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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
This report intends to assist the development of biological and habitat goals and objectives for the Oregon Plan on statewide, regional and watershed scales.
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...