Policy Archives - Seattle Aquarium

Kelp—It needs somebody (preferably a Youth Ocean Advocate!)

Posted on March 21, 2025March 21, 2025 by Emma Leiser

Kelp forests play an integral role in Puget Sound’s ecosystem. Washington state is home to 22 species of kelp—more than anywhere else in the world apart from Japan. Bull kelp is the most prolific species, easily identifiable from its size: the stalk, called a “stipe,” can reach up to 100 feet (30 meters) tall.

Underwater forests formed by bull kelp are important parts of the West Coast’s ecosystem, and they are hotspots of biodiversity. They provide food and shelter for other species, including many with whom we humans interact and benefit, like salmon and pinto abalone.

Bull kelp is not only beautiful—It provides food and shelter to many beloved local marine species. Join our Youth Ocean Advocates and partners in their quest to make bull kelp forests the official marine forest of Washington state.

A bill to help bull kelp

A Seattle Aquarium Youth Ocean Advocate, Sebastian, developed the idea for House Bill 1631 in consultation with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund. This bill, championed and sponsored by State Representative Greg Nance (23rd district) and currently under consideration in the state legislature, would designate bull kelp forests the official marine forest of Washington. State symbol bills are a fun way to raise awareness about features of our state—often flora and fauna—that are important to Washingtonians.

It’s critical to emphasize the importance of bull kelp right now because approximately 80% of bull kelp forests have disappeared, particularly in the south and central Puget Sound. While we’re still learning more about the threats to bull kelp (as well as other kelp and eelgrass species), warming water temperatures, ocean acidification and nearshore development have significantly contributed to its decline.

Sebastian was inspired to educate more people about the importance of bull kelp forests.

"These underwater ‘forests’ are so special to me because their lives hold up countless other lives, from humans like us, to salmon, orcas, pinto abalone and many more."

—Sebastian, Seattle Aquarium Youth Ocean Advocate

“But unfortunately, bull kelp (like other amazing species) is in dire need of help,” Sebastian says. It’s true—most people don’t know about the critical importance bull kelp forests play in the health of the Salish Sea. Bull kelp forests provide resting and foraging grounds for migrating salmon and even help sea otter moms avoid losing their pups, as they tether the pups to the bull kelp while they forage for food.

Left to right: Jodie Toft of Puget Sound Restoration Fund, Youth Ocean Advocate Sebastian and Miguela Marzolf of the Aquarium.

“Part of something that magnifies our shared connection”

HB 1631 has helped Mik, another Youth Ocean Advocate, learn more about bull kelp and the marine environment. “Bull kelp has opened new doors and shed light on the interesting aspects of food chains and biodiversity that I did not know about before,” Mik says. “Throughout the past few months of working on this with amazing people, I’ve become more and more immersed in a world of marine consciousness and government action than I had before. Bull kelp may be overlooked by many, but it’s allowed me to meet new people and learn more about local waters. It’s easy to tell how much staff and volunteers at the Seattle Aquarium care about Puget Sound, and I’m lucky to be a part of something that magnifies our shared connection.”

Youth Ocean Advocate Ellen claims she used to “take bull kelp forests for granted.”

“They’re very inconspicuous,” she says, “always pictured in the background of images showing sea otters playing or colorful schools of fish.” Ellen hopes that HB 1631 will help bring bull kelp forests into the public’s attention.

"I got involved in advocating for bull kelp forests to be made a Washington state symbol because I believe that the importance of kelp must be recognized—but more than that, that the entire bull kelp forest ecosystem must be valued and considered with the same regard as our forests on land."

—Ellen, Seattle Aquarium Youth Ocean Advocate

Sebastian, Mik and Ellen hope that, as working on the bill has helped them learn new concepts, making bull kelp an official state symbol will help educate more of the public about its importance in maintaining a healthy and productive Salish Sea.

Bull kelp forests support wild populations of sea otters and other beloved local species.

