SECTION 2: PROPOSAL INFORMATION

PLEASE PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION,TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE: Please attach your answers using as many additional sheets as necessary. Be sure to fill‐in the table in question four and submit with your proposal.

1. Where is the site located? What are its boundaries? How many nautical miles does the site extend: a) along the coastline, and b) offshore? Please use common place names, latitude/longitude, and geographic references to identify the site. Your proposal must include a mapshowing the proposed boundaries of the site.

Please use the proposal maps available on the Oregon Marine Reserves website to draw the proposed boundaries of the site ( You may also obtain the maps by contacting Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at (541) 867‐0300 x284 or .

The proposed site stretches from HowardPoint (North of Yachats) southwards to Berry Creek (South of Heceta Head). See map attached.

2. Describe how the size, location, and characteristics of this site allows for scientific evaluation of ecological benefits.

Heceta Head and CapePerpetua

Marine Reference Reserve (HPRR)

Oregon continues to face increased pressure to utilize living marine resources of

nearshore subtidal rocky reef areas. Much of the increase has resulted from a shift

toward nearshore reef fisheries due, initially, to the dramatic decrease in traditional

salmon harvest, and now to a reduction of traditional groundfish fishing opportunities.

At the same time the live-fish fishery and the sport bottom-fish fishery focus effort in this rocky reef habitat, and the effect these fisheries have on fish populations within this limited space has not been fully assessed.

Statewide nearshore rocky reef environments comprise an area where fishing pressure

continues to increase, stocks appear to be declining, and ODFW has little information upon which to base management decisions (ODFW, 2001, Nearshore Rocky Reef Assessment)

A suite of management tools are needed to effectively manage Oregon’s complex mixed stock marine resources. Traditional fisheries management techniques should rely on stockassessments and an understanding of behavior, physiology and life history as well as ecosystem interactions and habitat. This information is relatively sparse so management must be conducted with the best available science and absent information, in a precautionary manner. Of the nearshore species prosecuted for fisheries (or impacted by fisheries and other environmental impacts), only a few species have stock assessments that inform regulatory decisions. At present, only 8 of 43 ODFW managed species have been assessed and two of those (canary and yelloweye rockfish) are in over-fished status.

A general principle of Oregon’s Native Fish Conservation Policy is that, absent information to inform management, a precautionary management approach should be used. Setting aside no-take critical habitat types is a tool that could work in conjunction with the existing array of current precautionary fishery regulations. Of course, marine reserves alone are inadequate to unilaterally enhance stocks or to manage all aspects our fisheries. (ODFW, 2007)

Resource managers and scientists need to develop ‘reference area no-take reserves’ in order to ensure sound resource management decisions as they continue with existing fishing regulations in Oregon’s state waters.The Ocean Policy Advisory Council has defined an ecological reference area to bean area that provides a baseline to compare with non-reserve areas, specifically to evaluate changes in habitat, species abundance, and species composition due to natural changes, fishing impacts and other human effects.

The Heceta Perpetua RR would complimentexisting conservation efforts to protect depleted stocks in Federal waters at Heceta Banksby providing inshore-offshore connectivity of both highly diverse and ecologically rich regions.

Ecological benefits

There are multiple benefits associated to this conservation effort now underway in Oregon coastal environment. Protection of key habitats, natural diversity and ecosystem function, as well as improving recreation, educational and research opportunities, all of which will result from a coast-wide designation of a system of marine reserves in Oregon’s Territorial Sea.

Worldwide scientific research has clearly documented the link between the protection of key habitats through a network of marine reserve to the increase in marine biodiversity, biomass and the size and abundance of exploited species in areas adjacent to reserves. And in 2003 the American Fisheries Society, Oregon Chapter released a white paper on marine reserves which states “There is growing evidence that marine reserves canbe an effective tool for conservation of species and biodiversity, serving the samepurpose that national and state parks and wilderness areas do for some terrestrial speciesand habitat types.” The Oregon AFS chapter states that marine reserves have benefits tofisheries beyond the protected area including helping rebuild depleted rockfishes andenhancing surrounding areas, stating, “we expect spillover would be likely for many ofour West Coast species” and “we expect these reserves to contribute to the conservationand rebuilding of several rockfish species” (Oregon AFS 2003).

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And in 2003 Roberts et al stated in their paper, ‘The role of marine reserves in achieving sustainablefisheries’ “Many fishery management tools currently in use have conservation value. They are designed to maintainstocks of commercially important species above target levels. However, their limitations are evident fromcontinuing declines in fish stocks throughout the world. We make the case that to reverse fishery declines,safeguard marine life and sustain ecosystem processes, extensive marine reserves that are off limits to fishingmust become part of the management strategy. Marine reserves should be incorporated into modern fisherymanagement because they can achieve many things that conventional tools cannot. Only complete andpermanent protection from fishing can protect the most sensitive habitats and vulnerable species. Onlyreserves will allow the development of natural, extended age structures of target species, maintain theirgenetic variability and prevent deleterious evolutionary change from the effects of fishing. Species withnatural age structures will sustain higher rates of reproduction and will be more resilient to environmentalvariability. Higher stock levels maintained by reserves will provide insurance against management failure,including risk-prone quota setting, provided the broader conservation role of reserves is firmly establishedand legislatively protected. Fishery management measures outside protected areas are necessary tocomplement the protection offered by marine reserves, but cannot substitute for it.”

