Ecotrust's Marine Spatial Planning - Oregon
Territorial Sea Planning
Goal 19 of Oregon's Statewide Planning requires the state "to conserve marine resources and ecological functions for the purpose of providing long-term ecological, economic, and social value and benefits to future generations." Oregon is developing a comprehensive Territorial Sea Plan to guide uses of the nearshore marine environment, including the potential siting of renewable ocean energy projects. The territorial sea extends three miles from the coast.
To inform the plan, Ecotrust is collecting information on the spatial extent of human uses that provide economic and sociocultural benefits. The resulting data set will inform siting decisions for energy projects that minimize impacts to the marine ecosystem and human uses.
Working with the Southern Oregon Ocean Resources Coalition (SOORC) during the spring months of 2009, Ecotrust collected port-specific data on commercial and recreational fisheries in southern Oregon. Ecotrust personnel and field staff interviewed 119 fishermen: 70 commercial fishermen, 9 charter fishermen and 40 sport fishermen.
Ecotrust’s field team will interview fishermen in all remaining ports in Oregon from November 2009 until June 2010. We anticipate to interview over 350 commercial fishermen, the entire charter fleet on the coast, and hundreds of recreational fishermen via in-person and online surveys.
