This study was commissioned and funded by the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES) to 1) identify the scientific and management issues constraining the advancement of the Oregon bay clam commercial industry, 2) explore scientific, management, and economic opportunities for the enhancement of the fishery, 3) outline and suggest mechanisms...
Satellite remote sensing is an effective tool for mapping snow covered area. However, complex terrain and heterogeneous land cover, due to vegetation and patchy snow cover, present challenges to snow cover mapping. This research compares two techniques for mapping snow covered area: binary and enhanced fractional snow cover mapping techniques....
The U.S. Forest Service on the Willamette National Forest currently employs the “Disturbed Water Erosion Prediction Project” (WEPP) model to determine potential suspended sediment delivery from timber harvests or other treatment scenarios given user-defined hillslope parameters. At the time of this study there was no known calibration or testing of...
Resource managers of Oregon’s tidal wetlands require an improved GIS layer for management of existing tidal wetland habitat and areas considered for tidal wetland restoration. A reconnaissance project was initiated, such that interpretations of remote sensing data, the National Wetland Inventory, Oregon Estuary Plan Book and additional management tools were...
Geographical data and information are virtually unlimited in their quantity and are oftentimes scattered throughout a multitude of locations and stored in various formats on a wide variety of platforms. The Oregon Coast Geospatial Clearinghouse (OCGC) is a web-based central repository for metadata (data about data) corresponding to collected data...
Since their discovery in 1977, hydrothermal vent communities have offered scientists
a unique glimpse into a world that is supported primarily by chemically derived
energy rather than direct energy from the sun. Furthermore, studies of hydrothermal
vent ecosystems have introduced scientists to amazing animals that have successfully
adapted to living...
Spatialization is an innovative way to expand searching capabilities for a
marine/coastal reference database by using a metaphorical map framework to establish
a sense of place for non-spatial information. Spatializing the Catalogue of Oregon
Marine and Coastal Information (COMCI), a coastal reference database, enables the
marine and coastal resource community...
Dramatic declines in several groundfish populations have occurred along
the U.S. West Coast during the last decade (PFMC 1999, Sampson 1997,
Ralston 1998, Bloeser 1999). One problem exacerbating these declines is
insufficient stock assessments, especially for species of west coast rockfish
(Family Scorpaenidae, Genus Sebastes) which comprise the core of...
Ecoregions are regions of relative homogeneity with respect to specific
ecosystem variables (Bailey 1976; Omernik 1995). There has been an increasing
awareness that effective management of environmental resources must be undertaken
with an ecosystem perspective (Omernik, 1995). Ecoregions serve as a spatial
framework for assessing, managing, and monitoring ecosystems that...
An Internet Map Server (IMS) web site was constructed with the goal of
helping middle- through high-school students learn about ocean processes. This IMS was
developed in conjunction with the activities of the Science & Math Investigative
Learning Experience (SMILE) program, and for eventual use with the Oregon Coastal
Atlas,...
Web geographic information systems (GISs) and the Internet are now providing the connectivity necessary to support large-scale data access by a wide variety of users, including not just scientific researchers, but also policy-makers and marine resource managers. However, connectivity alone cannot ensure that those who need natural resource information will...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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 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...
Increasing population and land use decisions have had a negative effect on the aquatic ecosystems in the Willamette River Basin. One result is elevated temperatures in many of the Basin’s streams, which adversely affect the fish that live in these streams. There are several regulatory mechanisms in place to improve...
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...
Latinos are less likely to be civically involved in their community than any other minority group, despite the fact that they are the biggest minority in the United States. A great concern exists over ways to effectively promote and improve this group’s participation in their community’s decision-making process [or civic...
The goal of this analysis is to use the social construction framework to determine 1) whether the Oregon Drug Take Back Program stakeholder group can design a public policy that will ultimately reduce water contamination from the improper disposal of unused pharmaceuticals from the general public, and 2) use the...
In Oregon, property tax revolts and school equalization measures have led to increasingly unstable and more non-discretionary public funding for schools. As a result, public schools are turning to private donations to provide both basic and supplemental educational opportunities. Some schools and districts are raising hundreds of thousands of dollars,...
Many communities emphasize participatory involvement in local development or reinvention efforts. Recognizing barriers among specific groups could help community leaders identify what may be constraining underrepresented groups from joining in. Utilizing data from the Social Capital Benchmark Survey, this research examined identified “barriers” to community involvement among individuals in rural...
