Data Management Plan

This data set contains sensitive biological resource data for marine, estuarine, anadromous, diadromous, and freshwater fish species for the Outer Coast of Washington and Oregon. Vector polygons in this data set represent fish distributions, concentrations areas, spawning areas, and migratory corridors. Vector lines in this data set represent fish distributions and anadromous rearing and spawning areas. Species specific abundance, seasonality, status, life history, and source information are stored in relational data tables (described below) designed to be used in conjunction with this spatial data layer. This data set comprises a portion of the ESI data for Outer Coast of Washington and Oregon. ESI data characterize the marine and coastal environments and wildlife by their sensitivity to spilled oil. The ESI data include information for three main components: shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use resources.

This reflects the extent of all land and water features included in the overall Outer Coast of Washington and Oregon ESI study region. The bounding box for this particular feature class may vary depending on occurrences identified and mapped.

Lineage Statement:
Data for fish distributions was obtained from a variety of sources including knowledge of resource experts from NOAA, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and Washington Treaty Tribes; hardcopy maps; scientific reports; and digital data from ODFW, WDFW, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and USFWS.

Process Steps:

• 2015-10-01 00:00:00 - Fish distributions in Oregon estuaries were acquired primarily from three sources: expert knowledge, NOAA's Distribution and Abundance of Fishes and Invertebrates in West Coast Estuaries Volume 1: Data Summaries, and various fish inventory reports provided by ODFW staff. Salmonid species mapped to estuaries were translated to polygonal features from the Fish Distribution lines provided by ODFW. Estuarine species in Washington were mapped primarily from NOAA's Distribution and Abundance of Fishes and Invertebrates in West Coast Estuaries Volume 1: Data Summaries, as well as expert knowledge of WDFW staff and Fish Distribution lines from WDFW's Priority Habitats and Species (PHS) database. Green sturgeon were mapped independently from other species, and distributions were based off ODFW and WDFW reports and sampling data, as well as critical habitat, and expert knowledge from NOAA, WDFW, and ODFW. Spawning grounds for green sturgeon do not exist within the ESI's area of interest; however the Rogue River estuary remains an important nursery for young of year green sturgeon from the northern distinct population segment. Additionally, the Columbia River estuary is critical habitat for white sturgeon adults and subadults, green sturgeon adults and sub-adults especially during the summer and fall, and supports the largest spawning run of eulachon within Oregon and Washington. Eulachon distributions were mapped independently based off expert knowledge from ODFW, WDFW, and Tribal biologists as well as the Critical Habitat Final Biological Report, the Status Review of Eulachon in WA, OR, and CA, and NOAA's Distribution and Abundance of Fishes and Invertebrates in West Coast Estuaries Volume 1: Data Summaries.
• 2015-10-01 00:00:00 - Nearshore marine distributions of fishes, at depths of less than 50m, were mapped based on seafloor habitat. Rocky and sandy habitats were identified using the draft seafloor mapping product, Survey of Benthic Communities near Potential Renewable Energy Sites Offshore the Pacific Northwest, from Oregon State University. Two habitats were identified; rocky habitat consisted of the following surficial classes grouped together: "rock", "hard", "boulder", and "rock mix", sandy habitat consisted of all other surficial classes grouped together including "cobble" and "cobble mix" in addition to the softer substrates. Species were then mapped to one or both of the habitats based on life history information from Certainly More Than You Want To Know About Fishes of the Pacific Coast (CMTYWKAFPC), and expert knowledge of fishes and habitat preferences from ODFW, WDFW, NOAA, and Tribal biologists. Marine salmonid distributions were mapped based off published literature, including NOAA technical reports, critical habitat biological reviews, and journal articles. Additional review of salmonid distributions and timing was provided by Laurie Weitkamp at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Newport, OR office.
