Susan Schlosser
Sea Grant Extension Program
2 Commercial Street
Suite 4
Eureka, CA 95501
Tel: (707) 443-8369

Fax: (707) 445-3901

Susan Schlosser, M.S.

Marine Advisor, Humboldt and Mendocino Counties

 

Schlosser has four main programs through 2008. These are:

The Humboldt Bay Ecosystem Program (HBEP)—ecosystem-based management proposals.
Two recently completed community plans, the Humboldt Bay Management Plan and the Humboldt Bay Watershed Salmon and Steelhead Conservation Plan, were developed over the past several years and contain recommendations and priorities. Project progress is documented at http://groups.ucanr.org/HumboldtBayEBM/.

The Humboldt Bay and Eel River Estuary Benthic Habitat Goals Project—defining benthic habitats in these two estuaries.
Habitat evaluation followed by management recommendations, restoration opportunities and research needs are the objectives. The NOAA Coastal Services Center is funding digitized aerial mapping of the areas using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard, designed to connect seamlessly to the National Wetlands Inventory classification system. The mapping will provide quantified habitat information for the project.

The Humboldt Bay Cooperative Eelgrass Project—surveying and monitoring native eelgrass, Zostera marina, since 2001. Each summer project collaborators (the California Department of Fish and Game [CDFG] and Humboldt State University) sample 15 random sites around the bay for eelgrass plant size, density and biomass. The results are shared among collaborators and resource managers, and project outreach includes numerous presentations to local groups.

The invasive eelgrass, Z. japonica, was first detected in Humboldt Bay in 2002. Since then the Sea Grant Extension Program and CDFG have funded a staff research associate and student to monitor, eradicate and survey new populations.

Red Sea Urchin Nutrition and Gonad Quality—a collaborative project of Schlosser and Seafood Extension Program Manager, Pamela Tom, along with members of the California red sea urchin industry.

Trials have been conducted on red sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, and purple sea urchins, S. purpuratus; animals being fed prepared diets were analyzed for gonad production and quality. Commercially processed roe from red sea urchins is undergoing analysis with further plans to study gonad color and texture for one year.