Port Orford Ocean Resource Team:
Partnering Local and Scientific Knowledge
With GIS for Community-based
Management
Vicki A. Wedell, Oregon State University
David Revell, University of California Santa Cruz
AAAS Annual Meeting Feb 13th 2004
Today’s Presentation
Background
 Physical setting
 Management Context
 The Port of Port Orford
 Port Orford Ocean Resource Team
Participatory GIS Research Design and Methods
 Local knowledge interviews
 Data Aggregation
 Initial results
 Conclusions
Port Orford...
Latitude/Longitude: 42 44 45 N / 124 29 46 W
Cape Blanco
Coos Bay
Charleston
Oregon
Port Orford
Port Orford Dock
Bandon
Port Orford
Gold Beach
Active Tectonics Lab, OSU
www.pcouncil.org
Current Management Context

1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act
(MSFCMA)
 Standard 8: we must assess impacts
to fishing communities
 Issue of scale

Pacific groundfish crisis
(NOAA Fisheries Jan 2000)
 Quota reductions
 50% capacity reduction
 100-250 fathom in-season shelf
closure
Port Orford
The Port Orford Fishing Community
Small scale fishing-dependant community




~40 vessels (<45 feet)
100-150 people involved in commercial fishing (1015% of population)
40 fishing families
No Coast Guard Station

Diversity of Fisheries
21
73% of interviewees
participate in 4-7
different fisheries
Number of Fishermen
19
17
15
13
11
9
7
5
3
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Number of fisheries executed
7
8
Current Fisheries Executed
Port Orford Fisheries
100.0%
Changes caused by Mgt. Regulations
90.9%
90.0%
80.0%
81.8%
72.7%
63.6%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
45.5%
36.4%
40.0%
30.0%
18.2%
20.0%
10.0%
18.2%
4.5%
0.0%
4.5%
4.5%
us
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Port Orford Ocean Resources Team
(POORT)




Local Advisory Board
Science Advisory Committee
Project Manager
Communications Coordinator

The key to our success!
POORT Vision: A sustainable fishery that combines
the best science and local experiential knowledge for
the community to make local fishery management
decisions.
From Vision to Results…
Science and Management ?s
Spatial data to answer ?s
Existing
Substrate
Basemaps
New
Interviews
Coop. Research
Biological
Socio-econ.
Fish Counts
Urchins
Etc…
http://www.coastalatlas.net
Some Coastal Atlas layers…
Seafloor Mapping Lab, OSU
ODFW Nearshore Rocky Reef
Project (1997-2000)
1996 ODFW Fish Survey
NOAA Nautical Charts
Groundfish Fleet Restructuring and
Information Analysis Project
GIS Layers
Conceptual
Model
High resolution case
study of Port Orford
Documenting Local Knowledge
Pilot interview
and community
presentation
Create
base maps
and
interview
protocol
Conduct
LKI with
community
members
Validation
interviews with
participants
Transcribe
and digitize
individual
interviews
Aggregate
individual
maps into
draft
inventory
Community
validation
workshop
Incorporate
edits and create
final inventory
maps
In progress
GIS base maps: communication
& process tool

Nautical charts

Fathom contours

Local place names
–focus group
Local knowledge interviews
Confidentiality Agreements
Semi-structured interviews


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Demographics & vessel information
Distribution of human uses
Relative economic importance
Distribution of species and resources
Open microphone
Location information recorded




Drew on acetate overlays
Verbally referenced place name
Depth delineated areas
LKI Participants
33 interviews with 36 people
24 Commercial fishermen
2 Divers
3 Recreational fishermen
3 Buyers
4 Recreationalists
2 Scientists
Average age: 51 years
Average experience: 20+ years
31 males: 5 females
Port Orford commercial fishermen
~50% Port Orford vessels represented, average length: 34 feet
17 owners and/or captains
7 deckhands
524 years combined experience
24 years average experience
7 second-generation fishermen
1 third generation fisherman
20/25 work a combined total of over 2200 days/year on the ocean,
presently averaging ~120 days/year
Data aggregation
Convert vector data into 30 m grid
 Assigned grid cell value of 1 for polygon
presence and 0 for absence
 Cumulative totals for each grid cell
 Nearest neighbor analysis (6 cell focal mean)
to smooth the data.
 Data classified using an equal area distribution
of 7 classes and re-categorized into Low,
Medium, and High usage.

Thanks to our partners at Ecotrust, especially Charles!
Dungeness crab
PO
Salmon
PO
Halibut
High Spot
PO
Sablefish (aka black cod)
Bandon
High Spot
PO
Canyon
Relative economic importance of sablefish
High Spot
Canyon
Conclusions
To
meet requirements of the Sustainable Fisheries Act 1996 Standard 8,
we need to address community issues at the community level. It comes
down to a matter of scale. For Port Orford 150m is appropriate.
Local
knowledge interviews are a successful tool to understand a fishing
community, its resources, and dependence on various areas.
Coupling
scientific and local knowledge in GIS is a powerful way to
support community management objectives.
Spatial
representation of human uses, economic dependence, and species
distribution can guide area-based management strategies including: local
area management and/or the selection of less controversial areas for MPAs.
Next Steps for POORT
Phase II
1)
2)
More in depth economic surveys and
spatial analysis
Cooperative research projects: port
sampling and genetic research
Future Phases:
1)
2)
Develop a management plan and
long-term monitoring program
Examine Substrate/Species
Relationships
Thank You
Funders:
Partners:
Cooperative

Port Orford Ocean Resources Team

Port Orford Community

Terra Cognita – OSU GIS lab

Pacific Marine Conservation Council

Surfrider Foundation
Institute for Marine
Resources Studies
Environmental
NOAA
Penny
Defense
Cooperative Research
Family Fund
Oregon
Coastal Management Program
Ocean Enhancement Grant
Data:
 ODFW
 Coastal Atlas
 Dr. Chris Goldfinger Lab – OSU
 Ecotrust