Shellfish logo used by permission, courtesy of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA)

Currently, the Birch Bay Shellfish District's work is focusing on monitoring, in order to identify the areas with the greatest water quality concerns and to narrow down potential sources of bacterial pollution. Other agencies working to improve water quality in the area are the Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources Management District (BBWARM) and the Whatcom County Health Department.

Birch Bay Monitoring and Data

Birch Bay is part of the tribal fishing grounds of Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe. The area within a 670-yard radius of the mouth of Terrell Creek (approximately 145 acres) is restricted to shellfish harvest due to the State Department of Health's (DOH) concerns about pollution sources contaminating Terrell Creek. In order to get the beds re-opened to harvesting, there must be on-the-ground efforts to improve water quality in Terrell Creek with demonstrable improvements. To help track progress, a water quality monitoring program along Terrell Creek is launching in the fall of 2009, supplementing ongoing data collection by DOH, Whatcom County Public Works, and a Whatcom Conservation Corps crew.

Water quality monitoring and data management are important tasks for the shellfish district. Since the closure area is focused on the area around the mouth of Terrell Creek, most of the current monitoring takes place along the creek. The results provide guidance for determining priority areas for pollution control projects.

Washington Department of Health

There are ten sites within Birch Bay that DOH uses for classification purposes. The two-part National Shellfish Sanitation Program standard for approved shellfish harvest requires that the geometric mean for fecal coliform bacteria be less than 14 MPN/100mL (MPN= most probable number) and the estimated 90th percentile for fecal coliform bacteria be less than 43 MPN/100mL. DOH classifies shellfish growing areas based on a minimum of the last 30 water quality samples collected.

All marine sites currently meet both parts of the national standard.

2010 Birch Bay Shellfish Growing Area Report

Whatcom County Public Works

Whatcom County Public Works currently samples 15 sites along Terrell Creek, with staff and a Washington Conservation Corps crew sampling sites along the shoreline of Birch Bay. (This sampling was formerly conducted by Marine Resources Committee volunteers.)

Birch Bay/Terrell Creek Water Quality Monitoring Plan

January - June 2010 Summary

July-December 2010 Summary

January - June 2011 Summary

MRC Coastal Monitoring

The Marine Resources Committee monitored water quality in the coastal drainages of Birch Bay from 2006 through 2009.  This monitoring was integrated into the Whatcom County Public Works Monitoring Plan in 2009.