Oregon’s high hunger and food insecurity rates have been a concern throughout the last decade. These high rates earned Oregon the dubious distinction as the most food insecure with hunger state in the late 1990’s. While Oregon’s ranking has improved in recent years, our understanding of why Oregon ranked so...
This paper will address Oregon's ability to regulate and manage its wetland resources as a means for protecting and enhancing salmon habitat. After identifying the importance of wetland environments the paper will look into OWRF to assess its effectiveness. Ultimately the paper will conclude that OWRF's design is an effective...
This analysis determines the impact of campaign contributions on Senators' legislative activity on the Energy Policy Act of 2003, identifies organizations within the power policy-planning network, and examines the social netwrok of the energy industry and its relationship with the power policy-planning network. After describing the research methods used for...
Diversity development has achieved higher agenda prominence based on the culmination of historical developments in problem recognition, political events, and university policies that have generated a window of opportunity. Oregon State University is currently at a critical time that will significantly transform the university's commitment inclusiveness and a diverse campus...
In addition to analyzing rural and non-rural differences in health insurance coverage among Oregonians, this essay examines the effect of key socioeconomic and demographic factors in relation to differentials in health insurance coverage.
In a democratic system, or a system of rule by the people, economic arguments are not sufficient for the creation of public policy. There are many important values that should influence our public policy decisions including: human dignity, justice, trust and authority. Public policy is not only a matter of...
The Pacific Northwest and Oregon in particular, have a rich fishing history. There are several fishing communities that rely on the resources found within Oregon waters. This research project explores communication in one particular fishing community, the coastal marine recreational fishing community (CMRFC) and the fisheries management community (FMC).
Objectives...
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...
From a landscape ecology perspective, meadows are often seen as landscapes in
transition. Succession and change in meadows may be investigated by considering the
physical and anthropogenic factors that influence the landscape through time. What is
often unknown is how changes occur and how physical and anthropogenic factors
contribute to...
During the last 10 years or so, enormous amounts of money
have been invested in Manzanillo for several new installations
and improvement of others. Some of the most important are the
building of the thermoelectric power plant, the development of
the interior port, construction of new highways, exploitation of
iron...
Global Graduates/Oregon International Internship Program offered an internship position working in Senegal with the Institut Senegalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) and the Natural Resource Based Agricultural Research (NRBAR). The author of this paper was accepted for this internship and lived and worked in Senegal from October 1 through December 15,...
The purpose of this report is to provide the IDB with the available information on the current status of aquaculture in most of its South American member countries.
A team of three people at the Republic of Palau Division of Marine Resources interviewed 54 women in seven of Palau's 16 states in a three-month study to determine the role of women in nearshore fisheries. The interviews, which generally lasted over an hour each, found that most of the...
The development of a Marine Pollution Monitoring Program (MPMP), in any coastal area of the world, requires a precise knowledge of the functioning of the local ecosystem. Because of the differences found in every coastal ecosystem, it is important to recognize and characterize the reservoirs and significant environments that maintain...
I served an internship with the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS), Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center (NWAFC), Resource
Assessment and Conservation Engineering (RACE) division in Seattle,
Washington from June, 1983 to December, 1983. This experience proved to
be very rewarding because of the techniques I learned, the job
experience I...
The purpose of this report is to briefly examine some of the laws
and regulatory programs which affect development in Oregon's estuaries
and their adjacent wetlands. Development, in this sense, includes
dredging, filling, bank stabilization, structures or other physical
alterations to an estuary.
This study is composed of two parts. Section I deals with
developed moorages and marinas--where they are; what services are
offered in each, and how well the existing supply of permanent moorages
serves the boating public. Section II examines the need for temporary
'harbors of refuge' in the area, what...
State parks in Oregon provide important sites for visitor recreation and natural resource education. With the increasing number of visitors to Oregon coastal parks, tide pools and beach areas, there is growing need for site-specific marine education to enhance stewardship, interpretation and safety knowledge. The Oregon Sea Grant Program and...
Many new research and monitoring projects, developed or initiated during ENSO 1982-83, constituted detailed descriptions of changes in specific taxa or specific processes. However, only a few projects were opportunely started or continued as regional efforts in the eastern Pacific. For those reasons, the information obtained is difficult to compare....
