Informing Oregon's Marine Protected Area (MPA) Baseline: Past and Present Tribal Uses of Marine Resources

In 2012, the state of Oregon designated five marine sites as reserves in which ocean develoment and harvest were probhibited. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are paired with each of the reserves and have less stringent "take" restrictions. Conflict over tribal uses of MPAs have arisen in other areas as designation of MPAs and Reserves can impact subsistence, ceremonial, and traditional uses. My master's thesis is meant to inform the Oregon MPA management by developing a dataset that describes tribal past and present uses of marine resources. I collected interview and survey data to document marine resource use by tribal peoples on the Oregon coast in or near current and planned MPAs. The interview protocols I used were a mixture of long and short questions, as well as an interactive mapping exercise. Data collected through my thesis project captured a rich body of information on current and past tribal resouce users. Interviews targeted current fishermen/gatherers and tribal elders, and were audio recorded to be given back to the family and/or tribal staff for their own uses as well as contribute to Oreon's legislatively mandated MPA evaluation. Outcomes from the project will help Oregon coastal managers incorporate tribal uses into MPA management.