Coastal communities in the Pacific Northwest are looking for ways to increase the diversity of their economies in order to reduce the negative impacts of cyclic economic swings. The economic base of many coastal communities is directly tied to healthy, dynamic working waterfronts through fishing, recreation, tourism, ports, and allied...
The impacts of climate change are being observed worldwide. However, some regions and context specific situations make particular areas more vulnerable to the impacts than others. Alaska’s Kenai River Watershed (KRW) is on the front lines of climate change and may be especially vulnerable to the impacts due to distinct...
In 2014, the Washington State Legislature directed the creation of the Fish Barrier Removal Board (FBRB), a multi-entity committee tasked with the development of a statewide strategy for removing anadromous fish barriers. The strategy shall identify watersheds with the greatest potential for salmon and steelhead recovery and implement the removal...
In August 2011, the final Upper Willamette River basin salmon and steelhead recovery plan was adopted by NOAA Fisheries and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The plan highlights a variety of activities that need to be taken by both public and private entities in order to recover these...
Wild salmon populations are in decline in the Pacific Northwest. In the region populations and runs of Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytsha), Chum (Oncorhynchus keta), Coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch), Sockey (Oncorhynchus nerka), and Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) have been listed as threatened and/or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in the U.S. and/or...
Reproduction of salmonid fishes in acidic water was studied
using the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri). Adult trout were exposed
to various levels of hydrogen ion (pH levels 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and
control [6.5 to 7.1]) during the final 6 weeks of reproductive
maturation. Reduced survival rates of the progeny of...
Stress, including extreme or rapidly changing temperatures, are known to have deleterious effects on fish health and physiology. This thesis examines the combined effects of elevated acclimation temperature and acute handling stress on the number of antibody producing cells, plasma lysozyme concentrations, and the number of pronephric leukocytes in juvenile...
The natural environment provides important services and benefits to peoples’ health and lives. Conversely, environmental disservices can have negative impacts on humans such as through pollution, chemical toxins, and climate change. The combination of environmental services and disservices encompass how human health and wellbeing, and the environment are connected. As...
Management strategies to prevent overfishing while achieving optimum yield vary according to the available data and life history of the fished stock. I evaluated two sets of management strategies for Pacific coast rockfish: strategies to set harvest limits for data-poor stocks, and strategies intended to protect the age structure of...
I investigated Caspian terns (Sterna caspia) breeding at colonies on the Columbia Plateau (southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon), with emphasis on the breeding and foraging ecology of Caspian terns nesting at colonies in the mid-Columbia River. I focused research at colonies where Caspian terns foraged on juvenile salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.)...