Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF) is developing restoration practices to recover the natural recruitment of bull kelp on a landscape scale in areas where bull kelp were found historically. The enhancement trials at Doe Kag Wats/Jefferson Head involves seed transfers and other manipulations to learn what works and what doesn’t to facilitate the recovery of bull kelp forests. In 2020, bull kelp from our pilot-scale enhancement at Doe Kag Wats/Jefferson Head reached the surface – an event which has not been observed since the early 1990s. The outplanted kelp has spanned seafloor to surface each year since, making 2024 the 5th year of successful in-season bed regrowth. In 2024, we also observed reproductive second generation kelp, assumed to be from the prior year's outplant, which was a big step in the right direction.

At Doe Kag Wats/Jefferson Head, we test how seeding techniques, seed density, and timing of outplant affect kelp yield, and reproductive output. We also monitor for second generation kelp, and compare outplanted kelp to wild kelp in adjacent areas.