This paper will attempt to evaluate the prospects of the PWG's success based on
their process so far, using models of policy development and implementation from
Kingdon (1984), Putt and Springer (1989), and Sabatier and Mazmanian (1983).
Because the PWG's work is not finished, the evaluation may help the group...
This paper presents roughly estimated potential fish resources and the current status of the fisheries referring to the problems and prospects of the fisheries. Recommendations on research, development, and management are included.
This paper is an attempt to summarize our actual knowledge about the marine resources available in the area. It also analyzes the situation of the fishery and the principal aspects involved in a possible plan for an integral fisheries development of the Oceanic region around the islands. This plan could...
Coastal communities in Oregon have experienced dramatic economic and demographic change during the 1980s. Although the timber and fishing sectors are still important, the economies of coastal communities now rely more on non-earned income and tourism. Non-earned income sources, such as transfer payments and investment earnings, account for over forty...
A student in the Marine Resource Management program is encouraged to select course work in any school and department at Oregon State University. At the same time, the student selects and develops a personalized scientific orientation from the multi-disciplinary curriculum and faculty in the School of Oceanography. Recommended or required...
This report is a summary of my internship experience during
the summer of 1984. From June, 1984 through September, 1984, I
worked as a Graduate Intern II for the Alaska Department of Commerce
and Economic Development (ADCED) in Juneau, Alaska. Specifically,
I was associated with the Office of Commercial Fisheries...
This paper will discuss some of the pressing issues and critical problems pertaining to the resources of the northern coast of Java and some alternative management strategies that may be applicable for the region. Some conclusions and recommendations are presented at the end of this paper.
One of the most important fisheries of the Austral zone,
corresponding to the Magallanes area and the Magellan Strait,
is the king crab (Centolla), Lithodes antarctica. The basic objective of this project is to describe the fisheries of this resource from an economic-biological stand point.
This report is an overview of my experience working with
the Consortium for International Fisheries and Aquaculture
Development (CIFAD), administered from an office within Oregon
State University, Corvallis, Oregon. CIFAD is a non-profit
organization comprised of five U.S. universities: the University
of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), University of Hawaii...
My experiences with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (referred to as the Corps) has been an integral part of my formal education. My work with the Corps fulfills my internship requirement for my Masters Degree in Marine Resource Management. The work here has allowed me to use my academic...
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) was developed to map U.S. wetlands comprehensively, following the Cowardin classification system. Wetlands are mapped by the NWI using small scale aerial photographs, but the inventory is not field checked in detail. The accuracy of this inventory has been questioned....
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...
Permit specifications, construction plans, and field measurements were used to examine the correlation between design and conditions "as-built" in a population of 11 palustrine emergent marshes created in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon, between 1980-1986. The projects ranged from six months to almost seven years in age. Data on...
Following is a proposal for preparation of an Alsea Bay marine development
plan and graduate student internship as port manager. The plan would be
prepared during January - June 1984. Dr. Fred Smith and Jim Good have agreed to
supervise the plan preparation and provide university guidance.
This report is an exposition of an eleven week training
internship in the Port of Portland (POP). My interest in serving
an internship at POP came as a result of a field trip in the
spring of 1980 during which I was fascinated by the ports operations
and diversity. During...
In summer 1992, I interned as a Technical Assistant with the Kosrae Bureau of
Planning and Statistics, Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia (F.S.M). The University
of Oregon Micronesia Program sponsored the internship, which proved to be a unique
professional and cross-cultural experience. The internship, initiated by Mr. Gerson
Jackson, Director...
A heightened awareness to climate phenomena such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and global warming has initiated much research concerning the impacts of climate change and variability on coastal resources. These events are perceived to exacerbate existing chronic natural hazards, including beach and dune erosion, sea...
HIGHLIGHTS
HISTORICAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT Headed and gutted (H&G) is the only
product form of Pacific whiting which has been successfully
developed by the domestic west coast seafood industry. This
success is attributed to the development of a production and
marketing concept which minimized enzyme and texture related
quality problems. Attempts...
This paper focuses on the explosive and controversial growth in finfish farming in general and salmon aquaculture in particular, and the response of Alaska policy makers to this emerging industry. It seeks to define and analyze why Alaska policy makers chose to prohibit all commercial culture of finfish at a...
