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Mission
The Marine Habitat Project, initiated in 1989, is part of the Marine Resources Program located at ODFW's Newport office.
The project's mission is to address emerging marine habitat management issues and provide a habitat component to species-based MARINE RESOURCES PROGRAMs.
Project goals
- Inventory marine habitats and their biological communities.
- Develop information for sound management of activities affecting marine habitats.
- Participate in resource management forums affecting marine habitats and formulate management plans, strategies, and regulations.
- Educate the public about marine habitats and ecosystems.
Project Summary
The Marine Habitat Project consists of three permanent staff biologists and one to three seasonal staff during the summer field season. The Project is within the Resource Assessment and Analysis branch of the Marine Resources Program.
 The project has both a management and research focus. Management activities include participation in the Ocean Policy Advisory Committee (OPAC) and on committees within the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC). OPAC is a policy coordinating body representing state agencies, users, and general public with a role in managing Oregon's marine resources. It was established by the 1991 Oregon Legislature and is chaired by the Governor's Natural Resource Advisor. The Council develops state policy and management plans that address many ocean resource management issues. The Marine Habitat Project provides staff support for the Department's participation on OPAC.
The project also participates as the Department's representative on the Habitat Committee and Marine Reserves Committee of PFMC. In addition to participating in these management forums, project staff are responsible for providing Department input on all non-fishery ocean management issues that could adversely affect ocean resources under Department management. This primarily involves providing input into activities such as dredging and dredged material disposal, and submarine fiberoptic cable installation. The project also has primary responsibility within the Marine Resources Program for responding to ocean oil spills. The project also provides GIS support to other projects within the Marine Resources Program.
The project's research focuses on inventorying marine habitats and providing specific habitat-related information to support management and policy decisions. Current research includes inventorying nearshore rocky reefs, developing techniques for fishery-independent population assessment of nearshore reef rockfish, and on-going development of an ocean and coastal GIS. These data collection efforts are intended to address two high priority management needs in nearshore resource management: assessing fish stocks and developing marine protected area policy. Habitat and fish survey methods include use of advanced sonar technologies, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), aerial photography, and several other research tools. Project staff collaborate with analogous projects in California and Washington, as well as researchers at Oregon State University.
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