OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING

A data and community-driven approach to communicating the objectives of the Oregon Marine Reserves to members of the Depoe Bay fishing community.

This outreach is based on a secondary analysis of data collected to identify perceived social and economic impacts of the Oregon Marine Reserves on fishing communities. The secondary analysis identified fishermen’s confusion and misperceptions of the marine reserves’ legislatively mandated objectives.

This outreach project was created to settle the confusion and correct misperceptions. The project includes both a verbal (conversation with individual fishermen) and visual (leave-behind brochure) communication product. These distribution channels were selected to meet fishermen’s self-reported preferences for receiving messages about the marine reserves. The messaging within these products used an evidence-based structure for debunking myths to directly addresses the confusion and misperceptions fishermen reported during their preliminary interviews.