This study was done for the Oregon State Marine Board and completed during the 6 month period of June through December of 1986. The purpose of this project is to provide information through reliable secondary data that will show the importance of boating recreation to the Oregon economy. The study...
The Marine Resource Management Program at Oregon State University
offers a unique opportunity for study to the marine environments student.
The integrated program affords a diversified experience in economics,
business, social and political sciences in addition to the natural sciences.
An internship which allows practical application of academic concepts is...
As part of its management strategies for wetlands in Oregon, the Division of State Lands sponsored a Local Wetland Inventory for the city of Tillamook. Wetlands delineation,
determination, assessment, and management are the concern of several institutions which worked together to create the 1993 Oregon Freshwater Wetland Assessment Methodology. With...
This paper will outline and discuss a number of specific
work assignments and fieldwork participation experienced during
the internship. Areas of exposure included sediment transport
analysis, zero-base budgeting, harbor line modification, channel
shoaling pattern analysis, dredging cost summaries, dredging
workshops and various fieldwork assignments along Oregon's Coast.
In 1992, amendments to the Fishing and Aquaculture Law required rural communities
to organize into syndicates or cooperatives and to create resource management plans.
Once the Chilean Fisheries Service (SERNAP) approves these plans, villages could manage designated subtidal and intertidal areas. In response to these amendments, two villages, Puerto Aldea...
Plastic waste in the oceans is now recognized as a serious threat to marine life and a pollution problem with economic consequences for mariners and coastal states. Annex V of MARPOL, effective December 1988, is an international treaty which prohibits signatory nations from disposing of any plastic material into the...
From July, 1982 to August, 1983 I had the privilege of serving an internship
as an oceanographer at the National Marine Fisheries Service Beaufort
Laboratory. During the period of my appointment I assisted in a preliminary
assessment of the potential fishery impacts of ocean thermal energy conversion
(OTEC) power plants....
In September 1988, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and the Governor of Oregon announced the creation of the joint state-federal Placer Minerals Technical Task Force. The group was charged with performing an analysis of the potential economic and environmental aspects of placer mineral mining in the nearshore waters of...
Groundwater is a vital resource and efforts must be made to protect its quality. In certain areas, its quality has been
threatened by the introduction of oil and gasoline, many times originating from underground storage tanks. Massachusetts has
directly reacted to this concern about groundwater quality by promulating a Massachusetts...
Concern over the incidental catch of non-targeted species in commercial and
recreational fisheries has greatly increased. Public attention, negative publicity,
controversies between differing fisheries and gear groups and the reauthorization of the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act have led to an increased
awareness of the issue. The Pacific halibut...
Tuna fishery is an important activity worldwide. In the
eastern Pacific Ocean the effort applied by the Pacific Ocean
fleet to catch tuna fish is considerable. The eastern Pacific
tuna fleet harvests throughout the oceans and captures an
important fraction of this resource. For instance, in 1980 the
total catch...
I tested the hypothesis that there is a correlation between inundation period and net primary production (NPP) in estuarine salt marshes through an observational experiment at South Slough National Estuarine Reserve, Oregon. I estimated primary production and inundation period for selected monotypic plant communities in (1) a naturally restored wetland...
Rights-based systems for controlling the use of marine resources developed in many "traditional" societies of the world--notably
in the isolated island societies of the Pacific. These "customary marine tenure" systems (CMT) have eroded or collapsed
in many societies since the development of economic and other links with outside societies and...
This internship was supported and funded by the Yap State Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Territorial and
International Affairs, and the University of Oregon Micronesia and South Pacific Technical
Assistance Program. What follows in this report is a description of the internship...
The product of my internship was a working draft of a land use and master plan
for the SPC to review. The draft is to be used for creating a more comprehensive land use
and zoning master plan. Attempts were made to incorporate input from federal, state,
and local governments,...
This paper presents the results of field tests of the Oregon Freshwater Wetland
Assessment Methodology. It begins with a review of the history of wetland assessment
techniques, including an in-depth review of some more popular methods. State and
federal wetlands legislation are briefly discussed and the utility of regional wetland...
Past disasters such as mercury poisoning in Minimata, and new problems such as tributyltin impacts on shellfish have maintained public concern about problems caused by chronic discharges of hazardous materials into marine waters (Clark, 1986; U.S. Congress, 1987). However, hazardous chemical spills in coastal waters typically escape public attention. Unlike...