PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee is working on a plan to develop a voluntary “no anchor zone” in part of Port Townsend Bay.
The committee is pushing to develop the “no anchor zone” in an effort to protect near-shore eelgrass — an important marine habitat — and to ensure boater safety.
“When you anchor in eelgrass, you don’t have near the holding power,” Andy Palmer, Marine Resources Committee chairman, said Wednesday.
“We usually have at least one boat every fall that washes up because of that.”
Palmer said that the proposed zone would extend between 80 and 110 feet from the shoreline.
The zone would stretch from the site of the future Northwest Maritime Center near Point Hudson to the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry terminal.
“On any given day, there are one or two boats anchored in the eelgrass area,” Palmer said.
“They do damage to the eelgrass, so it’s mostly a matter of just educating people.
“The program is voluntary so people wouldn’t have to do it,” he said.
————–
The rest of the story appears in the Thursday Peninsula Daily News Jefferson County edition. Click on SUBSCRIBE, above, to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.