Oregon Ocean Science Trust
Our Mission
The Oregon Ocean Science Trust secures and distributes funding to promote ocean and coastal knowledge, research, and monitoring to ensure the sustainable use of Oregon's resources, enhance coastal resilience, and support long-term ocean health for all Oregonians.
House Bill 3786 was introduced to the Oregon Legislature on 26 February 2025. The bill, sponsored by Senator Anderson and Representative Gomberg, appropriates $3 million in funding to the Oregon Ocean Science Fund for the purpose of disbursing competitive grants for:
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Research to understand and address changing ocean chemistry and warmer ocean water that holds less oxygen, which threatens Oregon's; economy and ecosystems
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Sandy beach and dune ecosystem research to inform management of coastal erosion strategies; and
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Nearshore data collection to understand changing ocean conditions and its effects on species and ecosystems.
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The bill had its first reading, and has been referred to the House Committee on Agriculture, Land Use, Natural Resources, and Water. To track how the bill passes through the Oregon Legislature, visit here. To subscribe to email updates on bills of interest, sign up here.
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And to learn how you can make a difference and support this and other ocean-related bills, watch this space!
Oregonians for a Blue Economy:
HB 3786 for Vibrant Coastal Communities
Our research and funding priorities
The Trust has furthered important work to better understand the contribution of Oregon’s marine reserves, describe the effects of ocean acidification and hypoxia, and collect information about Oregon’s important nearshore resources. In late 2023, the Trust hosted a summit that convened leading thinkers in ocean and coastal policy, management, and research to determine priorities and opportunities in the coming years:
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Improve our understanding of changing ecosystem and species conditions. Characterize shifts in ecosystem structure and function, species life history, and biodiversity hotspots.
Enhance social well-being and resilience of ocean and coastal communities. Better understand the relationship between community well-being and coastal economy, including historic, current, and future ocean and coastal uses.
Operate the Trust with the highest standards of accountability, seeking long-term sustainable funding and capacity to achieve our mission. Conduct the work of the Trust in a fiscally-responsible manner, emphasizing actionable and transdisciplinary science and knowledge that informs ocean and coastal policy and management issues.
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Achieving our priorities
The Trust aims to support science and monitoring that informs policy and management for three key issues:
1. Carbon and climate impacts to ocean conditions
2. Sustainable food production and fisheries
3. Coastal and ocean development and infrastructure
Climate: Identify the most appropriate and actionable climate solutions to protect, restore, and manage nearshore habitats as well as sequester carbon, improve coastal resiliency, and enhance adaptations to coastal hazards and sea level rise.
Priorities this supports: 1, 2, 3
Energy: Build understanding of emerging ocean infrastructure and its effects on ecosystems and people.
Priorities this supports: 1, 3
Fisheries: Understanding the sustainability of populations of key species in the face of changing ocean conditions and high fishery demand.
Priorities this supports: 1, 2
Knowledge and data gaps: Identify and fill knowledge and data gaps, improve accessibility, and synthesize existing data. Explore development of new tools, such as AI. Support knowledge co-production.
Priorities this supports: 1, 2, 3
Species and habitat: Build and enhance capacity for long-term monitoring to develop indicators for resilience. Understand changes in species distribution and abundance with changing ocean conditions.
Priorities this supports: 1, 2