• 2015-10-01 00:00:00 - Groundfish distributions within waters deeper than 50 m were mapped based off the habitat suitability probability models developed by NMFS for the 2005 Essential Fish Habitat Groundfish review. Presence/absence thresholds were set at 0.200 for all species, and species were grouped spatially by habitat preference to create groundfish distributions. Two groups were created and much like the nearshore groups, the first group had species that show fidelity to hard substrates and the other group was comprised of primarily soft bottom species. Distributions of most pelagic species, aside from salmonids, were mapped based on scientific articles, Milton Love's CMTYWKAFPC, and expert knowledge from NOAA, ODWF, WDFW, and Tribal biologists. Pacific herring spawning areas in Yaquina Bay, OR were compiled from ODFW survey data spanning multiple years. Polygonal areas represent all known spawning habitat in Yaquina Bay as identified across all survey years. Spawning grounds for pacific herring in Washington were included as-is from WDFW's PHS database. Surf smelt spawning areas in Washington were mapped by creating 50 m on/off buffers to match areas where survey data indicated spawning in the PHS database. Additional spawning areas were identified by Hoh and Quinault biologists within Treaty Tribe reservation boundaries.
• 2015-10-01 00:00:00 - Process step to develop the FISHL (Fish Lines) feature class: Data sources include the Oregon Fish Habitat Distribution database from ODFW; expert knowledge from ODFW, WDFW, USFWS, NOAA, and Tribal biologists; the Statewide Washington Integrated Fish Distribution Database as part of WDFWs Priority Habitats and Species Database; Washington Pacific Lamprey Distribution Lines from USFWS, Salmonid Timing tables from WDFW and ODFW, and NOAA Fisheries reports. ODFW Fish Distribution data was used for the majority of FISHL in Oregon. Data was only included for current distributions of salmonids, and records marked as concurrence of professional opinion or observed fish, documented or otherwise. Data lines were flattened, such that if lines for five species overlapped, they were merged to a single common line that was then attributed with the five species and their recorded life history stage. The flattening of distribution lines created many extremely short but distinct combinations of species and/or life stages. In cases where these lines were less than 50 m in length, they were merged with adjoining lines and conflicts in life history stage were resolved using by using the most sensitive life stage denoted in the two distribution lines: spawning "is greater than" rearing "is greater than" migrating. The same process was used for Washington Fish Distribution data. The only difference being the records that were kept for inclusion. Only those records marked as "documented" or "presumed" were included in the ESI. In many case fish distributions from both ODFW and WDFW data sets were used to populate polygonal layers for the FISH element. Eulachon distributions were mapped to the FISHL layer using reports of spawning runs from NOAA technical reports and expert knowledge. Some runs were also included from Tribal biologists expert knowledge, specifically the Quinault and Hoh tribes. Pacific lamprey and western brook lamprey distributions were mapped to existing lines based on fish distributions from ODFW, USFWS, and expert knowledge of ODFW, USFWS, WDFW, and Tribal biologists. Resident freshwater salmonids and other species were also mapped based on distributions from the Statewide Washington Integrated Fish Distribution database, including bull trout, rainbow trout, dolly varden, largemouth bass, and kokanee. The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the FISHL data layer.
• 2015-10-01 00:00:00 - The above digital and/or hardcopy sources were compiled by the project biologist to create the FISH and FISHL data layers. Depending on the type of source data, three general approaches are used for compiling each data layer: 1) information gathered during initial interviews and from hardcopy sources are compiled onto U.S. Geological Survey 1:24,000 topographic quadrangles and digitized; 2) hardcopy maps are digitized at their source scale; 3) digital data layers are evaluated and used "as is" or integrated with the hardcopy data sources. See the Lineage section for additional information on the type of source data for this data layer. The ESI, biology, and human-use data are compiled into the standard ESI digital data format. A second set of interviews with participating resource experts are conducted to review the compiled data. If necessary, edits to the FISH and FISHL data layers are made based on the recommendations of the resource experts, and final hardcopy maps and digital data are created.

Data can be accessed by downloading the zipped ArcGIS geodatabase from the Download URL (see Distribution Information). Questions can be directed to the ESI Program Manager (Point Of Contact).