2002. Report submitted to the OregonOcean Policy Advisory Council and the California Fish and Game Commission.

FISHERY EFFECTS OF EXISTING WESTCOAST MARINE RESERVES:

THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

compiled by Dr. Mark Hixon, Department of Zoology, OregonStateUniversity

(541-737-5364, )

In a 2002 Report submitted to OPAC and California Fish and Game Commission by Dr. Mark Hixon on Fishery Effects of Existing West Coast Marine Reserves: The Scientific Evidence states, “The predicted fishery benefits of fully-protected reserves are twofold: (1) the "seedingeffect," whereby reserves function as a source of eggs and larvae that replenish fish andshellfish populations outside reserves via dispersal in ocean currents, and (2) the "spillovereffect," whereby reserves function as a source of juvenile and adult emigrants that literallyswim or crawl out of reserves into adjacent fished areas. The seeding effect occurs only ifthe number and especially the size of organisms inside reserves is substantially greater thanoutside, so that abundant eggs and larvae produced inside reserves can effectively seed alarge area outside. The spillover effect occurs if (a) the number of mobile animals insidereserves becomes great enough that crowding occurs and a substantial number of animalsconsequently emigrates to adjacent fished areas or (b) the life history of mobile animals issuch that they gradually move from habitat to habitat as they grow, so that the early stagesof the life history can be protected within reserves, and the animals later move into fishedareas.

Overall, for a wide variety of fished species along the U.S. West Coast, available dataindicate that the existing few and small marine reserves are effective in supportingsubstantially more abundant, larger, and more fecund animals (i.e., more eggs) thancomparable fished areas outside. Moreover, many groundfish move sufficientlyduring their lifetimes to allow for spillover to occur from reserves of substantial size.These results are consistent with the prediction that a scaled-up network of numerouslarger reserves would produce detectable fishery benefits via both the spillover andseeding effects.”

The unique ecological benefit related to the Heceta Head/Cape Perpetua Marine Reference Reserve is it’s connectivity to both the Heceta Banks located on the continental shelf west of the proposed nearshore marine reserve as well as being adjacent to the relative pristine uplands which includes both Cummins and Rock Creek Wildernesses. This area is in fact one of the best opportunities to create land-sea conservation strategy that links ecological hotspots in Oregon’s coastal environment.

At CapePerpetua, a reef complex consisting of over 60 small disjunct rocky patches

scattered among a sand and gravel seafloor has been the site of multiple year research by ODFW and as such we have significant base of knowledge of species in this nearshore area. They have found a relationships between habitat patch size and rockfish species composition and abundance (Fox, et al. 2000).A high diversity of nearshore rockfish species use the diversehabitat features at Cape Perpetua Reef complex. For example, ODFW reef surveys in2000 and 2001 documented overfished yelloweye rockfish, depleted canary rockfish, plus

black rockfish, blue rockfish, brown rockfish, china rockfish, quillback rockfish, copper

rockfish, plus others including kelp greenling, surf perch, cabezon, wool eels and others

(ODFW 2001).

As a result of personal communication with the fishing community an area known to be a squid spawning area has been identified in this area and would be protected as a result of a marine reserve designation. It was also acknowledged that the disjunct rocky patches change with sand transport within this littoral cell, and that the 25 fathom curve creates a unique dynamic feature that can be very productive.

Heceta Bank, a 50 km long shoal on the shelf of central Oregon is the largest rocky reef of the Pacific Northwest. The unique morphology of this rugged area with rocky pinnacles and deep valleys provides specialized habitat for many species of rockfishes, groundfish and invertebrates. Because of the rugged bottom topography the shallow portions of the offshore bank it is relatively pristine and an important reference area where species compositions, age structure and ecological interactions among species are still intact. Many scientific studies have already been conducted on Heceta Bank, mainly with submersibles, and have revealed an extremely diverse and rich area (Pearcy et al. 1989, See citation Appendix 1). Large rockfishes abound as well as juveniles. It is obviously a nursery area. Offshore Heceta Bank was considered by NOAA as a candidate the National Marine Sanctuary Program in the past. Offshore Heceta Banks as been identified as a Rockfish Conservation Area: Essential Fish Habitat Conservation Area by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC 2003) and approximately 160 sq miles is closed to all bottom trawling in order to protect the by-catch of depleted species such as canary and Yelloweye rockfish.

Milton Love et al in 1990 states that current knowledge of substrate-associated juvenile Sebastes in general, recruit to shallower depths than those occupied by conspecific adults. Habitat use by newly recruited rockfish differs markedly among species. There is little known on recruitment of deeper dwellers. 2 This ocean-scape linkage from the Heceta Banks to the proposed no-take reference marine reserve nearshore waters would enable ODFW to establish long-term research areas in both the nearshore and the off-shore Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA). This effort would also build on past OSU/ODFW/NOAA research efforts in Heceta Stonewall area.

