Dr. Edmundo Casillas
Program Leader
Program Staff Directory
Projects/Teams
Climate Change and
Ocean Productivity
Ecosystem Indicators of Salmonid Ocean Survival
Estuarine Ecology
Dan Bottom
Ocean Ecology
Ric Brodeur
Research Publications
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Preparing to deploy a surface trawl aboard the FV Ocean Harvester in the Columbia River plume.
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The Estuarine and Ocean Ecology (EOE) Program researches links between natural fluctuations in climate and estuarine and oceanic processes that affect distribution, abundance, growth, and survival of anadromous and marine fishes in Pacific Northwest coastal estuaries and marine waters. The abundance of many coastal fishes is related to variations in climate conditions, but this relationship is poorly understood. By focusing on ecosystem studies, researchers are able to examine the causal connections among components of the ecosystem (habitat characteristics, climate-driven estuary and ocean conditions, plankton production, and fish community structure). Through these studies, researchers expect to gain better understanding of the control of coastal resource production, make better predictions of resource status, and better assess the effects of human management on these systems.
The EOE Program is focused primarily in two areas.
- Understanding the nearshore ocean ecology of Pacific salmon. Researchers are evaluating the role of the Columbia River plume as an important transition habitat for juvenile salmon and the impact of the California Current on abundance, distribution, growth, and survival of juvenile salmon in coastal waters of southern Oregon and northern California.
- Studying the estuarine ecology of juvenile salmon. This project area evaluates habitat links in the Columbia River and Puget Sound estuarine ecosystem and ascertains the benefits of habitat restoration to salmon recovery in the Salmon River estuary along the central Oregon coast.
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