The Marine Resources Committee (MRC) is an advisory group to the Board of County Commissioners and part of the regional Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative. MRC members are citizen volunteers committed to protecting and restoring marine habitats in our ecologically rich corner of the world.
The Jefferson MRC and community volunteers have been chipping away at rain garden maintenance needs across Port Townsend. Join us in stewarding two rain gardens (at Lincoln/Adams and Garfield/Adams), by helping to remove weeds and adding mulch! Refreshments will be provided. More information and registration here.
Want to learn more about crabbing in Washington State? Need advice on how to set up your gear to prevent loss of your crab pot and to catch more crab? Each year an estimated 12,000 crab pots are lost in the Salish Sea and continue to capture crab with no one to harvest them. This leads to the mortality of nearly 180,000 Dungeness crab every year. The causes of crab pot loss are often avoidable and a direct result of user error. Watch the recording of this year's crabber workshop, hosted by the NW Straits Foundation and WDFW, to learn best practices for setting your crab pot and to ask all your crabbing questions!
Watch the recording of the June 21, 2022 virtual panel on current Dungeness crab research and management efforts in the Salish Sea! Speakers include Emily Buckner (PCRG, PSRF), Katelyn Bosley (WDFW), and Liz Tobin (JST) who cover the life history of Dungeness crab, the management of the Dungeness crab fishery, the goals and mission of the PNW Crab Research Group, one of the group's major research projects (the Larval Crab Monitoring Network) and the implications of new information emerging from this collaborative effort.
The 2021 Annual Report for the Jefferson MRC is now available. Learn about the MRC, our work and accomplishments over the past year!