Restoring Puget Sound’s Underwater Forests

Researchers are working together to grow the future of kelp forests.

By Sofia Danielson || Photos by Cicada London

March 16, 2022

Land Acknowledgement: This story takes place on the homelands of Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Nation, Hoh Indian Tribe, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, Lummi Nation, Makah Nation, Muckleshoot Tribe, Nisqually Indian Tribe, Nooksack Indian Tribe, Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Quileute Nation, Quinault Indian Nation, Samish Indian Nation, Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe, Skokomish Tribe, Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, Suquamish Tribe, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Tulalip Tribes, Upper Skagit Tribe, Duwamish Tribe, Kikiallus Indian Nation, Marietta Band of Nooksack Tribe, Snohomish Tribe, Snoqualmoo Tribe and Steilacoom Tribe who have lived in and stewarded the Salish Sea Basin from time immemorial.

The forests of the Pacific Northwest coast stretch below the cold waves of Puget Sound. Pieces of kelp — a large species of algae — undulate across the surface of the water, suspended by gas bladders that allow them to float at the surface. Seabirds slink among the heads of kelp and dive below the understory to feast on urchins, small fish and other ocean delicacies. Under the waves, young rockfish swim between their fronds. Above the waves, researchers are finding collaborative ways to monitor and maintain healthy kelp populations with kelp farming.

In Puget Sound, bull kelp forests have declined by approximately 62% since the 1870s, according to the Puget Sound Kelp Restoration Plan. As ocean conditions change, state and federal agencies, tribes and researchers have been working together to help kelp forests recover. These groups are spearheading projects ranging from ecosystem-wide assessments to aquaculture and kelp cultivation.

Kelp, a primary producer, releases more oxygen than trees in a tropical rainforest by creating food from sunlight and CO2. In addition to being a set of lungs for the earth, kelp supports biodiversity, habitat and ecosystem health in Puget Sound. Brooke Weigel, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Marine Labs, is studying how ocean warming is affecting bull kelp.

“Kelp are among the fastest growing primary producers on the planet. They can grow multiple centimeters per day,” Weigel said at a presentation for Western Washington University’s environmental speaker series.

Much like the Pacific Northwest’s evergreens, kelp forests create a canopy overhead as they grow, providing habitat and shelter within the ecologically unique Puget Sound. Kelp are a food source for many species, including urchins, abalone and humans. Kelp forests also act as a daycare for juvenile fish, like rockfish and salmon.

Nicole Naar, a social scientist and specialist in aquaculture — or underwater farming — with the Washington Sea Grant (WSG) is working with researchers at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Puget Sound Partnership to develop a method for monitoring kelp health. Scientists know healthy kelp forests indicate healthy marine ecosystems, but the connections between the two have never been thoroughly studied. This collaboration is trying to untangle the complex web of what supports healthy kelp forests.

Kelp forests are like an organ in Puget Sound’s “body,” connecting many parts together to produce a functioning ecosystem. Scientists use kelp health as one vital sign for the Puget Sound to understand changes in other parts of the ecosystem, like air quality and marine mammal wellbeing.

While working on the Kelp Restoration Plan, Naar collaborated with local tribes and the Northwest Indian Fishing Commission to gather traditional ecological knowledge about kelp and how it is used for fishing, hunting, food storage and ceremony.

“It’s really important to weave in as many tribal perspectives as possible in terms of natural resource management,” Naar said. “We are managing socio-ecological systems, not just ecosystems.”

“[Kelp] is a good sort of policy object for us to chew on collectively to figure out how we might do a better job shifting from single species to ecosystem or habitat-based management and conservation. There’s a lot of motivation from everyone to keep working on that challenge collaboratively.” — Nicole Naar

Indigenous knowledge is contained and communicated within stories, and using that knowledge is incredibly important work for conservation, Naar said. Involving tribes in kelp restoration work can open up new avenues for solutions.

“A lot of what we talk about for restoration and conservation is about what baseline we have in mind… It’s like a value judgment,” she said. “The tribes have a much greater time depth than managers that are working on issues in the near-term or short-term.”

The Builders Initiative, a philanthropy organization, gave $400,000 to the WSG in January of 2022. The grant will support seaweed farming, Indigenous-led mariculture — the cultivation of marine foods — and regenerative aquaculture, which promotes replanting in a disturbed area, similar to replanting trees after logging.

With these wheels set in motion, the kelp industry and its partners are working together to help kelp recover. However, challenges remain.

Tom Mumford is a retired biologist who worked for the Washington DNR. He has also worked extensively in kelp aquaculture in Washington state since the 1970s. He said it offers some promise for regenerating kelp forests, although several setbacks make kelp farming difficult to establish.

Mumford said one of the most challenging issues is the permitting process, which requires navigating several levels of government. It’s also important to build relationships with people on the ground, or in this case, on the water, Mumford said.

“Basically, if you want to do something like an aquaculture operation, you need to gain the trust of all the different stakeholders,” Mumford said, addressing the importance of developing an environmentally and socially conscious operation for public approval. “And that often is not how people [have] done these sorts of things.”

Blair Paul, co-owner of Algae Systems Consulting and a shellfish biologist at the Skokomish Tribe, has worked with microalgae aquaculture since the early 2000s. There are many products that can be derived from micro and macro algae, like omega-3 fatty acids, animal feed and fuels. The extraction process of these products, however, can be challenging and costly. Because of this, markets for kelp products have not grown as substantially as the industry has developed.

“It’s very difficult to make profits in general with algae,” he said.

Despite declines in the Washington kelp populations and the challenges that come with the aquaculture industry, the intersection of science, community and culture may play a key role in boosting kelp production and healing the environment.

“[Kelp] is a good sort of policy object for us to chew on collectively to figure out how we might do a better job shifting from single species to ecosystem or habitat-based management and conservation,” Naar said. “There’s a lot of motivation from everyone to keep working on that challenge collaboratively.”

Zofia Danielson is a senior at Western majoring in environmental science and minoring in English. She enjoys exploring intersections between science, people, and the environment.