HomeMy WebLinkAbout13 - CoastKeeper Giant Kelp Reforestation ProgramITEM 13
TO: Members of the Newport Beach City Council
FROM: Dave Kiff, Deputy City Manager
SUBJECT: CoastKeeper's Giant Kelp Reforestation Program
RECOMMENDED Receive and file report and presentation from Orange County CoastKeeper
ACTION: regarding CoastKeeper's Giant Kelp Reforestation Program.
BACKGROUND: Giant kelp ( Macrocystis pyrifera) is a species of marine alga found along the
Pacific coast from central California to Baja California. Giant kelp starts as a
microscopic spore at the ocean floor but may grow to 200'. It prefers to grow in
depths of less than 120', temperatures of less than 72 °, and on hard substrate
surfaces such as rocky ocean bottoms.
Kelp's genus name Macrocystis means "large bladder" and contains at least two
species. Macrocystis pyrifera, or giant bladder kelp, is sometimes referred to as the
sequoia of the sea. Macrocystis integrifolia is the small perennial kelp.
A kelp forest is the dense growths of Nereocystis, Macrocystis and Pelagophycus.
A kelp bed refers to the smaller laminariales or brown algae which have limited
vertical structure and canopies. A giant kelp forest may vary from several
hundred feet to one mile wide and several miles long.
Kelp Forest
Kelp Spomphyte Plant
Page 2
Kelp plays an important role in the marine environment by providing food and
habitat for marine invertebrates and fish in southern California. Forests of giant
kelp may support millions of individual organisms and more than 1,000 species
of marine plants and animals.
The presence or absence of giant kelp is not essential for the spawning of any
sport fish species. However, kelp beds provide shelter for the larvae and
juveniles of several species such as the kelp topsmelt. The giant kelp holdfasf(the
point where the kelp attaches to the ocean floor) alone may contain over 150
species.
Kelp Lifecycle. Kelp begins life as a microscopic spore which grows into a tiny
male or female plant called a gametophyte. These plants produce eggs and
sperm, which fertilize and grow to form the large plants (sporophytes) we see
along the coast. The large sporophytes then release many new spores to start the
process over again. The minimum amount of time needed to complete the Giant
kelp's life cycle is about 12 to 14 months -- although grazing by animals and
shading by other plants affects this rate of development.
Microscopic Kelp Cmiwtophyte
The average kelp plant is capable of releasing trillions of spores a year. Quite
tragically, few if any of the spores produced by a single mature kelp plant ever
make it to adult gametophytes. This is due to:
• Sedimentation;
• Competition for limited space with other plants or animals;
• Lack of light at the ocean floor;
• Nutrient limitation; and
• Animals (like sea urchins) which graze on the tiny plants.
Only 1 in 100,000 young kelp plants need to mature to reestablish the kelp beds.
Growth Rate. Studies suggest kelp fronds may grow at rates of 1 -2 feet per day.
Although giant kelp plants are perennial, the individual fronds only survive for
about 6 -9 months. Fronds of mature kelp plants deteriorate about 6 months after
they are produced. Mature fronds continually develop, then die and break away
in a process known as sloughing, giving way to the new fronds shooting up from
the holdfast. Although the individual fronds only survive for about 6 months,
individual blades last only about 4 months.
Page 3
Harvesting. The harvesting of kelp in California is regulated by the California
Department of Fish and Game. The State has imposed a number of restrictions
on harvesting activities, including permitting kelp harvesters to cut only the
upper 1.2 meters (4 feet) of the water column. This regulation is to limit damage
to the kelp's reproductive structures and allows vegetative regrowth from the
unharvested fronds.
Kelp harvesting is carried out mechanically by ships with mowing devices that
cut only the top few feet of the kelp canopy. Small propellers push the
harvesting vessel stern first through the water. The cut kelp is gathered on a
conveyor system referred to as the drapers that is mounted on the stern and
carries the kelp aboard. Modern harvesters carry as much as 550 metric tons of
giant kelp which can be collected in a single day of harvesting. Kelp harvesters
are unable to work in depths less than 25 feet.
CoastKeeper's Role. The Orange County CoastKeeper (www.coastkeeper.org),
a Newport Beach -based nonprofit affiliated with more than 40 other "Keeper"
organizations, has started a giant kelp reforestation project off of Crystal Cove
State Park. CoastKeeper tells us that the giant kelp population off our coast has
declined dramatically thanks to El Nino and predation. The lack of kelp may
have led to a lack of biodiversity offshore that may someday soon completely
change the offshore ecosystem.
To address these concerns, CoastKeeper has added kelp reforestation to its other
local environmental efforts like monitoring illegal waste discharges, preventing
contamination of Newport Bay, and educating area residents and visitors about
water quality and the marine environment (CoastKeeper is a major sponsor of
the City's Partnership for Clean Water program which educates about 1,600
Newport -Mesa Unified School District 5w graders annually about water quality).
CoastKeeper grows kelp on small ceramic tiles in a custom "kelp cart" and then
transfers them to the ocean floor. They have not asked the City for direct
assistance in this effort, but City staff has inquired as to ways that the City could
help their Giant Kelp Project given its long -term benefits to the region's marine
environment. As such, we have pursued the City's acquisition of a "retired" boat
from the Orange County Sheriff's Harbor Patrol to then loan or lease to
CoastKeeper for CoastKeeper's kelp and water quality monitoring efforts.
THIS AGENDA This Agenda Item is intended to allow the City Council and residents of
ITEM: Newport Beach watching at home on television to hear more about
CoastKeeper's Giant Kelp Reforestation Project via a 7- minute video
presentation. Council should use the information in this staff report as a
resource should constituents question them in the future about giant kelp, as
they inevitably will.
ATTACHMENTS: None