species protection

We are happy to report a successful outcome to the bold legal action we took against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2018. They will now have to give more scrutiny to sea walls, bulkheads or other armoring in the Salish Sea. This is a very important ruling for forage fish – who feed ... read more

Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has issued a Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance for Cooke Aquaculture’s proposal (SEPA No. 19056) to farm biologically-engineered steelhead (aka Triploid Rainbow Trout) in the net pens Cooke Aquaculture used to farm Atlantic salmon. Open water net pens are “Confined Animal Feeding Operations” that generate disease and pollution. There could also be ... read more

Friends of the San Juans is seeking citizen scientists to help conduct beach surveys for spawning forage fish over the next two years. There will be a survey training session on October 26 from 9 am – 1 pm with researchers from Friends and Salish Sea Biological at the Old Town of Friday Harbor Fire ... read more

The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is updating WA State’s Oil Spill Contingency Plan (see also Chapter 173-182 WAC) that requires large commercial vessels, oil handling facilities, and pipelines to have detailed oil spill contingency plans for appropriate equipment and trained personnel to respond to spills that may occur. A draft of the updated rule ... read more

On Friday July 19, 2019 Whatcom County issued a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance (MDNS) for the Phillips 66 Ferndale Refinery’s proposal to construct a new 300,000 barrel crude oil storage tank and a new 80,000 barrel fuel oil storage tank. The new storage tanks would provide additional operating flexibility for ... read more

Friends of the San Juans just released an updated Salish Sea Vessel Traffic Projections infographic that identifies an additional 2,116 ocean going vessels making 4,232 transits to and from ports in British Columbia and Washington State from 25 new or expanding proposals. Vessel traffic from ocean-going oil tankers, container ships, bulk cargo carriers, and liquefied natural gas ... read more

Friends of the San Juans, San Juan Islanders for Safe Shipping and Orca Protectors will be marching in the Friday Harbor July 4 parade. Our message is “Protect What You Love.” Join us!   We have one (nearly) life size black foam-core fin for every living member of JKL pods, and two large banners; so ... read more

Come honor the Southern Resident orcas at beautiful Lime Kiln Point State Park! Join us for the 20th Annual Orca Sing, and gather for an evening of picnicking and live music while celebrating Orca Action Month. Fred West and Seattle’s City Cantabile Choir will perform their delightful music. An offering by Odin and Orca Annie ... read more

Come jump in the water to celebrate the Southern Resident orcas at the “Salish Splash” at Jackson Beach on June 13 at 4 p.m. with Friends of the San Juans, the Port of Friday Harbor, State Senator Liz Lovelett, and other community members. This year, the Washington State Legislature passed a critical package of orca ... read more

We all did it together! All Orca Emergency Response Bills have passed out of the Washington State House and Senate! Thank you for your time and efforts to contact our representatives – they heard you ask for better protection of our Salish Sea. Here’s the scoreboard for these bills – all addressing the protection and recovery of ... read more