Support Sebastian, Mik, Ellen—and kelp

Want to give these amazing efforts a boost? You can support the bill by contacting your state representatives via the legislative hotline at (800) 562-6000 and urging them to vote yes on HB 1631.

Quiz: Discover your advocacy style and learn about bills in the 2025 legislative session

Posted on February 25, 2025February 25, 2025 by Emma Leiser

FareWHALE to the 2024 legislative session: Marine critters give us this session’s poli-sea updates

Posted on March 14, 2024March 14, 2024 by Joseph Becker

The short 2024 Washington legislative session has ended. We could tell you about how the Seattle Aquarium worked with our partners on multiple bills to protect the ocean and advance environmental justice. But we’d rather bring you an extra special edition of the post-session report and go live with marine animals who share their “poli-SEA” updates.

What was your favorite bill from this legislative session?

Giant Pacific octopus: Unlike me, this one’s a no-brainer. House Bill 1153, which prohibits commercial octopus farming in Washington waters, passed. And I’m as happy as a clam, as humans say. Like other octopuses (and apparently human teenagers), I like my alone time and need things to keep my brain active, so being in a crowded aquaculture operation would be hard on me. There are no octopus farms in Washington waters currently, and the state legislature took proactive measures to help keep me and my fellow octopuses safe in the future.

Humpback whale: Did you know that scientists have discovered that saving whales like me could help sequester more carbon dioxide? Whales, especially large whales like me, help with the natural carbon cycle. Our high-nutrient feces help algae and other primary producers. And when we die and sink to the bottom, we take stored carbon with us. Yep, that’s right. We whales have been helping to cycle carbon for…well…a long time. That’s why I’m a fan of House Bill 1368, which transitions Washington’s school bus fleet from diesel to zero emissions. The state’s school buses currently generate about 150,000 metric tons of climate pollution. That’s as much weight as me plus 4,200 of my humpback buddies! Reducing emissions from school buses will help kids be more focused and breathe cleaner air.

Can you tell us about any other bills that will help clean up the environment?

Giant Pacific octopus: While I am happy in dark spaces, apparently you humans need to use something called light bulbs for your homes. (Are you afraid of the dark?! Maybe you just need more arms to help you feel your way around…) But the fluorescent thingamabobs you humans use contain mercury, which is incredibly toxic. I’m thrilled that House Bill 1185 was passed to deal with that problem. Since 2009, Washington has had a product stewardship program for the safe disposal of mercury-containing light bulbs called LightRecycle. This bill extends LightRecycle and bans light bulbs that have mercury. It will protect Washingtonians, the environment, and me and my fellow ocean-dwellers.

Any disappointing results from the legislative session?

Sea otter: You might know that we sea otters spend a lot of time cleaning our fur so it keeps us warm, and pollutants like oil make that harder for us. But did you know other pollutants can hurt us internally? PFAS are very long-lasting chemicals that could make me or my pups sick. And they have been linked to harmful health impacts on humans as well. Not to mention they can be toxic to my prey, making it dangerous to feed my family our favorite invertebrates, like mussels and crabs. Senate Bill 6163, addressing PFAS in biosolids, would have helped prevent these toxins from contaminating the waters we call home. If it had passed, it would have established a system to monitor the presence of PFAS in municipal sewage waste produced at wastewater treatment facilities. These biosolids are often spread on farms or in forests, and the runoff can contaminate the environment, including the streams where salmon swim and ocean waters where I hunt and forage. Making sure biosolids have lower levels of toxic chemicals is very important. This bill “otter” pass next year!

Would you like to highlight anything else the Seattle Aquarium is still working on?

