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NURSERY FUNCTIONS OF U.S. WEST COAST ESTUARIES: THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE FOR JUVENILES OF FOCAL INVERTEBRATE AND FISH SPECIES Brent B. Hughes1, Matthew D. Levey2, Jennifer A. Brown3, Monique C. Fountain4, Aaron B. Carlisle5, Steven Y. Litvin5, Correigh M. Greene6, Walter N. Heady7 and Mary G. Gleason7 1 University of California Santa Cruz; 2 SeaSpatial Consulting; 3 Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; 4 Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve; 5 Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University; 6 NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center; 7 The Nature Conservancy Prepared by SeaSpatial Consulting LLC: for The Nature Conservancy and the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership. Funded by Resources Legacy Fund and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation: This report, Nursery Functions of U.S. West Coast Estuaries: The State of Knowledge for Juveniles of Focal Invertebrate and Fish Species, was commissioned by The Nature Conservancy to support the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Fish Habitat Partnership (PMEP). PMEP was formed in 2009 to protect, restore and enhance ecological processes and habitats within estuaries and nearshore marine environments to sustain healthy native fish communities and support sustainable human uses that depend on them. PMEP is one of 19 nationally recognized fish habitat partnerships that seeks to advance regional and national goals relating to juvenile fish habitat (http://www.pacificfishhabitat.org). To support its mission, PMEP is working with a broad array of partners (federal, state, tribal, nonprofit, industry and academic) to conduct an assessment of juvenile fish habitat in nearshore and estuarine habitats on the West Coast. The overall goals of the multi-phase assessment are to: Better understand the role of estuaries in sustaining native species of fish and shellfish, including those most important to people; Identify nursery habitat for fish and shellfish in estuaries, and inform restoration priorities; Identify and evaluate key threats to fish habitat in estuaries; Demonstrate how conserving and restoring juvenile fish habitat in estuaries contributes to the overall ecological health and economic sustainability of commercial and recreational fisheries; Identify gaps in knowledge, science and understanding of the role estuaries play in providing nursery habitats for fish and shellfish of commercial, recreational and cultural importance; and Inform conservation and management decisions. Suggested Citation: Hughes, B. B., M. D. Levey, J. A. Brown, M. C. Fountain, A. B. Carlisle, S. Y. Litvin, C. M. Greene, W. N. Heady and M. G. Gleason. 2014. Nursery Functions of U.S. West Coast Estuaries: The State of Knowledge for Juveniles of Focal Invertebrate and Fish Species. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, VA. 168pp. © 2014 The Nature Conservancy Cover photos: Clockwise from top left: © Kirsten Ramey/CDFW; © Tom Gaskill; © Andrew Weltz/CDFW ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank the many experts and stakeholders who provided data and information, or reviewed a draft of this report. Their contributions ensure that this summary of the present state of scientific knowledge about estuarine use by juveniles of 15 focal species in estuaries of California, Oregon and Washington will be an essential tool for use in designing and planning estuarine restoration and conservation projects to sustain healthy fish and invertebrate populations. We are especially indebted to Lisa DeBruyckere (PMEP) for compiling peer-review comments on this report, copyediting, and organizing numerous workshops and meetings. Reviewers included the PMEP Steering Committee— Korie Schaeffer (NOAA Fisheries), John Bragg (South © Laura S. Brophy Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve), Jena Carter (The Nature Conservancy), Stan Allen (Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission), Fran Recht Martha Sutula (Southern California Coastal Water (Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission), Dan Research Project). Avery (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife), Sarah Beesley (Yurok Tribal Fisheries Program), Randy Carman We would like to thank the following experts who (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife), Chuck provided useful comments on earlier versions of the Combs (Makah Tribe), Joe Petersen (Makah Tribe), report: Randy Baxter (CDFW), Paul Reilly (CDFW), Vicki Frey (California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pete Kalvass (CDFW), Ken Oda (CDFW), Christy [CDFW]), Kevin Shaffer (CDFW), Jennifer Gilden Juhasz (CDFW), Ryan Bartling (CDFW), Thomas (Pacific Fishery Management Council), Michael Kellett Grenier (CDFW), Joel Fodrie (University of North (US Forest Service), Heather Kapust (Washington Carolina at Chapel