Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary: Summary of Ecosystem Services

The various ecosystem service evaluations presented in this report are summarized below. Each ecosystem service is listed, followed by:

1. A set of rating symbols that display key information. The first symbol includes a color and term to indicate status, the next symbol indicates trend, and a shaded scale adjacent to both symbols indicates confidence (see key for example and definitions).
2. The status description, which is a statement that best characterizes status and corresponds to the assigned color rating and definition as described in Appendix B.
3. The rationale, which is a short statement or list of criteria used to justify the rating.

Key:

Provisioning Services (Material Benefits)

Commercial Harvest — The capacity to support commercial market demands for seafood products

Status: Fair, Trend: Mixed

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, and existing management would require enhancement to enable acceptable performance.

Rationale: Some fisheries in CBNMS have been impacted by changing environmental conditions, including ocean temperature shifts and algal blooms, as well as management interventions, such as fishery closures to mitigate whale entanglement risk.

Because of a limited number of experts available to provide input, staff rated this service after the workshop. Therefore, a confidence rating was not assigned.

Cultural Services (Non-material Benefits)

Consumptive Recreation — Recreational activities that result in the removal of or harm to natural or cultural resources

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, and existing management would require enhancement to enable acceptable performance.

Rationale: For species such as Chinook salmon, Dungeness crab, and the rockfish complex, enhancing existing management would help to improve resource conditions and satisfy demand.

Because a limited number of experts provided input, staff rated this service after the workshop. Therefore, confidence ratings were not assigned.

Non-Consumptive Recreation — Recreational activities that do not result in intentional removal of or harm to natural or cultural resources

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, but performance is acceptable.

Rationale: Public access to CBNMS can be challenging due to extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, offshore location, lack of infrastructure, and limited number of tour operators. However, despite these challenges, businesses and individuals in the area are performing acceptably, and there is still demand to travel to the sanctuary. Populations of certain species that are of interest to wildlife viewers, like humpback and blue whales and some seabirds, are compromised. The worsening trend was driven by extreme weather conditions, which have impacted the number of wildlife viewing businesses operating in the sanctuary.

Science — The capacity to acquire and contribute information and knowledge

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, and existing management would require enhancement to enable acceptable performance.

Rationale: Compared to some other national marine sanctuaries, the ability of CBNMS to support science is constrained by challenges associated with accessing the sanctuary, particularly for students and external researchers. These challenges include the sanctuary’s remote offshore location, frequently rough sea conditions, and inconsistent access to a research vessel. In addition, the small number of science staff and limited funding hinder the ability of CBNMS to expand its science program and develop new partnerships. Though these limitations led to a rating of fair, the trend was rated as improving, primarily because the expansion of the sanctuary has spurred additional research activity.

Education — The capacity to acquire and provide intellectual enrichment

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, but performance is acceptable.

Rationale: There was high confidence and support among workshop participants for CBNMS education efforts, programs, and outcomes to date; however, but the lack of labor and sustained funding for education and outreach has prevented this service from meeting some community needs.

Heritage — Recognition of historical and heritage legacy and cultural practices

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, and existing management would require enhancement to enable acceptable performance.

Rationale: The heritage of CBNMS includes commercial and recreational fishing, science and exploration, and the presence of maritime heritage (archaeological, cultural, historical properties) resources. The quality of information related to recent fishing and science activities within CBNMS is high, but other heritage activities lack information. There is currently no information that suggests a connection of Indigenous peoples specifically to the sanctuary prior to contemporary usage of motorized fishing vessels in the region, though there are demonstrated connections to coastal and ocean resources in the general region. In addition, the expansion of the sanctuary in 2015 increased the area where sanctuary maritime heritage resources may be located and increased the coastal area where communities may have connections to the sanctuary. However, information about maritime heritage resources in the sanctuary and its historical and heritage legacy in the broader sanctuary community are areas for further investigation.

Sense of Place — Aesthetic attraction, spiritual significance, and location identity

Status Description: The capacity to provide the ecosystem service is compromised, but performance is acceptable.

Rationale: Due to physical barriers to in-person access, CBNMS has focused on bringing the sanctuary to the people through various means. As unique and difficult to visit as it is, CBNMS has cultivated a sense of place through a small but dedicated group of ocean users and has extended that sense of place to others remotely through education and outreach programming. In addition, visual resources created over the years through photography and videography have greatly aided in building a sense of place for local, regional, national, and international audiences. However, a lack of labor and sustained funding for CBNMS education and outreach programs has limited the ability to serve the needs of the community.