Sea turtle: When I’m hungry, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between my food and plastic litter! Plastic bags look a lot like jellyfish. Then there’s all the plastic on the beaches where I lay my eggs. Yuck! So, I’m pleased that the Seattle Aquarium and its partners in the Plastic Free Washington Coalition are going to keep working to pass the ReWRAP Act (House Bill 2049). While the bill ran out of time in this short session, my friends on the Aquarium policy team and their partners are in a “turtle-y” great place for the next session. Together, they’ll make sure Washington can upgrade recycling services through a producer responsibility program for packaging. They’re working toward reducing waste and my—and my fellow sea turtles’—chances of eating plastic. This bill will also address climate change by incentivizing companies to switch to more sustainable packaging alternatives, including reusable options. That’ll help reduce plastic production in the first place. Plastic is made from fossil fuels, and the production process results in a lot of nasty pollutants that no one—human or turtle—wants. I’m confident the ReWRAP Act will pass next year and look forward to shell-ebrating!

Salmon: The Seattle Aquarium also supported efforts to pass a bill that would allow local elections to take place in even-numbered years (House Bill 1932). Like our salmon journey upstream, where we face great obstacles, there are often barriers for voters too. Voter turnout has been proven to be higher in even years, when national elections take place. Allowing local elections in those years would help ensure they reflect the diversity of the broader population. Plus, national and local elections are both important to elect people who will help pass laws that will better protect the marine environment. I vote for HB 1932 to be put on the legislature’s priority list for next year!

Any last words or requests for your fans here on land?

Salmon: People who care about climate change, pollution and the recovery of animals like me should make sure they are registered to vote before the next election! I encourage everyone to swim on over to votefortheocean.org to check your status, register if needed and find other helpful resources.

Humpback whale: If you’d like to find other ways to support the Seattle Aquarium’s policy work and be an advocate for ocean animals like us, head over to the Act for the Ocean page!

Youth Ocean Advocates in action: ReWRAP in Olympia

Posted on February 5, 2024February 22, 2024 by Joseph Becker

On January 15, our Youth Ocean Advocates (YOA) traveled to Olympia to show their support for the ReWRAP Act by participating in a constituent lobby day. The Seattle Aquarium collaborated with our Plastic Free Washington Coalition partners to gather nearly 100 Washingtonians to discuss with legislators how this bill will reduce waste and marine plastic pollution by transforming our state’s recycling system.

The ReWRAP Act (HB 2049/SB 6005), sponsored by Rep. Liz Berry and Sen. Liz Lovelett, will comprehensively increase recycling rates, incentivize more sustainable packaging design and ensure that all Washingtonians have access to free curbside recycling. Packaging producers will be financially responsible for the end-of-life costs of their packaging, a policy that other states like Maine, Colorado, Oregon and California have already passed.

Having learned about the intricacies of the bill to prepare to speak with legislators, Ellen, a 17-year-old from West Seattle, believes the bill will “revolutionize recycling in Washington.” For her, “It seems like it will kind of restore hope in the whole initiative of recycling and ideally shift the burden of protecting the environment more to the corporations who are responsible for manufacturing those materials in the first place.”

The lobby day volunteers organized over 70 meetings with state senators and representatives to encourage support for the ReWRAP Act. Together, 16 YOAs attended 12 meetings! Samuel, a 16-year-old from Redmond, found it “really empowering to be able to interact with the people who are helping put this legislation forward within our state and therefore be part of that process as well.”

In meetings with their legislators, YOAs spoke about their personal reasons for wanting ReWRAP to pass. Ellen went to Olympia to share with her legislators that she is “really passionate about ocean conservation and advocacy,” to contextualize how important this bill is to her. In her meetings, Cristina, a 17-year-old from Auburn, spoke about how this bill will make sure everyone has access to recycling services. She said, “A lot of the times in environmental policy, the focus can be put on the consumers when so much of pollution is coming from large corporations, so this really is taking pressure off the consumer or small businesses.”

Though meeting with a representative can seem intimidating, Annabelle, a junior who attends a high school in Seattle, found that “legislators want to hear from you.” She wanted to encourage others to “just be confident in yourself and use your power as a Washington resident.”

