Outer Coast of Washington and Oregon 2014 ESI Human-Use Resource Management Data

A 2014 dataset from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration characterizes the marine and coastal environments of the outer coasts of Washington and Oregon by their sensitivity to spilled oil. It contains vector polygons and points depicting human-use resources such as commercial fishing boundaries, critical habitats, aquaculture sites, and water intakes. The data is part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework, which includes shoreline habitats, sensitive biological resources, and human-use components.

Use Cases

• Modeling potential oil spill impacts on commercial and recreational fishing areas based on the described fishery boundaries.
• Planning coastal zone management and conservation efforts based on the critical habitat and scenic river polygons.
• Assessing human infrastructure vulnerability to spills based on the locations of aquaculture sites and water intakes.
• Integrating human-use data with biological sensitivity maps for comprehensive environmental risk assessment.

Strengths

• Data is part of the standardized Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) framework for oil spill response.
• Covers multiple human-use resource categories including fishing, habitats, aquaculture, and water intakes.
• Geographic coverage is explicitly defined for the outer coasts of Washington and Oregon.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from 2014; freshness should be verified for current applications.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Likely compiled from field surveys, regulatory maps, and administrative records for the ESI.

Time Range

2014

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:27:59.538753; freshness should be verified

Geography

Outer coast of Washington and Oregon, USA.