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This study was commissioned and funded by the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES) to 1) identify the scientific and management issues constraining the advancement of the Oregon bay clam commercial industry, 2) explore scientific, management, and economic opportunities for the enhancement of the fishery, 3) outline and suggest mechanisms to develop stock and biological information, obtain funding, and manage the fishery at sustainable levels, and 4) provide a comprehensive framework for the development of a bay clam fishery management plan. Additionally, this report succeeds a recent draft of the new Oregon Nearshore Strategy (by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (ODFW) Marine Resources Program (2005)) that recommends ODFW provide greater attention to developing and achieving stock assessments for shellfish as well as develop more capable fisheries management methods – two important aspects of this bay clam fishery study.
This report provides a synthesis of political, social, and scientific information regarding the current status and future potential of the Oregon bay clam commercial fishery and addresses the following topics: regulation and management, allocation, ecology and biology, estuarine water quality, stock assessments, economics, funding, applied Geographic Information Science (GIS), examples of relevant management from other states and countries, and related issues including markets, aquaculture, non-indigenous species, and regulatory enforcement. The presentation of these issues provides a framework for developing and implementing a bay clam fishery management plan. Cost-effective and cooperative management act as guiding concepts in developing the report’s structure, analysis, and recommendations. |
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