POORT and the Oregon Marine Reserves Process
Background: In 2005, Oregon began a public process for establishing a network of marine reserves along the Oregon coast. Governor Kulongowski's first directive was designed to gather useful information to establish a National Marine Sanctuary along the Oregon Coast. The Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) was charged with creating this report, which was submitted to the Governor in December of 2006. OPAC refocused its attention on a network of marine reserves in April of 2007 under a new directive from the Governor. This new direction was designed as a bottom-up process intending to engage active citizens and interested parties to make nominations for marine reserves. On August 19th, 2008, OPAC released the final report to the governor, state agencies, and local governments outlining the Oregon Marine Reserve Policy Recommendations (OPAC, 2008). In this document, a marine reserve is defined as "an area within Oregon's Territorial Sea or adjacent rocky intertidal area that is protected from all extractive activities, including the removal or disturbance of living and non-living marine resources, except as necessary for monitoring or research to evaluate reserve condition, effectiveness, or impact of stressors". Using this definition, the Port Orford Ocean Resource Team (POORT) proposed the Redfish Rocks Research Reserve.
Redfish Rocks Research Reserve
There are four main components to build a marine reserve proposal in this particular process:- Ecological Significance;
- Economic Impacts;
- Community Collaboration; and
- Enforcement.
POORT began by bringing together people from the fishing community to gather opinions and knowledge about ecological benefits and economic impacts for sites within the Port Orford Stewardship Area. Several potential sites came out of those 4 focus group meetings that were then analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS) program provided by Ecotrust. Publically available habitat data provided by the state was used along with privately collected economic data unique to Port Orford. When analysis was complete, a site was chosen that showed the best potential to reach the difficult task of maximizing ecological benefits while minimizing economic impacts.
 Proposed Marine Reserve and Marine Protected Area |
POORT submitted a proposal that encompasses 2.6 square miles around Redfish Rocks, from the Extreme Low Tide Line (ELTL) to about 20 fathoms. The use of the ELTL instead of the Extreme High Tide Line (EHTL) as the boundary will allow clam digging in the rocky intertidal areas to continue. In addition to this reserve, a Marine Protected Area (MPA) was proposed that extends from the western boundary of the marine reserve to the 3 mile territorial sea boundary. This was added to the proposal to address the issue of increasing ecological benefits and decreasing economic impacts. By closing the area to any net, jig or longline gear, but allowing for the salmon and crab fisheries that use pelagic troll and pots to continue, increased protection for rockfish and other nearshore species with larger home ranges is provided while maintaining historic economic uses. |
In order to determine the ecological wealth of a proposed area, OPAC charged the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) with producing a guidance document to help in the review process. They convened at a two-day Sizing and Spacing Workshop in Charleston, OR in April 2008. The preliminary report was available for proposal writers to use before the deadline of submission. In this report, several ecological topics were addressed and highlighted that the Redfish Rocks Research Reserve fits very well. "Inshore areas to the south of Cape Blanco including the reefs near Port Orford", which includes Redfish Rocks, are mentioned as "special places". This area is a rocky reef complex that provides habitat diversity for a variety of invertebrates and vertebrates alike. It is connected to Humbug Mountain State Park, which is a recommendation in the report because areas near state or federal protected areas "may have reduced pollution or sedimentation".
The Redfish Rocks Research Reserve contains all habitat types outlined in the OPAC Proposal Form, including rocky intertidal around the exposed rocks, rocky subtidal both with and without canopy-forming kelp, and soft bottom subtidal. The habitat diversity and size of the reserve satisfies the area guidelines used in the California marine reserve process to encompass 90% of the biodiversity of rocky intertidal and reefs.
Habitat Table for the Redfish Rocks Research Reserve and MPA
Bycatch and Reduction Marine Protected Area
The last piece of this puzzle is another MPA, titled the Bycatch and Discard Reduction Marine Protected Area, that will exclude net fishing within the three-mile territorial sea boundary within the Port Orford Stewardship Area (from about New River in the north to Nesika Beach in the South). In the figure above, this is from the area shown out to the yellow line. This MPA was proposed after several fishermen mentioned their concern for the protection of juvenile rockfish, pelagic migratory species such as salmon, and other highly migratory species such as halibut.Why did POORT participate?
POORT engaged in this process to have a local say and carve out benefits for the Port Orford Community. Some of the goals POORT identified to achieve during this process are:- Protect local stocks, such as china, copper, and quillback rockfish, by protecting critical habitat and the Big Old Fat Fertile Female Fish (BOFFFFs);
- Provide local research opportunities and fleet engagement in that research;
- Allow for continued education and involvement of the local community about out local resources.
Through these goals, we feel we can use this research reserve as a community asset, one that will bring both pride and economic benefits to our town.
Click here to see the proposal and here for the Appendices.