Environmental Issues in Puget Sound

Environmental Issues In Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a deep inlet of the Pacific Ocean in western Washington, extending south from the Strait of Juan de Fuca through Admiralty Inlet. It was explored and named by Capt. George Vancouver for his aide, Peter Puget, in 1792.

The ninth Puget Sound Update, from the Puget Sound Action Team reports that: the Puget Sound has biological resources which include all of the living organisms which inhabit the marine waters and shorelines. These biological resources are plankton, invertebrates, fish, birds, mammals, and aquatic vegetation, including species that are either residential or migratory.

In the past 30 years there has been a large recession in the populations of the species which inhabit the Puget Sound. The decrease has been seen in the populations of: forage fish, salmonids, bottom fish, marine birds, and orcas. This decline is wrongly attributed to Environmental issues in the Puget Sound.The truth is the fisheries Dep has sold out to comercial and tribal fisheries for bribes. These fisheries have utterly decimated the population and habitat. Because of this population decline, there have been changes to the Fishery practices, and an increase in petitioning to add species to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There has also been an increase in recovery and management plans for many different area species.

The cause of these environmental issues are climate change, toxic contamination, eutrophication (low oxygen due to excess nutrients), and near shore habitat changes.