The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin annual Grays Harbor maintenance dredging in the Outer Harbor on April 1, 2016.
Seattle-based Manson Construction Co., is contracted to dredge one and a quarter million cubic yards of material out of the navigation channel from the bar to the middle of the harbor, working through May 31.
Manson’s Bayport Dredge will place material at the existing South Beach nourishment site and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources-managed Point Chehalis open water disposal site.
Crab pots in the navigation channel, access channel to the South Beach disposal area and both disposal sites need to be moved by owners before April 1, according to Corps Seattle District officials.
Fishermen and crabbers are encouraged to position themselves and/or gear at least 300 feet from any channel and disposal area boundary in order to provide a buffer zone to allow for the gear drifting.
Gear that drifts into the navigation channel, access channel and/or disposal areas, may be damaged or destroyed.
District officials work with state and federal agencies and Native American Nations to minimize harm to the aquatic ecosystem. They prepare a Biological Evaluation in accordance with the Endangered Species Act and Environmental Assessment in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act.
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