating the implementation of the management plans that are beyond the scope of this QAPP.
Quality Objectives
The overall quality objective for this project is to provide high quality data on forage fish usage of three Washington State aquatic reserves. This QAPP describes how samples will be collected, along with ancillary data. Identification and enumeration of fish species is described in WDFW FF-03 Protocol (WDFW, 2011).
The quality objectives for the field methods herein will be evaluated using indicators of precision, accuracy/bias, representativeness, comparability, completeness, and sensitivity (as applicable). The sampling locations and tidal elevations where sampling will occur at each reserve will be chosen to be representative of where various species of forage fish are expected to spawn. To achieve comparability over time, samples will be collected, handled, stored, and transported following standard protocols. The target for completeness is to successfully collect beach samples for 95% of the planned bimonthly and monthly sampling events.
Precision, accuracy/bias, and sensitivity apply mainly to measurement of location using hand-held GPS units. To validate accuracy and insure consistency among units, the make and model of the GPS unit will be recorded as well as the specifications of the accuracy of the unit. The datum for each unit will be set to NAD 83 and positions recorded in decimal degrees. The unit will be calibrated vs. a known reference point at the start of each sampling event. Sampling coordinates are expected to be accurate and repeatable to within 3 meters. However, because of the dynamics of the beach environment, replicates surveys at the same location will not be attempted. Therefore, the GPS coordinates will be used for generalized mapping and not relocating transect locations. Additionally, photographs of each sampling transect line will be taken to both help identify the location of the survey and to provide a method to correct any errant GPS readings.