After marching across the Washington State Capitol Campus in nearly freezing temperatures, our YOAs and other lobby day participants got to hear from Rep. Berry, an environmental champion who has worked closely with many stakeholders, including the Aquarium, to advance this bill in the House. Representative Berry underscored the importance of youth engagement in policy. Lac, age 15, came away from the day feeling that “what you do does matter in terms of ocean pollution and (young people) are the future of our society.”

The YOAs also attended a House Education Committee hearing, where they got to listen to other young advocates testify on bills related to middle and high school curricula. Claire, a high school senior from Seattle, found it inspiring to hear other kids testify in that hearing “getting to see younger generations involved in this sort of thing is really important and just very exciting to see.”

The YOAs also met with Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti and had a chance to check out the state vault. Sonia, a 17-year-old from Seattle, learned that “there are many different ways to become involved in politics, whether that’s being a treasurer or being a legislator or attending hearings…there are different ways to advocate your message.”

During the Lobby Day lunch speaker series, Athena Burk Bravo, a former Seattle Aquarium YOA, exemplified the different ways young people can reduce plastic pollution. Athena spoke to all the lobby day participants about her work founding a nonprofit called Trash Talk, which educates King County residents about the impact of recycling and pollution.

At the end of the day, Nikki, a 16-year-old YOA from Sammamish, said, “It was just so inspiring being in a big group of people, all really passionate about the same cause. And that really gets me excited to maybe attend more events like this and keep looking into what goes on with the ReWRAP Act.”

Recruitment for the new cohort of Seattle Aquarium Youth Ocean Advocates begins with orientation sessions in March. If you or a high schooler you know wants to participate in advocacy opportunities like this, you can go to the YOA webpage for more information. In the meantime, check out the rest of our 2024 State Legislative Priorities and stay up to date on the ReWRAP Act and other action opportunities by signing up for our policy action alerts!

Quiz: Find the Washington bill you otter know about!

Posted on January 12, 2024January 11, 2024 by Emma Leiser

Protecting ocean health: Report from the 2023 state legislative session

Posted on April 28, 2023February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

The Seattle Aquarium spent the 2023 state legislative session working hard to advance science-based policies to protect our marine environment. We’ve been signing in “pro” on key environmental bills, delivering testimony, sharing opportunities to take action with the Washington community and collaborating with legislators and partners across the state—and many of you joined us in speaking up! Please enjoy as we look back at highlights from this session and share a preview of future efforts.

Session highlights

Reducing plastic pollution

We worked closely with our partners in the Plastic Free Washington coalition on HB 1085, which will make tangible reductions in three sources of unnecessary plastic waste—single-use water bottles, mini hotel toiletries and plastic foam-filled docks and floats. The bill:

Requires that new buildings with water fountains also contain bottle-filling stations (making it easier to use reusable water bottles!).
Phases out small plastic containers, wrappers and packaging for personal care products in hotels and other lodging establishments.
Bans soft, film-wrapped polystyrene foam dock floats to reduce pollution in the environment.

Protecting salmon and nearshore habitat

With the passage of SB 5104, the Washington Department of Ecology will conduct a survey of marine shorelines on a regular two-year cycle using new technology to capture geo-referenced oblique aerial and 360-degree, on-the-water imagery. The information collected during these surveys will fill data gaps about marine shoreline conditions to enable strategic, targeted recovery actions to benefit salmon, orcas and the marine food web. We worked closely with partners and testified in support of this bill.

We’re grateful to the state legislature for including $14 million in funding for the Duckabush River Estuary Restoration Project in the budget this year. Going forward, we’ll continue to support efforts to secure the additional state and federal funding needed to restore this vital estuary, which is prime habitat for threatened summer chum and Chinook salmon.

Recovering southern resident orcas

We were part of the group of NGOs leading efforts to pass SB 5371, which will implement the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife’s (WDFW’s) recommendation to create a 1,000-yard buffer from small vessels around the critically endangered southern resident orcas to help them forage more successfully and feed their young. The requirement takes effect in 2025, but you can help protect endangered orcas today by taking the voluntary pledge to keep 1,000 yards away from the southern residents at givethemspace.org.

