Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve

The Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve was established as an environmental reserve to ensure protection of the unique habitats and native species identified in the area. Until it was industrialized, Fidalgo Bay was fished by native tribes and early settlers. 

The Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, an 11,000 acre reserve with expansive eelgrass beds, is a short distance to the east. The reserve includes nearly 400 acres of tide flats purchased by the Skagit Land Trust and later transferred to DNR.

Commissioner of Public Lands—Withdrawal and Designation Order for the Fidalgo Bay Environmental Aquatic Reserve

Maps and Photographs of the Site

●	The WA Department of Ecology has a collection of shoreline aerial photos of Fidalgo Bay.
●	Fidalgo Bay Site Map (83KB PDF), shown below.

Geographic Location

The Fidalgo Bay site is located in northern Puget Sound in northwestern Skagit County. The reserve boundaries extend to the north and west from State Route 20 and to the east from March Point Road. The northern boundary extends across Fidalgo Bay from Crandall Spit. The reserve area includes the bedlands and the majority of the tidelands south of the abandoned railroad trestle and the bedlands north of the trestle that extend north to a line drawn west from Crandall Spit.

 

Site Ownership

This region encompasses a mix of commercial, residential, and forested uplands, and includes a portion of the Similk Beach golf course. Twelve private tideland parcels exist within Fidalgo Bay adjacent to the current aquatic reserve boundaries. Three of the tideland parcels adjacent to the reserve are owned by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and five are owned by the Samish Tribe. Eleven private parcels exist on the uplands surrounding the Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve, four of which are owned by the Samish Indian Tribe. DNR is working with these property owners to ensure proper protection for the aquatic reserve.

In 2000, the Skagit Land Trust acquired the area south of the railroad trestle. Ownership of this area was transferred to the state to be managed by DNR with a conservation easement held by Skagit Land Trust. The easement requires that the site be managed solely to preserve habitat for fish and wildlife, and limited human uses.

Ecological Characteristics

Fidalgo Bay is used by a healthy spawning stock of Pacific herring that spawn from January to April each year on the  extensive eelgrass beds that cover most of the bay. Important forage fish such as surf smelt and Sand Lance spawn along the upper beaches of the reserve. Bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and great blue herons are frequently found at the site. Chinook salmon and migratory waterfowl are seasonably abundant in the reserve.

●	Biological Resources and Ecosystem Processes (271KB PDF)
●	Forage Fish in Fidalgo Bay (244KB PDF)
●	Fidalgo Bay Filled and Dredged Areas with Historic Shoreline and Bathymetry (64KB PDF)

Reserve Management

●	Fidalgo Bay Environmental Aquatic Reserve Management Plan, April 2008 (8854KB PDF)
●	Preliminary Vision of Management Objectives and Issues for the Proposed Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve (10KB PDF)

Allowable Uses

DNR management authority extends only to the state-owned aquatic lands. As such, the management plan plan does not apply to privately owned property. DNR will not approve new uses in the reserve, with the exception of habitat restoration, research and monitoring, education, and aquatic species enhancement.

●	Research and monitoring: DNR will permit research and monitoring within the aquatic reserve if conducted under a monitoring plan that is approved by DNR.
●	Restoration: DNR will partner with various entities to develop restoration plans for Fidalgo Bay. DNR’s Aquatic Reserve Program also will evaluate and approve new proposals for restoration projects. Only those proposals determined to be consistent with managing the reserve will be allowed.
●	Environmental education and public access: DNR will partner with various entities to develop environmental education opportunities for Fidalgo Bay and ensure appropriate access is allowed.
●	Commercial and recreational fishing: Recreational and commercial fisheries are cooperatively managed by DNR and Washington’s Treaty Tribes.
●	Environmental education: Public access will be encouraged in the aquatic reserve. Environmental education opportunities will be allowed and encouraged within the aquatic reserve, consistent with the management of the reserve. DNR will work to place educational signage at established public access areas around Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve.

Issues of Concern

An abandoned railroad trestle crosses the site and an oil refinery exists just east of the site.

Restoration Efforts

●	Fidalgo Bay Restoration Proposal (not available on DNR website. This link goes to Samish Indian Nation reports)
●	Feasibility Study of the Fidalgo Bay Causeway Project (not available on DNR website. This link goes to Samish Indian Nation reports)

Information Used to Evaluate Site for Aquatic Reserve Designation

●	Notice of Final Determination (33KB PDF)
●	Fidalgo Bay Withdrawn Area (83KB PDF)
●	Shoreline Modification as Measured by Washington DNR (1,895KB PDF)
●	Fidalgo Bay Aquatic Reserve Proposal (3,656KB PDF)
●	Fidalgo Bay Technical Advisory Committee Recommendation (13KB PDF)
●	Fidalgo Bay Watershed Assessment (please advise on document location)