These past three months I have been serving as the Natural\nResource Policy Fellow (NRPF) with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife\u2019s\n(ODFW) Marine Reserve Program. My position is focused on understanding the effects\nmarine reserves may be having on coastal communities and visitors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, a little background on the marine reserves. Oregon\u2019s five\nmarine reserves were phased in from 2012 to 2016 and they currently make up 9%\nof the territorial sea. The territorial sea just means Oregon\u2019s state waters,\nwhich are less than three nautical miles from the shore. There are no\nextractive activities or development allowed in the marine reserves. However,\neach marine reserve has adjacent Marine Protected Areas where some extractive\nactivities are allowed. These marine reserves can be thought of as being in a\ntrial phase. The Marine Reserves Program, including the management, scientific\nmonitoring, outreach, community engagement, compliance, enforcement, and\nfunding for the marine reserves, is up for evaluation beginning in the year\n2022. The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) will choose an\nOregon public university to prepare a report on the Marine Reserves Program for\nthe Oregon Legislative Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the primary marine reserve goals was to \u201cavoid\nsignificant adverse social and economic impacts on ocean users and coastal\ncommunities\u201d. This goal was set in 2008 in the Oregon Marine Reserve Policy\nRecommendations document developed by the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council\n(OPAC). This is where my position as an NRPF comes in. To determine if there\nhave been any marine reserve impacts, we must compare socioeconomic data prior\nto marine reserve implementation and after marine reserve implementation. There\nare many different approaches we are using to achieve this goal both in house\nand with academic and professional collaborators. For example, we are comparing\nchanges in socioeconomic indicators (e.g. per capita income) in communities\nnear and far the reserves using census data. We are also looking at the\npotential economic loss to fishers with benthic species mapping, fish ticket\ndata, and logbooks. We are also assessing whether there are any changes to visitor\nuse at the shoreline adjacent to marine reserves with visitor surveys and\nobservation counts. These are just a few of the many examples I could provide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this brief time that I have been a NRPF, I have\nalready learned a great deal. I was even tasked with writing a literature\nreview on stakeholder engagement and creating literature-based definitions for the\nterms stakeholder engagement (in general), informal stakeholder engagement,\nformal stakeholder engagement, stakeholder, and outreach. This literature\nreview will be used to help evaluate the communications side of the Marine\nReserves Program. I am looking forward to continuing to grow in this position\nwhile contributing to a project that I consider an important tool for natural\nresource management. Now, I will leave you with a picture of my dog (Moose \u2013\nshe\u2019s from Alaska, hence the name) enjoying Newport\u2019s South Beach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These past three months I have been serving as the Natural Resource Policy Fellow (NRPF) with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife\u2019s (ODFW) Marine Reserve Program. My position is focused on understanding the effects marine reserves may be having … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/601\/files\/2019\/12\/Moose-768x1024.jpg\")