We’re also celebrating that the operating budget includes ongoing funding for the Quiet Sound program, which will help reduce underwater noise and other impacts from large commercial vessels on endangered southern resident orcas.

Restoring biodiversity

We’re grateful to the state legislature for including $23 million in funding this biennium for WDFW’s Recovering Washington’s Biodiversity project. Senior Ocean Policy Manager Nora Nickum advocated for this funding with partners at a lobby day in Olympia. In meetings with senators and representatives, Nora highlighted pinto abalone recovery as one of the priorities that would be supported by this funding.

Advancing climate action

The Seattle Aquarium supported bills to address climate change, including HB 1181, which requires local governments to incorporate climate resilience into comprehensive plans. We’re also taking action in our own operations under our regenerative plan.

Cultural access

After three long years, cultural access legislation finally passed in Olympia. We supported and advocated for HB 1575, which would provide local governments with additional tools to support cultural access programs—many of which were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill allows cities or counties to implement a cultural access program by a public vote of the people or a vote from the majority of their city or county councils.

This new bill will help the Seattle Aquarium expand on the work we do already with our Connections program and help enhance our public partnerships and education programs to help broaden our reach within communities throughout the state.

Capital budget request

We are thrilled to have received $3 million in the capital budget for the Ocean Pavilion. This expansion of the Seattle Aquarium, located in the heart of Seattle’s new waterfront park, will provide a pedestrian connection to Pike Place Market, revitalize our neighborhood and place conservation at the center of our city. The Ocean Pavilion is scheduled to open in June 2024.

The road ahead

While we were able to make strides on several ocean health priorities, there’s still work to do. The Seattle Aquarium will continue to work with our partners toward producer-responsibility legislation for packaging (like this year’s WRAP Act).

In the next legislative session, we’ll also continue working to pass measures to report embodied carbon emissions in infrastructure projects (Buy Clean and Buy Fair) and to enable small businesses to repair electronics, which will help limit the need for new materials that may be sourced through harmful practices like seabed mining (Fair Repair Act).

In the meantime, we’ll continue to advocate for national policy priorities—including reducing plastic pollution and waste, and recovering biodiversity. Visit our Policy and Act for the Ocean webpages for the latest news and action opportunities.

Thank you!

Thank you to Rep. Berry, Rep. Lekanoff, Sen. Lovelett, Rep. Mena, Sen. Rolfes and Sen. Salomon for their leadership on these important pieces of legislation.

We also want to send a huge thank you to everyone who took part in our action alerts and spoke up for ocean health! If you didn’t receive action alerts, please consider joining our policy email list.

Two new policies to reduce packaging waste and plastic pollution

Posted on February 17, 2023February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

The Seattle Aquarium has been working to reduce sources of plastic pollution in the environment—in 2020 we helped pass the Reusable Bag Bill to eliminate thin, single-use plastic bags in Washington state and in 2021 we worked with our partners to ban certain expanded polystyrene foam products like recreational coolers and packing peanuts.

This year, two of our top priorities for the 2023 Washington state legislative session aim to address the problems of recycling and packaging waste (SB 5154/HB 1131) and plastic pollution (HB 1085).

Modernizing and transforming our recycling system

The Washington Recycling and Packaging (WRAP) Act (SB 5154/HB 1131) will establish a producer responsibility program which will reduce unnecessary packaging and paper, fund statewide recycling services, and ensure that materials are actually recycled. Under producer responsibility, companies that make packaging are responsible for the costs, environmental impacts and end-of-life of their products, so the burden doesn’t fall on the end-customer or local government. It’s a proven, successful approach to increase package recycling and the norm in Canada and much of the European Union.

