An environmental consulting firm expects to release data to the Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency this summer on the health of eelgrass beds and migratory water birds.
The agency has hired Coastal Policy Solutions to help implement a long-term protection plan for the eelgrass in the bay. Rebecca Schwartz-Lesberg, president of the firm, presented a progress report to the agency’s board on Thursday.
“As we work to implement our eelgrass protection measures, these monitoring efforts and these data allow us to understand the impacts of our actions,” she said in a phone interview.
The eelgrass protection plan resulted from a settlement in August between the agency and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The eelgrass beds are considered vital for herring spawn and migratory birds.
The agreement detailed a five-year plan for displacing the boat residents known as anchor-outs in order to protect eelgrass. The plan also coincides with the agency’s effort to rid the bay of derelict vessels and marine debris.
The Richardson’s Bay Regional Agency is in charge of enforcing the 72-hour anchorage rule in the bay. The agency is an authority of Mill Valley, Belvedere, Tiburon and the county.
Schwartz-Lesberg said tens of thousands of migratory birds come to Richardson Bay every winter, as well as spawning Pacific herring. The data collection on rafting water birds, which include diving ducks, cormorants and scaup, will continue through April. Rafting birds congregate on the water and rest there, she said.
The data being collected will be a baseline to compare to future years and make conclusions about the success of the eelgrass protection measures.
Schwartz-Lesberg said the data acquisition has been done from five preset locations in Richardson Bay. Photographs are taken and uploaded to heat mapping software to identify how many birds are in the bay and where they group. When the data are taken year after year, the researchers expect to see changes based on the improved health of the eelgrass and greater restrictions on where boats can moor.
The eelgrass monitoring work has also included a summer flyover survey by a drone pilot and a biologist, she said. The data photos have not been fully analyzed yet. The work is considered a similar effort to a study done in 2017 and will be used to see how the eelgrass beds have changed.
The environmental evaluations are just one facet of the continuing effort to protect the eelgrass. A prevailing notion has been that anchor-outs are harming bay ecology, either from their anchor or debris.
Arthur Bruce, an anchor-out, characterized the studies as a costly effort to justify the removal of the bay’s residents.
“They’ve been using it as nothing but a ploy to get rid of anchor-outs,” he said.
The agency has approved a plan to develop a mooring zone for seaworthy vessels beginning in December. The plan calls for moving all vessels out of the eelgrass protection zone and securing them in the field.
The zone is expected to include 15 to 20 moorings. A location has not been determined.
Under the bay cleanup agreement, all vessels must be removed from the anchorage by Oct. 15, 2026.
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Richardson Bay eelgrass, bird report progresses - Marin Independent Journal
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