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THE DAILY ASTORIAN MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016
Gillnetters:
‘We’ve seen a lot
of heartache in
our communities
Continued from Page 1A
Species Act, we all know that
non-selective gillnet ¿sheries
have no place in the future of
our Columbia River ¿sher-
ies,” the conservation associ-
ation said on its website.
The group argues that
sport¿shing brings more
money to river communi-
ties. Guide fees, license fees,
hotel stays and other income
circulate as recreational
anglers have greater access
to salmon in the Lower
Columbia, the organization
maintains.
The management plan was
approved by the Oregon Leg-
islature in 2013. In addition
to shunting gillnetting to side
channels, it allocates 70 per-
cent of the salmon catch to
recreational anglers this year
and 80 percent next year.
The gillnetting ban has
political backers, as well.
In a March 14 letter, state
Sens. Fred Girod and Rod
Monroe urged the ¿sh and
wildlife commission to “con-
tinue implementing this com-
mon sense plan.”
The senators praised the
economic impact of a gill-
netting ban and said more
selective ¿shing methods
“are critical to conserving
wild salmon populations
and maintaining hatchery
production.”
Salmon For All represen-
tatives respond that the com-
mercial industry has lost
part of its valuable spring
and summer Chinook har-
vest, side channels haven’t
been improved as promised
and alternative gear, such
as seines, is prohibitively
expensive. Group member
Irene Martin said the man-
agement change was based
on a policy decision that
turned out wrong.
“We’ve seen a lot of
heartache in our communi-
ties,” Martin said. “ “Pol-
icy without science is a gam-
ble. We gambled the science
would work.”
Lyra Fontaine/EO Media Group
Wildlife rehabilitator Josh Saranpaa uses a net to help bring in an injured eagle Friday in Gearhart.
Eagle: Necropsy was inconclusive
Continued from Page 1A
The rescue
Fennerty called the Wild-
life Center of the North Coast.
Josh Saranpaa, the center’s
director, headed to Gearhart.
In the intervening time,
Dudley and Fennerty screened
the injured eagle from gawkers
and dogs.
“In the space of an hour,
the eagle did seem to recover,”
Dudley said. “It started walk-
ing up toward the bank, and
then it took a few short Àights,
so we could tell that the wings
were apparently all right.”
Dudley said the eagle made
his way up to the logs at the
embankment.
“I got to about 30 feet from
him, and he was pretty passive
at that point,” Dudley said.
“He looked alert, but through
my lens I could see he had
been battered. It was apparent
the attack had disabled him, at
least temporarily.”
Saranpaa and volunteer
Lynette Scribner attempted to
net the bird in the estuary, but
the eagle Àapped and tried to
Ày away.
“When Josh followed him
into the shallows of the estu-
ary, the eagle sort of landed or
crash-landed in the shallows of
the estuary,” Dudley said.
At that point, Saranpaa was
able to net the bird and pass it
to Scribner, who sheltered the
bird in a mesh blanket.
“Once the eagle was
wrapped up, it turned passive
and allowed Josh to examine
him, and his conclusion was
the eagle was underweight,
was really battered by the
¿ght,” Dudley said.
He said he frequently sees
eagles in the estuary, and they
tend to be “very territorial.”
Continued from Page 1A
Lyra Fontaine/EO Media Group
Lynette Scribner of Seaside cradles the injured eagle Friday after rescuing it following a
fight with another eagle.
Saranpaa and Scribner took
the injured bird for treatment
at the center’s rehabilitation
facility in Astoria.
Signs of trauma
At the center, Saranpaa
gave the eagle Àuids and put
him in an enclosure with heat
to help him dry.
“I noticed right away that
he began leaning against the
wall with his head,” Saranpaa
said.
Head-pressing is a serious
symptom in all animals, a sign
of head trauma, neurological
issues or toxins.
When eagles exhibit this
symptom, wildlife rehabili-
tators think of lead poison-
ing, Saranpaa said, “which is,
unfortunately, too common.”
Blood drawn from the eagle
was sent to the Audubon Soci-
ety of Portland, where it tested
negative for lead.
Cause unknown
A necropsy performed on
the eagle by Saranpaa and
veterinarian Lisa Lewis of
Bayshore Animal Hospital in
Warrenton was inconclusive.
“All we can say is that the
eagle certainly had internal
damage and hemorrhaging from
the eagle ¿ght,” Saranpaa said.
The eagle also had signs of
some underlying illness within
his air sacs, an extension of the
avian respiratory system.
“This illness, though we don’t
know exactly what it is, certainly
could have cause(d) the bird to
lose weight, and ultimately not
fare well in a ¿ght with a much
healthier bird,” Saranpaa said.
Hygienist: ‘We really strive
for every visit to be positive’
Continued from Page 1A
“I couldn’t imagine working
anywhere else. We all get along
like sisters, in a good way,” she
said of the Gearhart Dentistry
crew. “I was very, very fortu-
nate to be working with Dr.
White within a month of grad-
uating. A full-time position
opened up right after I ¿nished
school.”
Kirkpatrick has had to keep
up with advances made in oral
care, Must over the last ¿ve years.
“The biggest thing is the
laser,” she said. “The quality of
the laser and what you can do
with lasers in dentistry.
“Hand and water instruments
are pretty much the same (and
cleaning is still done manually),
but the laser helps with disin-
fecting the tissue, getting the
bad bacteria out and stimulating
Processor: Fire
left 140 full-time
workers without jobs
healthy cell growth. It makes the
cells metabolize faster, so you
heal a lot faster.”
Teaching people at an early
age is important to Kirkpatrick,
which is why she loves working
and educating children.
In addition to presenting
her young patients with certi¿-
cates to the ‘No Cavities Club,’
she said, “Having fun names for
everything, not using any scary
names, and having positive atti-
tudes and being cheerful with
the kids is important. And let-
ting them play and touch things
really helps them know that
there’s nothing for them to be
scared of.”
That wouldn’t be a bad idea
for some of us adults, too.
“We really strive for every
visit to be positive and comfort-
able one,” she said.
— Gary Henley
“The state is just validat-
ing the important role that
¿sh processing plays,” said
Johnson, who was named the
Regional Leader of the Year
by the Columbia 3aci¿c (co-
nomic Development District
for her efforts. “These guys
are going to spend millions of
dollars, so this is a true pub-
lic-private partnership.”
State Rep. Deborah
Boone, D-Cannon Beach,
also helped secure the fund-
ing, but was not present Sat-
urday because of a family
medical emergency.
The Legislature set aside
$3 million in lottery-backed
bonds last session, adding to
the $650,000 from the gov-
ernor’s Regional Solutions
Team and $350,000 from
the state’s Strategic Reserve
Fund. The state investment
is a small part of the more
than $20 million the com-
pany estimates it will take to
rebuild the dock and process-
ing plant.
Occhipinti said getting
the economic development
package took the commit-
ment of Johnson, Boone and
local of¿cials who traveled to
Salem and testi¿ed about the
importance of 3aci¿c Sea-
food to the local economy,
and of the ¿shing industry as
a whole to Oregon.
“Days after the plant
burned down, Frank Dulcich
made a commitment that he
wanted to rebuild in Warren-
ton, and he stuck with it that
whole time,” said Warrenton
Mayor Mark Kujala about
3aci¿c Seafood’s C(O. “It
was amazing what it took to
get it put together.”
Quick recovery
Submitted Photo
Cathy Jo Kirkpatrick, with two more members of the
“No Cavities Club.”
Federal and state inves-
tigators found that a roo¿ng
contractor using a propane
torch to adhere materials had
caused the space between
two roof layers to catch ¿re
June 4, 2013, destroying the
plant and leaving as many as
140 full-time and 100 addi-
tional seasonal workers out
of a job.
Within 48 hours, the
company had re-estab-
lished the of¿ce, ice facility
and fuel dock to accommo-
date the vessels still deliver-
ing in Warrenton, with Dul-
cich vowing the plant would
return. Within two weeks,
the company was processing
whiting and sardines in a for-
mer seaplane hangar at North
Tongue Point subleased from
Del Mar Seafoods, which
leases from the Port of Asto-
ria. Paci¿c Seafood received
Clatsop (conomic Devel-
opment Resources’ (co-
nomic Development Award
two years ago for the quick
recovery.
The sublease at Tongue
Point runs through spring of
ne[t year, but Paci¿c Sea-
food has already been work-
ing on surveys, designs, per-
mitting and energy studies
for a new plant on the Ski-
panon. The old plant was
built in 1941 and acquired
in 1983 by Paci¿c Seafood,
which has more than 30 facil-
ities spread over seven states.
“What we want is state-
of-the-art, brand-new facil-
ity,” Occhipinti said, add-
ing the company thinks there
will be a similar number of
jobs as before, and hopefully
more.
If all goes well with plan-
ning, he said, Paci¿c Sea-
food could kick off con-
struction on the dock this
spring. The dock will pro-
vide part of the foundation
for the new plant.
Insurance issues
Paci¿c Seafood docu-
mented more than $32 mil-
lion in damage from the
¿re, and within a year had
received $10 million, the full
policy limit with its primary
insurer, Westport Insurance
Corp.
But the company ¿led
suit last month against its
supplemental insurance car-
rier, Alterra ([cess Sur-
plus Insurance Co., claiming
the insurer did not honor a
contract to provide up to $15
million in excess of West-
port’s policy.
“Despite extensive work
by Paci¿c to provide infor-
mation to Insurer estab-
lishing that the total loss
because of the June 4, 2013,
¿re was well in excess of
$10,000,000, Alterra has
paid nothing to Paci¿c,”
wrote lawyers for Dulcich
Inc., the plaintiff in the case.
“More than two years after
the ¿re and after Paci¿c spent
hundreds of hours and tens of
thousands of dollars at Alter-
ra’s request to determine how
much Alterra owes under its
insurance policy, Alterra
belatedly has taken the posi-
tion that Paci¿c was overpaid
by Westport, the primary
insurance company.”
In May, the suit claims, a
representative from Alterra
promised in writing more
than $1.5 million to Paci¿c
Seafood as an interim pay-
ment, but reneged on the
agreement in June, claim-
ing Paci¿c Seafood had been
overpaid by Westport. Paci¿c
Seafood seeks attorney fees
and whatever amount of
insurance coverage the court
deems fair, lawyers said.
Alterra has yet to respond to
the suit.