Osprey
score a win
Shaving dunes
down to size
SPORTS • 4A
NORTH COAST • 3A
143rd YEAR, No. 87
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015
ONE DOLLAR
DA fights
probation
release
process
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
FISH TAKE A DIP
Astoria drops below Newport in commercial catch
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
A
storia slipped below Newport
last year as the dominant West
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ing.
Newport landed 124 million
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highest mark by quantity in the na-
tion, while Astoria netted 122 mil-
lion pounds, the 12th highest.
Westport, Washington, came in at
100 million pounds, or 13th highest.
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today by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, which
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that includes the quantity and value
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Astoria had been the top West
Coast port by quantity — and the
10th highest in the nation — since it
overtook Los Angeles in 2012.
“I think it touches every corner
of Clatsop County,” said Jim Knight,
the executive director of the Port of
Astoria. “Every part of our commu-
nity is tremendously impacted be-
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The commercial catch in Asto-
ria last year also declined in value.
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worth $43 million, compared to $50
million in 2013.
The value of the commercial
catch in Astoria was the 29th highest
LQWKHQDWLRQDFFRUGLQJWRWKH¿VKHU-
ies report, down from the 21st high-
est in 2013.
Newport also experienced a de-
cline in value last year. The commer-
cial catch was worth $53 million —
23rd highest in the nation — down
from $55 million in 2013, or 19th
highest.
Westport had a higher value catch
— $64 million, 15th highest in the
nation — than Newport and Astoria,
and was off only slightly from a $65
million haul in 2013.
Ilwaco-Chinook, Washington,
The Clatsop County District
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state law that allows those on felo-
ny probation to be released early for
complying with terms of their super-
vision.
The earned discharge process,
created by the
state Legisla-
ture in 2013,
is meant to re-
ward
people,
often drug court
graduates, who
have paid their
restitution and
completed treat-
ment programs.
Josh Marquis
People have to
serve at least half of their sentence
before becoming eligible.
However, Clatsop County Dis-
trict Attorney Josh Marquis said the
ODZDFWXDOO\JLYHVSUREDWLRQRI¿FHUV
more authority over sentences than
judges or prosecutors.
Besides the question of authority,
See CHALLENGE, Page 10A
WAVE
POWER
Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
ABOVE: The fishing vessel, The Ocean Beaut, floats up the Columbia River in September. TOP: Crews
unload a fishing boat at Bornstein Seafood Wednesday.
Columbia River, according to Hobe
Kytr, the administrator of Salmon
For All, continue to be concerned
The commercial fishing catch in Astoria declined by quantity last year
about the policies put in place by
and slipped below Newport as the dominant West Coast port. The catch
former Gov. John Kitzhaber to phase
also declined in value.
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• 2014
Newport: 124 million pounds/$53 million value
bird and sea lion predation and com-
Astoria: 122 million pounds/$43 million value
SHWLWLRQIURPVSRUW¿VKHUPHQ
• 2013
The nation’s top commercial
Astoria: 159 million pounds/$50 million
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Newport: 127 million/$55 million
several years has been Dutch Harbor,
• 2012
Alaska. Last year, according to the
Astoria: 170 million pounds/$39 million
¿VKHULHVUHSRUW'XWFK+DUERUODQG-
Newport: 80 million pounds/$37 million
ed 762 million pounds of commer-
• 2011
Astoria: 144 million pounds/$44 million
FLDO¿VK
Newport: 79 million pounds/$44 million
The highest value has come from
• 2010
New Bedford, Massachusetts. Last
Astoria: 101 million pounds/$31 million
year, the commercial catch in New
Newport: 57 million pounds/$31 million
Bedford was worth $329 million.
Source: NOAA Fisheries
The NOAA Fisheries report
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FDXJKWELOOLRQSRXQGVRI¿VKLQ
had 27 million pounds in commer- from $30 million.
:KLOH WKH FDWFK ¿JXUHV IRU $V- the United States last year valued at
FLDO¿VKODQGLQJVODVW\HDURIIIURP
37 million pounds in 2013. The value toria are weighted toward offshore $5.4 billion, down from 9.9 billion
of the catch was $25 million, down ¿VKHULHV JLOOQHW ¿VKHUPHQ RQ WKH valued at $5.5 billion in 2013.
COMMERCIAL CATCH
Company hopes to
harness the motion
of the ocean at
Camp Rilea
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — A wave-ener-
gy company from Boston, hopes to
harness the waves off the coast of
Camp Rilea for electricity and desal-
inized water.
The Oregon Wave Energy Trust,
D QRQSUR¿W SURPRWLQJ ZDYH HQHUJ\
hosted Bill Staby, the co-founder and
CEO of Resolute Marine Energy, at
Warrenton’s El Compadre restaurant
Wednesday to explain the test his com-
pany hopes to launch in summer 2017.
The presentation pulled in a
URRPIXO RI ¿VKHUPHQ HYHU FRQ-
cerned about losing access to the
valuable crabbing grounds off the
coast of Camp Rilea Armed Forces
Training Center and equipment be-
ing tied up with wave-energy tech-
nology.
See POWER, Page 10A
2USKDQHGFXE¿QGVPHUF\DQGDSSOHVOLFHV
Cute but still
wild, little bear
will be reared
in hope of
eventual release
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
BEAR RIVER, Wash. —
7KH +D]HQ IDPLO\ ¿UVW QR-
ticed the unexpected visitor
wandering along their quiet
country road Oct. 17.
The next day, the tiny black
cub was back again, peek-
ing into Erica and Bruce Ha-
zen’s kitchen through a glass
door that — appropriately —
looked out on the Bear River.
That evening, Bruce’s
father, Warren Hazen, who
lives just up the hill, watched
as the cub stood alone in the
rain, looking for a way into
the warmth of his son’s home.
The youngest member of the
family, 2-year-old Huxley,
asked his parents to let the
bear come inside.
To Warren Hazen, the cub
seemed lonely and hungry.
“He looked like he was
looking for company,” Ha-
zen explained, as he poked
red apple slices in through the
holes in a big, barrel-shaped
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an adorable, slightly under-
fed furball kept one wary eye
trained on the humans as he
gobbled up his snack.
After the mama failed to
appear for two nights, it be-
came clear the cub was proba-
bly an orphan.
“Something happened to
his mother,” Warren Hazen
said. “She could have been hit
out on the highway. She could
have been shot by a hunter.”
Though it’s illegal to shoot
female bears, it does happen
from time to time, Hazen said,
and the appearance of the cub
coincided with the opening of
bear season.
See CUB, Page 10A
Natalie St. John/EO Media Group
This young cub, who was found wandering near the Bear
River, is probably an orphan, but Fish and Wildlife staff let
him spend a night in the trap, to give his mother one last
chance to find him. He has been taken to a wildlife reha-
bilitation facility.