When one is considering ecological benefits and habitat features it is essential that oceanographic features be included; ie upwelling areas, retentions zones; as well as disjunct rocky areas, sandy bottom/soft ocean and the intertidal zone. This oceanscape has on-going research in the intertidal, nearshore as well as oceanographic research in the offshore Heceta Banks area.

Research efforts by a variety of entities have documented the richness of the area. In the intertidal zone at StrawberryHillState Park by the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies Coastal Oceans (PISCO), nearshore habitat and species relationships by ODFW and oceanographic features by OregonStateUniversity, other universities and NOAA. In regards to ocean productivity, upwelling areas and retention zones we would like to draw attention to just a few of the many research papers that document the special features of the nearshore/offshore relationship;.

1)“A productive fishery is associated with Heceta Bank [Pearcy et al., 1989] and cold, chlorophyll- rich upwelled water has been observed well seaward of the continental shelf break south of the bank [Barth et al., 2005].”

“The separation of the equatorward coastal upwelling jet from the coast as it follows the widening midshelf isobaths defining the Heceta Bank complex off central Oregon is the key to the coastal ocean response in this region.”

“Flow-topography interaction as described above leads to elevated primary production over Heceta Bank…. Elevated primary production fuels the coastal ecosystem as reflected by elevated levels of zooplankton [Lamb and Peterson, 2005] and fish, birds and whales [Batchelder et al., 2002]. High production is also consistent with the highly successful fisheries in the Heceta Bank region [Pearcy et al., 1989]. Lastly, mussel recruitment rates and phytoplankton concentration observed in the rocky intertidal are consistently higher inshore of the bank (CapePerpetua, 44.25 N) than north of Heceta Bank (CapeFoulweather, 44.88 N) [Menge et al., 2002].”

“the flow-topography interaction results in a profound effect on the coastal ecosystem associated with Heceta Bank. High phytoplankton concentrations in the lee region inshore of the deflected coastal upwelling jet fuel a productive oceanic food chain.”

a)An excellent article by Barth et alreview the upwelling off Heceta Head which contributes to the increased phytoplankton biomass which in turn allows for a more productive food web ecosystem in the nearshore.

b)Source: J. A. Barth, S. D. Pierce, and R. M. Castelao, Time-dependent, wind-driven flow over a shallow midshelf submarine bank. Journal of Geophysical Research, 10, (27 October 2005).

c)Found at:

2)“The effect of bottom topography on currents on the central Oregon shelf could be the single most important factor in zooplankton retention during upwelling…. Our most southern Cape Perpetua transect line is located on the northern portion of Heceta Bank, which is the widest portion of the Oregon shelf,….Thus during light winds or during downwelling events, there is a counterclockwise recirculation over the southern Heceta Bank. This eddy-like feature is persistent, and could possibly be a cause for the high biomass observed in this bank ecosystem.”

a)Another article explaining the importance of the features on the Heceta Bank and how that pertains to the plankton (a MAJOR food web source contributing to marine ecosystems) in that area.

b)Source: Lamb, J., and W. Peterson (2005), Ecological zonation of zooplankton in the COAST study region off central Oregon in June and August 2001 with consideration of retention mechanisms, J. Geophys. Res., 110.

The Land-Sea connection

The terrestrial landscape from CapePerpetua to the Heceta Head area encompasses two major basalt headlands and includes the two wildernesses. This landscape unit contains a forest of extraordinary ecological importance: it is the largest intact stand of coastal temperate rain forest of Sitka spruce and western hemlock in the lower 48 states. Recognized by numerous federal agencies as a priority area for protection and restoration, it is home to the federally listed marbled murrelet, silverspot butterfly and northern spotted owl, Roosevelt elk, black tailed deer, cougar, black bear, the threatened bald eagle, and other birds of prey such as the peregrine falcon. Some of the anadromous species present in these ocean tributaries include; ESA listed Coho salmon, Chinook salmon, searun cutthroat, Pacific Lamprey,eulachon, and steelhead trout.

Cummins Creek Wilderness Area (9,300 acres) and the Rock Creek Wilderness Area (7,400 acres), which together with Ten Mile Creek form the Cummins Creek/Ten Mile Landscape Unit—a distinct area of coastal basins in Oregon’s mid-coastal region. The Ten Mile Creek Basin provides the critical link between these two Wilderness areas, offering a continuous intact forest canopy across five watershed basins. Over the past 18 years a partnership with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW, Research), National Audubon Society, the USFS and local landowners has formed to work on terrestrial and aquatic conservation efforts. (See Attachment 2 - summary of accomplishments of the terrestrial protection and restoration strategy, USFS, 2003) This linkage from a relatively pristine forested landscape to an offshore ocean environment, Cape Perpetua Reef complex and Heceta Banks, creates a unique ‘land – sea’ connection that is linked from the uplands to the continental shelf.