Have Marine Reserves Impacted Daily Fishing License Sales?

Each year thousands of people pack up their gear, set their out-of-office email response to a fishing emoji, and head to the Oregon coast. Some fishers may have found their usual fishing spot closed after marine reserve implementation. These fishers could change their behavior. To find out if fishing behavior has changed after marine reserve implementation, we looked at ODFW’s sales of daily fishing licenses. Read More

New Report: Qualitative Evaluation of Impacts on Fishers

This project is designed to capture the lived experience of commercial and charter fishers who are directly impacted by marine reserves. We were particularly interested in the economic, social, and cultural impacts of the marine reserves, including whether or not fishers were shifting their efforts to other species or locations following reserve implementation. Read More

A Natural Laboratory for Social Science Research

Over the past several years, researchers studying people’s reactions to Oregon’s marine reserves have begun to understand the complex values and experiences that underpin how different communities interact with the ocean in different ways. Many insights from our ongoing human dimensions research centers on the importance of recognizing how and why different stakeholders interact with and value the ocean in different ways. Read More