In 2021, Maine and Oregon became the first U.S. states to pass packaging producer responsibility legislation, and Colorado and California joined in 2022. Now, Washington has an opportunity to join them.

Walking the talk in our gift shop

The Seattle Aquarium’s gift shop, operated by our partner Event Network, has been working to reduce the hard-to-recycle packaging and unnecessary packaging waste they receive by reaching out to their individual vendors to collaborate on more sustainable alternatives. Here are a few examples of packaging switches that our gift shop has made so far:

Eliminating and replacing plastic bags and plastic foam with eco-friendly or reusable alternatives.
Removing plastic windows from cardboard boxes that are then recyclable.
Eliminating “box-within-box” packaging—smaller, lighter-weight packages reduce emissions and pollution associated with transportation.
Requiring items to be shipped between layers of recycled paper sheets instead of individually wrapped in plastic bags.

We’re so glad to have Event Network as a partner and sustainability champion, and we’re excited that they have managed to convince producers to switch more than 70 gift shop items to more sustainable packaging. But they have found this way of making change to be time-consuming and resource-intensive. That’s where the WRAP Act can help! The policies in the WRAP Act will address this problem more efficiently statewide by establishing incentives with graduated fees and requiring packaging producers to meet targets associated with things like reusability and recyclability.

Reducing sources of plastic pollution

HB 1085 will make tangible improvements in reducing plastic pollution by addressing three sources of unnecessary and hard-to-recycle plastic waste: single-use water bottles, mini plastic toiletries and thin-walled or soft-shelled foam-filled floats for docks. Read more about the sustainable alternatives required by this bill in our previous blog post on our 2023 Washington State Legislative Session policy priorities.

Take action!

If you live in Washington, find your WA legislative district and urge your legislators to transform our recycling system by supporting the WRAP Act (SB 5151/HB 1131) and reduce plastic pollution by supporting HB 1085 in the 2023 session.
Choose products with less packaging. Buy used instead of new whenever possible. Buy in bulk rather than singly packaged snacks and other items. Reward corporations that package responsibly.
Check out our Act for the Ocean page for additional ways you can help the ocean and marine wildlife!

Thank you to the Washington state legislators who are fighting ocean plastic!

We thank Sen. Rolfes, Rep. Berry and Rep. Mena for being the lead sponsors of these bills to transform our recycling system and reduce plastic pollution, and we also extend our thanks to all of the co-sponsors.

A new series on protecting and preserving Puget Sound for all

Posted on July 21, 2022February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

Through a new campaign developed and produced by the nonprofit Sachamama, the Seattle Aquarium is featured alongside other prominent locals engaged in efforts to address threats to the health of Puget Sound—and the impact those threats could have on the vitality of our communities and economy.

Sachamama is a conservation organization grounded in Latinx cultural heritage and working to build support for a clean energy economy for all, and cultivating sustainable attitudes, behaviors and lifestyles. (Sachamama is a word in the Quechua language, which is spoken in the Amazon and South American Andes regions—it means “mother jungle.”) One of their key initiatives involves protecting the health of our ocean and inspiring conservation action and advocacy throughout Latinx communities.

Now we, along with several others, have lent support to Sachamama on a series of editorials focused on the health of Puget Sound and connections to local communities—including the environmental challenges that threaten our ecosystem and the well-being of our region’s residents.

The series showcases five local champions, their connections to the Sound and the environmental benefits the Sound provides for current and future generations. It’s part of a larger effort in support of 30×30, a global initiative to protect and conserve 30% of land and waters, including the ocean, by 2030.

Seattle Aquarium Senior Manager of Ocean Policy Nora Nickum was featured in Sachamama’s first published editorial, devoted to microplastics. The editorial highlighted our research into the prevalence of microplastics in Elliott Bay as well as partnering with the Plastic Free Washington/Washington Sin Plástico Coalition to pass SB 5323 and SB 5022, both of which will reduce plastic pollution in our local waters. Nora also participated as a panelist in Sachamama’s Facebook Live event focused on microplastics in Puget Sound. Seattle Aquarium Empathy Fellow Gabi Esparza was featured in the editorial as well, describing the important role of empathy in marine conservation and the Aquarium’s initiatives to increase access and inclusion throughout the community.

