Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) are large areas closed to fishing in federal waters off the Washington, Oregon and California coasts. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) was responsible for the creation and regulation of the RCAs. The RCA boundaries were defined in 2002 to rebuild rockfish species declared as overfished...
Estuaries are an important ecological link between terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems, but are also subject to a variety of human pressures. Along the West Coast of the United States, shellfish aquaculture is one extensive use of estuarine tidelands. Specifically, Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) aquaculture has been practiced for almost...
Collaborative decision-making is often promoted as a means to achieve socially acceptable and enduring solutions to natural resource management issues, and one that holds promise for resolving “wicked” problems. However, success rates for implementation of collaborative recommendations are unknown. This paper explores challenges to collaborative salmon fishery management in Prince...
Most benthic marine organisms have a bipartite life with an early pelagic stage that enables dispersal of offspring, connecting spatially separated populations, and a late stage where individuals reside in a benthic habitat. Settlement of pelagic offspring to bottom associated substrates is the process that connects the two life history...
Salmon survival and eventual recruitment success have long been thought to be determined within the first summer following ocean migration. Juvenile growth during this period is largely influenced by ocean conditions such as temperature, prey availability, abundance, and quality. Shifts in these conditions due to climatic perturbations are particularly prevalent...
North Pacific albacore (Thunnus alalunga) is a highly migratory and
commercially valuable species of tuna. All stock assessments and management
decisions for North Pacific albacore are presently based on the assumption of a single,
uniform stock. However, a growing body of evidence from diverse sources suggests
that there are two...
Dramatic declines in many species of demersal fishes off the West Coast have resulted in the designation of nine commercially important species as being overfished. While the causes of those declines are not clearly understood, the fact remains that a paucity of life history and abundance data exists for many...
As regional climates warm in the Pacific Northwest, USA, flow minima and temperature maxima may become more synchronous in headwater streams over time. The dual stresses from lower flows and warmer temperatures will be energetically costly for cold-water species such as Coastal Cutthroat Trout and Coastal Giant Salamander. Individual fates...
At a time of rapid global change, a socio-ecological system (SES) approach can provide a framework through which to quantify and communicate the risks and uncertainties of coupled human-natural systems. Islands, and tropical coral reef islands in particular, can be excellent models for SES research since they may be considered...
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a widely distributed baleen whale species, well known for their diverse acoustic behavior. On high-latitude foraging grounds, humpback whales produce a suite of non-song vocalizations (“calls”) in concert with foraging and social behavior. In this dissertation I investigated the role of calls in the acoustic...