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Thank You to Diane Windham: 17 Years as the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Regional Aquaculture Coordinator for California
Diane Windham is wrapping up a productive career at NOAA Fisheries and is looking forward to enjoying her retirement. Prior to her current position as the West Coast Regional Aquaculture Coordinator for California, Diane worked as a Supervisory Fish and Wildlife Biologist and supported recovery planning on Endangered Species Act issues. Recently, Diane has been leading efforts to develop a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement in southern California for Aquaculture Opportunity Areas. AOAs are geographic areas identified as having high potential for commercial aquaculture while minimizing conflicts with other uses and biological resources.
In a conversation with a NOAA Fisheries intern, Diane shared her hope of seeing more sustainable aquaculture projects emerge from this effort. “We want to show environmental sustainability, but we can’t do that without getting projects in the water,” Diane said. She advocates for thoughtful and feasible project monitoring to help commercial growers adapt to climate change implications and meet sustainability goals.
Diane will kick off her retirement in early 2024 by spending more time with family, especially her granddaughter. She’s planning to travel, volunteer with a local animal rescue, explore interior design, and track marine aquaculture activities! While we work to recruit her permanent replacement, the West Coast Regional Aquaculture Coordinator for California role will be covered by a detailee, Celia Barroso. If you have California aquaculture questions after December 30, 2023, please email Celia at celia.barroso@noaa.gov.
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10 Years of Shellfish Research and Restoration at the Kenneth K. Chew Center
The NOAA Fisheries Manchester Research Station hosted a celebration for the 10th Anniversary of the Kenneth K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration. The facility is used to propagate a variety of shellfish and seaweed species for both restoration and research. The event, which took place on October 4th, 2023, included a presentation by Betsy Peabody, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF) and Curtis Chew, son of Dr. Ken Chew, about the Center’s accomplishments and the legacy that Dr. Ken Chew left. Dr. Linda Chavez, one of Dr. Chew’s students who studied mussel culture, shared her memories of the trials and tribulations of her work on grow out techniques in Clam Bay, WA and Seabeck, WA in the 1970s. Every event honoring Dr. Chew has to have a bounty of great food and fortune cookies, his favorite! The celebratory lunch also included oysters on the half shell from PSRF’s Bainbridge Island Farm and sablefish produced by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. Afterwards, participants toured the hatchery facilities and discussed dreams for future research in the next 10 years. The celebration was held in partnership between NOAA Fisheries and PSRF.
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- NOAA Fisheries’ Aquaculture Team attended the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Annual Conference and Tradeshow Jeff Bash (West Coast Region Branch Chief, Policy and Planning) presented on recent NOAA Fisheries updates. Other NOAA Fisheries faces that contributed to a combination of panels, presentations, and tabling included Danielle Blacklock (Director of NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Aquaculture), Ken Riley (Science Advisor for the Office of Aquaculture), Maria Pazandak (Fisheries Biologist, Aquaculture Support), Matthew Burks (former NOAA Fisheries Public Affairs Officer), and Jessica Lechtenberg (NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture Pathways Intern). There was also a great showing from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center staff!
- Teri King, NOAA’s WA / OR Aquaculture Coordinator, attended the 10th Anniversary of the Kenneth K. Chew’s Center for Shellfish and Restoration at the Manchester Research Station along with Northwest Fisheries Science Center staff.
- Diane Windham participated in the California Aquaculture Forum: Pathways Toward Responsible Aquaculture in California 2023 at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories.
- Teri King participated in the Willapa-Grays Harbor Estuary Collaborative Quarterly Meeting in South Bend, Washington.
- NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture Team members attended a meeting with representation from the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, US Department of Agriculture, Oregon Sea Grant in Newport, Oregon. This meeting included a tour of the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station.
- NOAA Fisheries staffed a booth at the largest commercial fishing and tradeshow on the West Coast, the annual Pacific Marine Expo, that took place in Seattle, Washington. Suzie O’Neill (West Coast Ocean Alliance Fellow) and Jessica Lechtenberg (NOAA Pathways Intern) shared aquaculture news and materials with attendees. The event was well-attended by aquaculture industry professionals featuring aquaculture gear and technology.
 Photo: Tressa Arbow (NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Education and Outreach Coordinator), Jessica Lechtenberg (NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture Pathways Intern), Suzie O'Neill (West Coast Ocean Alliance Aquaculture Fellow), and Jen Quan (NOAA Fisheries West Coast Regional Administrator) pose for a photo at the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle. Photo courtesy of Kate Naughten (Office of Communications Director).
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February 12-14, 2024: Pacific Rim Shellfish Sanitation Conference (PacRim) will be held in Oakland, CA. For additional information, contact Kim Thompson, PacRim Chair and PCSGA Director: KimThompson@pcsga.org
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February 18-21, 2024: Aquaculture America will hold its annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
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February 18-21, 2024: The 74th Pacific Fisheries Technologists Conference will be held in Sitka, Alaska.
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February 26-March 1, 2024: The Oregon Chapter of American Fisheries Society’s annual meeting will take place in Bend, Oregon.
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March 3-7, 2024: The World Fisheries Congress will be held in Seattle, Washington.
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March 11-12, 2024: The Washington Sea Grant Conference for Shellfish Growers will be held in Union, Washington.
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March 17-21, 2024: The National Shellfisheries Association meeting will take place on in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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