Other champions featured in the series include Candace Penn, climate change ecologist with the Squaxin Island Tribe Natural Resources Department; Luis Navarro, director of workforce development for the Port of Seattle; Ruby Vigo, coordinator for the Duwamish River Community Coalition; and Noe Rivera, an owner of Rivera’s Shellfish. All are working, in various ways, to ensure that Puget Sound can continue to be a source of life and livelihood for our communities and future generations. We thank Sachamama for their leadership on this exciting project—and inviting us to participate in it.

Working toward healthy ocean ecosystems: Report from the 2022 state legislative session

Posted on March 22, 2022February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

Signing in “pro” on key environmental bills, delivering virtual testimony, sharing opportunities to take action with the Washington community, and collaborating with legislators as well as partners across the state—the Seattle Aquarium spent the 60-day state legislative session working hard to advance ocean health priorities. And many of you joined us in speaking up! Read on for highlights from the session and a preview of future efforts.

Session highlights

Progress on healthy kelp forest and eelgrass ecosystems

With the passage of SB 5619, the Washington Department of Natural Resources will now develop a plan to protect and restore at least 10,000 acres of kelp forests and eelgrass meadows by 2040. We testified in support of this bill, which will restore important habitat for all kinds of species in our coastal waters.

Supporting salmon habitat

We’re grateful to the state legislature for including $25 million in funding for the Duckabush River Estuary Restoration Project in the budget this year. Going forward, we’ll continue to support efforts to secure the additional state and federal funding needed to restore this vital estuary, which is prime habitat for threatened summer chum and Chinook salmon.

The legislature also passed a bill that ensures adequate funding for removing derelict vessels from local waters (HB 1700). Those vessels can present environmental risks, such as leaking fuel or other hazardous substances or damaging forage fish habitat.

Advancing climate action

Alongside crafting a regenerative plan for our own operations and facility, the Seattle Aquarium continued to support bills to address climate change. These included energy performance standards for large buildings (SB 5722) and ensuring that businesses in the fossil fuel industry are financially responsible for oil spills should they occur (HB 1691).

The road ahead

While we were able to make strides on several ocean health priorities, there’s still work to do. The short legislative session made it especially difficult to get some key transformative bills across the finish line.

The Seattle Aquarium will continue to work with our partners toward healthy marine shorelines and producer-responsibility legislation for plastics and other packaging (RENEW Act). We’ll continue to support Indigenous–led efforts to secure protections for riparian habitat along rivers and streams (Lorraine Loomis Salmon Recovery Act). Thank you to Senators Das, Salomon and Rolfes and Representative Lekanoff for your leadership on these pieces of legislation.

In the next legislative session, we’ll also continue to support measures to report embodied carbon emissions in infrastructure projects (Buy Clean and Buy Fair) and to enable small businesses to repair electronics, like cell phones, so they don’t go to the landfill (Right to Repair).

In the meantime, we’ll continue to advocate for national policy priorities—including healthy kelp ecosystems and 30×30 conservation action. Visit our Influencing Policy and Act for the Ocean web pages anytime for the latest news and action opportunities.

Thank you!

We want to send a huge thank-you to everyone who took part in our action alerts and spoke up for ocean health! If you didn’t receive action alerts, please consider joining our policy email list.

Read blog posts from the state legislative session:

Speaking up for ocean health: 2022 priorities in the Washington legislature

A renewed look at all that packaging

Four policies to help salmon in Washington

Duckabush Estuary: An important opportunity for recovery

Posted on December 16, 2021February 9, 2024 by Emma Leiser

In discussions about conservation, certain habitats tend to come up as particularly important to restore and protect. Coral reefs and mangroves often immediately come to mind but feel far away from us here in the Pacific Northwest. However, there are critical aquatic habitats found right here in Puget Sound, including estuaries! Estuaries are tidal wetland environments where rivers meet salt water; these junctions are important environments for all sorts of species, from migratory birds to juvenile salmon. We now have a chance to restore a key estuary in Washington: the Duckabush River estuary.

