Scientific and Technical advice is brought to OPAC via the legislatively-mandated Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC). The authorizing legislation includes Oregon's Ocean Resources Management Law (ORS 196) and pdf House Bill 3013 (22 KB) .  This committee is chaired by the representative from Oregon Sea Grant, Karina Nielsen. The committee itself acts as a broker:  when OPAC needs scientific or technical advice on an issue, the STAC identifies appropriate experts and engages their assistance. Sea Grant’s vision of the process, which was adopted by OPAC (07.19.2010), is presented in a guidance document on the formation and functions of the STAC.  

STAC Membership: 

The governor-appointed Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) works with the public to make recommendations on issues of ocean policy ranging from ocean-based energy generation plans to developing marine reserves in the territorial sea. By statute, the Oregon Sea Grant director serves as permanent chair of the council's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) and under OPAC rules serves as a member of the Council's Executive Board. Current STAC committee members are: 

• Karina Nielsen,  Director, Oregon Sea Grant, Chair
• Jack Barth - Oregon State University, College of Earth, Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
• Veronica Dujon - Oregon Higher Education Coordination Commission
• Elise Granek - Portland State University, Environmental Science and Resources
• Selina Heppell - Oregon State University, Fisheries and Wildlife
• Jan Hodder - University of Oregon, Center for Ocean Science Education/Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
• William Jaeger - Oregon State University, Department of Applied Economics
• Gil Sylvia - Oregon State University, Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station/Department of Applied Economics
• Craig Young - University of Oregon, Oregon Institute of Marine Biology

STAC Meetings and Reports

STAC meetings are open to the public, though space in the meeting room is limited. There will not be a public comment period at the meetings. Meeting agendas and summaries are posted below (if available). 

Oregon Marine Reserves 10 year Assessment, September 30, 2022

In 2012, Oregon completed the planning and designation of five marine reserves. The implementation and management of these marine reserves is led by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and is based on guidance from Executive Order 08-07 (2008), House Bill 3013 (2009), Senate Bill 1510 (2012), and agency administrative rules.

The Goals of Oregon’s marine reserves are to:

Protect and sustain a system of fewer than ten marine reserves in Oregon’s Territorial Sea to conserve marine habitats and biodiversity; provide a framework for scientific research and effectiveness monitoring; and avoid significant adverse social and economic impacts on ocean users and coastal communities. A system is a collection of individual sites that are representative of marine habitats and that are ecologically significant when taken as a whole.

Senate Bill 1510 mandated that the ODFW Marine Reserve program complete a decadal self assessment in 2022; as such, ODFW produced the ODFW Marine Reserve Program Synthesis Report. SB 1510 further mandated that the Synthesis Report be evaluated by a team of outside experts from an Oregon public university. This is that evaluation, termed the University Assessment Report.

The Charge for this evaluation was, in brief, to

A. Assess the social, economic, and environmental factors related to the reserves.
B. Recommend administrative actions and legislative proposals related to the reserves.
C. Provide any other scientifically based information relevant or material to the reserves.

Approach

The University Assessment Report was prepared by researchers at Oregon State University, in collaboration with researchers from other universities. This team has expertise spanning the Natural Sciences (marine ecology, fisheries, oceanography) and the Social Sciences (environmental economics, psychology, and communication), with decades of combined experience in marine reserve science. The assessment followed the evaluation framework developed by the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of the Oregon Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC). The university team evaluated the Synthesis Report and all accompanying appendices and supporting materials. Subsequent legislative and administrative recommendations are based on their expert judgement and current best practices in marine reserve science. View the Marine Reserves Assessment Report

STAC Review of Oregon Marine Map Data and Information, June 20, 2012

The Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) was asked by the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) to undertake an independent scientific peer review of the data sets and information used for Oregon’s Territorial Sea Plan. STAC members and invited external experts reviewed two basic data sets – (1) the Nearshore Ecological Data Atlas (NEDA) led by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and (2) the Oregon Fishing Community Mapping Project (OFCMP) led by Ecotrust. The ultimate goal of these mapping projects is to develop an integrated map in Oregon MarineMap (oregonmarinemap.org (2020 update: this site is no longer available)) as a spatial tool for supporting planning and use of Oregon’s Territorial Sea. Per OPAC’s request, STAC focused its scientific review on key issues of these two programs; 1) assumptions, 2) data validity, 3) sampling design and methodology, 4) data gaps, 5) spatial representation, and 6) strengths and limitations. STAC limited its analyses to scientific questions and did not deal with policy issues. STAC’s review is considered a preliminary evaluation because of the limited amount of time available to conduct the review and because MarineMap continues to be updated.

pdf STAC Review Final Report (768 KB)
  

Technical Workshop on Economic Data and Analysis of Marine Reserves,  October 21-22, 2008

pdf Workshop Agenda (15 KB)
pdf Invited Workshop Participants (17 KB)
pdf Final Report (430 KB)  

Marine Reserve Size and Spacing Workshop, April 9-10, 2008