Outreach is a key element in natural resource public participation processes in order to create an engaging, thoughtful, and productive environment for citizen involved decision-making. This project examined the utility of a needs assessment as an initial outreach tool within the context of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries...
Quantitative assessments of many West coast rockfish stocks of both major and
minor importance to commercial fisheries have shown varying declines in abundances. The population sizes of less-abundant, co-occurring unassessed species may also be
declining. However, determining stock status of the many non-targeted, minor species with high levels of certainty...
Vessel traffic places the sensitive environmental, natural, and cultural resources of Washington’s outer coast at risk of oil or hazardous materials spills. In 1995, International Maritime Organization established the Area to be Avoided off the Washington Coast (ATBA) to reduce this risk. Annual estimates of vessel compliance with the ATBA...
The purpose of this research is two-fold: to evaluate the success of the new emergency procedures promulgated in 1998 and to characterize the erosion event that precipitated the emergency during January, February and March 1999. These two purposes support each other and provide a holistic understanding of how emergencies arise...
Interest groups have participated in the American political system since the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Environmental interest groups, a subsection of the American interest group society, have been especially active in national policies since the proliferation of environmental laws and environmental advocacy in the 1960s and 1970s. When environmental...
The Cooperative Institute for Oceanographic Satellite Studies
(CIOSS) partners with The Science and Math Investigative Learning
Experiences (SMILE) Program to bring ocean sciences and satellite
oceanography to high school students and teachers around the
state of Oregon. This study was conducted as a formative program
assessment during the third year...
Subsistence hunting and fishing in Alaska is a political, social, and cultural issue. Since statehood in 1959 the state of Alaska has managed fish and wildlife resources on all its lands. But because the state has been unable to come into compliance with federal regulations mandating a subsistence rural priority,...
Structure-forming invertebrates belong to a polyphyletic group of primarily sessile and sedentary megafauna that can significantly enhance the complexity of physical habitats. A number of these organisms, including cold-water corals and sponges, are known to be slow growing and vulnerable to physical disturbance. In addition, as filter feeders, these invertebrates...
Coastal erosion hazards on the Island of Maui can be divided into two
general categories. Chronic shoreline retreat results from the gradual narrowing of
beaches and shorelines over time under the influence of long-term dominant coastal
processes and features of the littoral sediment budget that cause local sediment
deficiencies. Episodic...
Stabilization structures are the most commonly used form of shore protection along the Oregon coast. Eighty-five percent of the hard stabilization structures built in Oregon
from 1976 – 1999 were riprap revetments. An evaluation was conducted of 143 riprap
revetments in the northern three counties of Oregon. Clear trends exist...
This report intends to assist the development of biological and habitat goals and objectives for the Oregon Plan on statewide, regional and watershed scales.
Salmon restoration has become a major priority in the Pacific Northwest. In the State of Oregon, much of
the responsibility for habitat restoration has fallen on local watershed councils, with the majority of their
funding coming from state and federal grants. Funding limitations, including the amount of funds allotted
to...
This study analyzes public participation in nine regional hearings and six public meetings held by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP) from September 2001 to April 2003. While several researchers have examined whether certain public involvement methods are considered successful or fair, this study characterizes the participants in a...
In 1997, the Eskimo Walrus Commission (EWC) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) established a formal cooperative agreement for the conservation and management of Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). This arrangement facilitates the transfer of funds from Section 119 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act via the USFWS...
A dynamic bioenergetic model for Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) was built using the STELLA simulation modeling system. The model is intended as an aid for the exploration of ecological questions regarding growth and survival of immature Steller sea lions (ages 1-3) living along the Oregon coast under different nutritional...
Conservation efforts have been increasing in recent years to help preserve threatened coastal and ocean resources. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an important tool to protect and conserve ocean resources. The MPA Center was established to take the lead in developing a framework for a national system of MPAs. The...
The red sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, is one of the three species of strongylocentroids found on the west coast of North America between Baja California and Kodiak, Alaska. It belongs to the phylum Echinodermata, and it is one of the largest species of sea urchins. Since 1970, red sea urchins...
Pacific Coast estuaries provide important rearing habitats leading to improved growth and survival for juvenile chinook salmon. However, research has suggested that juvenile salmon have little use for estuarine habitats in the Columbia River. To further understand salmonid recovery needs in estuaries, I compared historical and contemporary life history patterns...
To date, the use of oceanographic data in fisheries management has been limited by the scarcity and the difficulty of accessing complete oceanographic datasets. Consequently, fish stocks are managed with limited knowledge about the habitat where fish live and incomplete understanding of what oceanographic conditions affect their populations. With the...
The fishing industry in the Pacific Northwest is a dynamic and highly competitive industry that must constantly respond to rapidly changing resource, regulatory and market forces. These forces have already had a significant impact on our fisheries and will continue to do so as we learn more about the biology...
From May 1999 through April 2000, I interned with the Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association (AWRTA), a non-profit organization that balances responsible tourism development with resource protection and community enhancement. I was assigned to a seven-member task force charged with evaluating the success of AWRTA's "Ecotourism Guidelines2" and was...
In the summer of 2001 the Oregon Coast Aquarium opened a new exhibit on sharks entitled, "Great White Mystery: What Happened to Surfer Bob?" For the purposes of this study, a survey was designed to determine whether visitors to the new exhibit learned factual information or left with changed attitudes...
