Dataset associated with study of estuarine tide channel utilization by fish.

The database Estuarine Habitat Project contains tables holding information on fyke net and trawl sampling done in the Yaquina, Oregon estuary during 2008 to 2011

Impact/Purpose

The availability of fish in estuarine waters is an ecosystem service that ranks very high in the public conscious, and the abundance and diversity of fish are considered useful indicators of estuarine ecosystem health (Whitfield and Elliott 2002).  The specification that a water body be “fishable” is considered a desirable designated use for water bodies, and numerous sections of the Clean Water Act specify that water bodies sustain healthy populations of fish, shellfish, and wildlife.  Additionally, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act was amended in 1996 to require the identification and preservation of “Essential Fish Habitat” (EFH).  EFH is defined in the Magnuson-Stevens Act to be those waters and substrate necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity.  With respect to a particular species of fish, the Act specifies four levels of information, ranked in order of increasing level of desirability, that are to be used when evaluating habitat support for fish.  These are:             Level 1: Distribution (presence/absence) for the geographic range of the species;             Level 2: Habitat related densities             Level 3: Growth, reproduction, or survival rates within habitats             Level 4: Production rates by habitat. The Magnuson-Stevens Act additionally directs that consideration of essential fish habitat be done in the context of the species’ life history stage, i.e. the particular and possibly unique requirements of fish eggs, larvae, juveniles, and adults.              The research outlined here initially focuses on Level 2 (habitat related densities of fish), initially by evaluating fish community and population densities in one estuarine system.  As research progresses to across estuary considerations (see Figure 3.1), information at Level 1 will be accumulated concurrently with Level 2 data.  Research at Level 3, addressing processes more at the individual fish level by characterizing habitat related growth, reproduction, and survival, will be opportunistically addressed as resources and time permit.

Citation

Power, Jim. Dataset associated with study of estuarine tide channel utilization by fish. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 2025. [DOI: 10.23719/1532334]

DOI: Dataset associated with study of estuarine tide channel utilization by fish.