Critical habitat

Juvenile salmon spend months in estuaries undergoing a process called smoltification, when they grow and develop a tolerance for salt water. This is a rare superpower—few aquatic species can survive in both salt and fresh water—and the estuarine habitat, at the junction between river and ocean, is needed for salmon to adapt!

Unfortunately, development has eliminated or degraded 75% of river delta tidal wetlands in Puget Sound. This enormous loss is especially problematic for juvenile salmon and other fish and wildlife that rely on estuaries. Many of those species are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Salmon are keystone species, meaning their loss would reverberate throughout their ecosystems. Predators of salmon, such as orcas, birds, bears and people, are directly impacted by declining salmon runs, while other species are impacted in less direct ways. When salmon die after spawning or while traveling up rivers, for example, their bodies provide nutrients to trees and other plants along the riverbed. These trees then provide shade and keep the water cool enough for salmon eggs to survive and provide safe habitat for young salmon as they journey down the river. Trees also sequester carbon and provide habitat for many other animals. This intricate ecosystem interdependency is beautiful, but it’s at risk due to human impacts.

Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project

The Duckabush River estuary is located on the western shore of Hood Canal. Highway 101 runs right over it, giving drivers access to the Olympic Peninsula. When this segment of the highway was designed in 1931, 12 feet of fill was used to support the new roadbed. Most of us probably aren’t thinking about what’s under the road we drive on, so long as it’s flat and stable. Unfortunately, all the fill, dikes and road infrastructure block water channels and limit critical habitat that fish rely on, including threatened Hood Canal summer chum and mid-Hood Canal Chinook salmon. Water bottlenecks created by the current highway also cause seasonal flooding.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, has proposed a project to elevate the highway and restore the estuary so that it is once again prime habitat for fish and other species. There is a unique opportunity for a federal-state partnership to share the cost of this project: $50 million in state funding would unlock $30 million in federal funding. Check out this video from WDFW to learn more about what’s being planned.

For this important project to move forward, we need Washington legislators to secure funding in this state legislative session.

Join us in taking action!

Updated February 2023: If you live in Washington state, please call or email your state legislator and ask them to support a $41 million state investment in the Duckabush River Estuary Restoration Project during the 2023 state legislative session! Email your elected officials or call the toll-free legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000 (TTY for hearing impaired 800-833-6388) between 8am and 7pm, Monday through Friday, to leave a message for all three of your legislators at once. This is an opportunity to make a real difference for threatened salmon and a vital ecosystem.

A bill to help bull kelp

“Part of something that magnifies our shared connection”

Support Sebastian, Mik, Ellen—and kelp

What was your favorite bill from this legislative session?

Can you tell us about any other bills that will help clean up the environment?

Any disappointing results from the legislative session?

Would you like to highlight anything else the Seattle Aquarium is still working on?

Any last words or requests for your fans here on land?

Session highlights

Reducing plastic pollution

Protecting salmon and nearshore habitat

Recovering southern resident orcas

Restoring biodiversity

Advancing climate action

Cultural access

Capital budget request

The road ahead

Thank you!

Modernizing and transforming our recycling system

Walking the talk in our gift shop

Reducing sources of plastic pollution

Take action!

Thank you to the Washington state legislators who are fighting ocean plastic!

Session highlights

Progress on healthy kelp forest and eelgrass ecosystems

Supporting salmon habitat

Advancing climate action

The road ahead

Thank you!

Read blog posts from the state legislative session:

Critical habitat

Duckabush Estuary Restoration Project

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Cyber Weekend Sale