One of the crucial components of marine and coastal resource management is
using the best available data for decision-making. There are many facets however,
to what makes data available and useable. Even though data may exist for many
natural resource and marine resource issues, they don't always come in accessible...
The suspension-feeding mud shrimp, Upogebia pugettensis, is a common inhabitant of intertidal mudflats in estuaries throughout the Pacific Northwest, where it develops extensive burrows. Also inhabiting the shrimps' burrow is the commensal bivalve, Cryptomya californica. Filtration by dense populations of the shrimp and its commensals may have a negative impact...
Given the broad scientific consensus that global climate is changing, it is no longer a question if sea level will rise, but rather by how much will it rise. The regional estimates for the Eastern Pacific suggest that the Northwest coastlines will experience a greater eustatic sea level rise than...
Fisheries researchers and the general public can greatly benefit from the rapid data sharing and collaborative research that is facilitated by the both the internet and modern digital technology. One of the pioneers of this new strategy of conducting and utilizing fisheries research is Project CROOS (Collaborative Research on Oregon...
Situated off the west coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc archipelago and its waters are well-known for their rich natural resources, especially the bounty of fishery resources. Under increasing pressure from the growing population, fishing, and tourism development, there is a strong need to formulate an...
Marine protected areas are increasingly popular tools for fisheries conservation and
enhancement worldwide. Monitoring programs that enable managers to track changes in fish stock abundance, size-frequency of target species, and species diversity are critical to evaluating the success of MPA's. The Port Honduras Marine Reserve (PHMR) in southern Belize encompasses...
The continued growth of the world's population beyond six billion places increasing pressure on natural resources and thus a growing demand for effective management of both resources and the recreational users of these resources. This
situation is particularly relevant to the management of Oregon's rivers and growing
numbers of nonmotorized...
Remote areas are frequently homes to regional subpopulations of endangered green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and their essential habitat. Local communities are often the users and primary stewards of this valuable and charismatic resource. Recognizing this, a Hatohobeian community group in Palau has engaged in longterm monitoring and conservation management...
In 2000, the US Congress responded to the industry-wide constriction of the West Coast groundfish industry by allocating $5 million in disaster relief for Oregon, Washington, and California. Each state, with minimal federal oversight, designed and executed its own disaster response program to help impacted members of the fishing industry...
This study demonstrates the utility of combining available scientific data with local ecological knowledge in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to support community-based fisheries management. The approach used provides both the framework for capturing important ecological, economic and social information relevant to marine fisheries management, and also offers coastal citizens...
This study demonstrates the utility of combining available scientific data with local ecological knowledge in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to support community-based fisheries management. The approach used provides both the framework for capturing important ecological, economic and social information relevant to marine fisheries management, and also offers coastal citizens...
This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of the selected coastal protection
alternatives in a form most useful for coastal mangers. It is not intended to serve as a
technical review of the engineering design of shore protection schemes. The concept,
design, and application of each method are reviewed....
Given the current state of our oceans, the Pew Oceans Commission (1993) has strongly recommended that increased efforts be made towards ocean literacy. Informal education and outreach programs like the Whale Watching Spoken Here program are important contributors to life-long learning. However, there is little research looking at how these...
Cooperative marine fisheries research—the practice of involving the expertise of fishermen and scientists in conducting studies of ocean fishes—has increased gradually over the past 50 years on the US west coast. However, few studies have systematically collected and analyzed the experiences and perceptions of numerous cooperative marine fisheries research project...
Rapid assessments are essential to establish baseline information of ecosystems that can
be used to design management plans such as marine protected areas. A rapid ecological
assessment was conducted to determine the conditions of coral reefs and reef fish around barrier islands that occur within the central Belize Barrier Reef...
Oregon's estuarine wetland landscapes have been changed, especially since the nineteenth century, by diking, dredging, fills, and other alterations. These alterations have removed wetlands from the estuaries, and with them, have removed wetland functions. Currently, efforts are being made to restore estuarine wetlands. The first step in
selecting a site...
The work described herein entailed three separate but related
education/outreach activities aimed at distinct audiences. This portfolio required
acquisition of a range of skills in order to effectively convey information in a fashion accessible to each target audience. The first project consists of contributions to a
sample chapter of a...
Nonpoint source pollution is currently the major source of water pollution in Oregon as
well as the United States as a whole. The Environmental Protection Agency designated
marinas as one of the sources of nonpoint pollution to coastal waters. In an effort to
reduce nonpoint pollution from marinas and to...
The leasing of submerged and submersible lands is emerging as a new marine conservation method. Using a geographic information system, this study: (1) examines the suitability of estuary tideland sites for conservation leasing in Lincoln County, Oregon, and (2) explores the relationship between adjacent terrestrial land use zones and the...
The 14-km long Netarts Littoral Cell, located on the northern Oregon coast, experienced episodic erosion as a result of the severe 1997-98 El Nino and 1998-99 La Nina. The erosion events led to the development of a unique partnership bridging scientists, stakeholders, and various planning agencies. To address these erosion...
In the highly competitive animal protein market, seafood faces increasing pressure to improve and standardize product quality. While there is general consensus that quality can be improved for many seafood products, there is little agreement on the types and levels of characteristics that should define "quality." This is a fundamental...
Multibeam sonar data was collected on Nehalem Bank, off of the Oregon Coast with the purpose of increasing the spatial resolution of our knowledge of the area and delineating seafloor habitats. The system used was the Kongsberg Simrad EM-300 operating at 30 kHz. The data set collected includes both topographic...