Thesis
Balancing conservation and nearshore fisheries: a comparative spatial analysis of two marine reserve networks in Oregon
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102129
Abstract
Marine conservation efforts, specifically marine protected areas (MPAs), are important recourses for balancing the often opposing values inherent in economic growth and environmental impacts. Following a yearlong proposal process, the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) approved a network of five sites, with the goal of protecting the biodiversity of the state's nearshore marine ecosystem without adversely affecting the socioeconomics of coastal communities. However, from the pool of proposals OPAC selected, only one used fisheries data to quantify the potential impacts, and none used uniform and spatially explicit data to quantify the ecological benefits of the proposed sites. To understand how data might inform the MPA proposal process we added uniform, quantitative, and spatially explicit data for fisheries, physical, and ecological characteristics to the original site proposals. We then compared the network selected by OPAC to a network proposed by a conservation group, Our Ocean, and identified the tradeoffs of each network, and also at one site in particular, Cascade Head. Overall, we found that the Our Ocean network covered nearly a third of the territorial sea, had large sites with diverse habitats, and harbored many more marine mammals and seabirds with a 'cost' of approximately twice the impact to the important fisheries in the territorial sea when compared to the OPAC network, and therefore the tradeoffs were not equal between the two network scenarios. Understanding the balance between fisheries and conservation of these two networks shed light on the efficacy of the proposal process, highlighted the importance of data gaps in such a process, and provided feedback to the state on future site selection
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Details
- Title
- Balancing conservation and nearshore fisheries
- Creators
- Daniel A. Crowther
- Contributors
- Brian N. Tissot (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Environment, School of the (CAHNRS)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525116401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis