A group of three U.S. senators have introduced a bill to authorize the Northwest Straits Commission, a Mount Vernon, Washington, U.S.A.-based marine conservation organization, for the next six years.
The bill, entitled the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative Reauthorization Act of 2025, would authorize the commission and fund it at USD 10 million (EUR 8.8 million) for the next six years.
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington), who led the initial authorization of the bill in 1998 and has secured funding for it every year since, said that the longer-term authorization of the Northwest Straits Commission and a “strong and consistent funding stream for the commission over the next decade” was her goal.
"Ensuring our rich marine resources in the Northwest Straits stay healthy is critical not only for local communities and Tribes but also for our economy in Washington state," Murray said. "That’s why I first established the Northwest Straits Commission in a bipartisan way back in 1998 and fight to secure funding for it every single year. The commission remains a model for how successful investments in community-led restoration projects can be and how vital they are for restoration work that help our marine habitats recover and thrive."
The commission’s model involves engaging, training, and supporting local community stakeholders to restore shellfish populations, protect vulnerable ecosystems, and promote growth for native water and shore-based plants.
"The Northwest Straits Initiative [is] a unique bottom-up approach to marine resource stewardship in north Puget Sound," Commission appointee Jamie Stephens said. "The work benefits commercial fishing, aquaculture, rural businesses, and recreational boating that all rely on healthy marine waters."
Northwest Straits Commission Tribal Delegate Cecilia Gobin, who also serves as a conservation policy analyst with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, said that funding the initiative was a good first step toward marine conservation in the sound but that more needed to be done to ensure effective conservation.
"The NWS initiative connects across a wide range of partners to restore and recover Puget Sound ecosystems that support species like salmon and Dungeness crab," Gobin said. "Achieving true restoration will require a collective effort, and the initiative plays a key role by cultivating community-driven collaboration."
Besides main conservation efforts, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson also praised the commission for eliciting other benefits like "preventing derelict boats and controlling invasive green crab."
"The reauthorization bill will continue to help preserve Washington’s marine waters and shorelines for future generations,” Ferguson said.