Hill), Chris Rooper (NOAA Department of Ecology), Dan Shively (US Fish and Fisheries), Kristen Ramey (NOAA), Jason Toft Wildlife Service), Chris Swenson (US Fish and Wildlife (University of Washington [UW]) and Jeff Cordell (UW). Service), John Stadler (NOAA Fisheries), Kim Kratz (NOAA) and Stan van de Wetering (Confederated Additional contributions to the content were made Tribes of Siletz Indians). by The Nature Conservancy Staff—Jena Carter, Matt Merrifield, Dick Vander Schaaf and interns And the PMEP Science and Data Committee—Van (Kate Labrum, Adrienne Phillips, Bethany Taylor). Hare (Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission), Laura Brophy (Estuary Technical Group—Institute We would also like to thank the contractors who for Applied Ecology), Mary Gleason (The Nature developed the West Coast Estuary Inventory, Conservancy), Eric Grossman (US Geological Survey), Classification and Geodatabase—Jen Kassakian, Kate Bill Pinnix (US Fish and Wildlife Service), Steve Rumrill Doiron and Daniel Hudgens, of Industrial Economics (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife), Ken Pierce, Incorporated (IEc), and Kevin O’Connor, Charles Jr. (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) and Endris and Ross Clark with the Central Coast Wetlands Group (CCWG). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY © Walter N. Heady/TNC Estuaries are some of the most productive ecosystems We assembled a list of 15 focal species based on several on the planet, and provide many key ecosystem criteria, which included: a documented use of estuarine functions, one of which is the provision of juvenile habitats during the juvenile life history stage; a broad nursery habitat for fishes and invertebrates. Along the distribution along the West Coast; a high ecological, West Coast of the United States (California, Oregon cultural, commercial, recreational, or conservation and Washington; hereafter, West Coast), estuaries are importance; and a diversity of the taxonomic groups and known to be important nursery grounds for a few life-history types found in West Coast estuaries. We ecologically and economically important species, such conducted a literature review and received expert input as Dungeness crab, salmonids and flatfishes. Despite on the basic biology, feeding habits, life histories, habitat this documented importance for some species, the associations and estuarine presence for each of the 15 nursery function of estuaries for a multitude of species species. Where more detailed information was available, along the entire West Coast is poorly understood. This we developed case studies to illustrate the different lack of understanding is of concern given that many nursery functions of estuaries. We also aimed to estuaries are threatened by a suite of anthropogenic synthesize: 1) important and emerging threats to the stressors and a potential loss of ecosystem function. nursery functions of West Coast estuaries, 2) tradeoffs This report expands upon previous efforts summarizing associated with the management of habitats for species- juvenile use of estuaries and synthesizes the existing specific nursery function, 3) knowledge gaps and 4) geospatial data and information on the nursery role of potential management actions to conserve or restore estuaries for a group of ecologically and economically nursery function. important fish and invertebrate species. Our review emphasizes the widespread distribution To define the scope of this report, we first identified of potential estuarine nurseries across the West all the estuaries along the West Coast that were Coast. Juveniles of some of the 15 focal species were most likely to provide juvenile habitat, which documented in 113 of the 303 estuaries reviewed. resulted in an inventory of 303 estuaries and coastal This number included many smaller estuaries (53 at confluences that each has surface areas of more less than 100 ha), which provide juvenile habitat for than 0.04 hectares. We synthesized information on 11 of the 15 focal species, highlighting the potentially juvenile nursery requirements of the 15 focal species high nursery value of smaller estuaries. This was an and whether juveniles of those species have been important result given that much of the prior focus on documented in these estuaries. Information on juvenile the nursery role of West Coast estuaries has centered presence in these estuarine systems was compiled in on large and medium-sized systems (e.g., San a geodatabase that is associated with this report. Francisco Bay, Columbia River Estuary, Yaquina Bay, EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 Willapa Bay, Puget Sound). These results suggest that future studies should consider a regional approach to evaluate the relative contribution of small and large estuaries for juveniles of species of interest. Our review also highlighted the importance of different classes of estuaries across the West
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