OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager
OUR VIEW
Pay attention
to safeguard
fishing fairness
ODFW Commission considering
worthwhile changes in gillnet ban
T
his year’s mandated end of salmon gillnetting in the
mainstem of the Columbia River raises many compelling
issues the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission will dis-
cuss at its Wednesday meeting. The fact the meeting is in Salem
rather than Astoria says a lot about the commission’s inclinations
regarding truly substantive changes.
Although there are still reasons to scrap the whole plan, a lim-
ited extension of some gillnetting into 2017 is the more likely
decision.
The Washington commission considered the issue last week
but didn’t take up the possibility of asking for statutory reforms.
In a comprehensive report published Nov. 4, Columbia Basin
Bulletin notes the failure to keep some promises made to com-
mercial fishermen in 2013 when former Gov. John Kitzhaber
abruptly ordered an end to gillnetting in the main river. Despite
the failure of alternative methods and off-channel areas to meet
expectations, there is some indication that gillnetters are feel-
ing beaten: Leading up to this week’s meeting, the commis-
sion received only two letters from commercial fishermen sup-
porting a partial extension of gillnetting between St. Helens and
Bonneville next year. More than 100 letters were received from
sportsfishermen and others who oppose the change.
Even if gillnetters are convinced the states will not backtrack
on the ban, it remains important to maintain this proud tradi-
tion in some form. Continuing activism is the best way for gill-
netters — and consumers who depend on them for local salmon
— to ensure some measure of rationality and fairness in salmon
allocations.
It remains crucial to note that residents and businesses in the
Lower Columbia River counties also strongly value sportsfish-
ing. There is no doubt that salmon enthusiasts pump millions
into our economy.
But the three-year transition period during which recreational
fishing has been alloted more salmon did not generate an increase
in sportsfishing trips. Not only was there no gain in anglers tak-
ing advantage of more summer Chinook, “the level of angler
effort has not been able to fully exploit catch allocations of more
than 50 percent with the recent larger than average run sizes,” the
Bulletin reports. This may change in future years when run sizes
are smaller, but for now, sportsfishermen aren’t taking advantage
of the fish they demanded at the expense of gillnetters.
Relatively good salmon runs returning to select area fisher-
ies like the one in Youngs Bay helped gillnetters during the tran-
sition period, but overall there was an average loss in total com-
mercial ex-vessel value of $631,200 during the three years.
Efforts to develop alternative commercial harvest methods
that allow fishermen to separate hatchery and naturally spawning
salmon, without harming the latter, have so far failed to live up
to hopes. For example, purse seines kill 21 percent of released
Chinook and beach seines kill 33 percent — a worse result than
professionally operated gillnets.
Besides extending some mainstem gillnetting another
year, Fish and Wildlife is recommending a variety of changes
to acknowledge the facts and aid commercial fishermen in
the continuing transition. Though not everything gillnetters
would wish, the commissions of both states should adopt these
recommendations.
One bit of good news: Fish and Wildlife wants more harvest
of hatchery Chinook in the lower river, in order to avoid having
them compete with natural fish runs in tributaries. This will gen-
erate a larger allocation of hatchery fall tule Chinook and coho
from ports like Warrenton, Astoria and Ilwaco, Wash.
See www.cbbulletin.com/437921.aspx for more on the pro-
posals being considered in Salem this week.
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SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
Hillary Clinton, James Comey,
Martha Stewart and untruths
B
efore there was Hillary, Huma
and Anthony Weiner, there
was Martha Stewart.
A little more than a decade ago, I
was editing a weekly newspaper in
an East Coast town not unlike Can-
non Beach. One of its illustrious res-
idents was Martha Stewart. In sum-
mer 2003, at the height of her fame
and fortune, the most beloved home-
maker of our time was arrested and
subsequently convicted by a jury in
federal court of stock fraud.
After her release in March 2004
from federal
prison, the media
descended, camp-
ing out in front of
the 152-acre for-
mer egg farm she
bought a couple
years earlier from a nice old lady
named Mrs. Sharp. Martha obliged
CNN and NBC with friendly waves,
one chilly morning going as far as
to hand out cups of hot chocolate to
the freezing reporters in perfect host-
ess style.
The TV spotlight, the jail term,
the reporters’ stakeouts after Stew-
art’s house arrest — would have
probably never happened if it hadn’t
been for James Comey.
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Martha Stewart under house arrest at her Bedford, New York, home
in 2005.
Prosecutor
Comey was a U.S. prosecutor in
White Plains, New York, in 2004
when I interviewed him about the
Stewart prosecution.
According to the federal com-
plaint, Stewart avoided a loss of
$45,673 by selling all 3,928 shares
of her ImClone Systems stock on
Dec. 27, 2001, after receiving mate-
rial, nonpublic information from
Peter Bacanovic, Stewart’s broker
at Merrill Lynch. The day follow-
ing her sale, the stock value fell 16
percent.
Stewart was found guilty of fel-
ony charges of conspiracy, obstruc-
tion of an agency proceeding and
making false statements to federal
investigators. It was those false state-
ments that led to the attorney gen-
eral’s involvement. “The nuances
in Stewart’s case ultimately drove
the government to back down from
charging her with insider trad-
ing,” wrote the Columbia Journal-
ism School’s “Covering Business.”
Instead, the prosecution focused its
case on the lies she told to cover the
trade.
Stewart was sentenced in July
2004 to serve a five-month term
in a federal correctional facility in
Alderson, West Virginia, followed
by a two-year period of super-
vised release, including five months
of electronic monitoring that was
extended three weeks after Stewart
violated terms of her release.
Her many fans asked: Would a
man have gone to jail for the same
crimes?
They rallied to her support.
She was a victim, they said, not a
criminal.
James Comey
About lying
In a wide-ranging conversation
in 2003 in his office at the Federal
Building and Courthouse in White
Plains, Comey agreed to discuss
aspects of the case.
The prosecution wasn’t popular,
“but Comey pursued it steadfastly,” I
wrote at the time.
“This criminal case is about lying
— lying to the FBI, lying to the SEC
and investors,” Comey told me.
“That is conduct that will not be tol-
erated. Martha Stewart is being pros-
ecuted not because of who she is, but
what she did.”
Comey is a complicated and
thoughtful man. In that same con-
versation we talked about ramifica-
tions of the Patriot Act and whether
aspects represented federal over-
reach. He was clearly uncomfortable
with the policy established by John
Ashcroft and others within the Bush
administration. It made me real-
ize why a face-to-face interview is
incomparably better than a long-dis-
tance one.
When in 2004, after Attorney
General John Ashcroft’s hospitaliza-
tion (“so sick he transferred the reins
of power to Mr. Comey,” wrote the
Washington Post), Comey was asked
to “certify” controversial elements
of the National Security Agency’s
domestic surveillance program, he
refused. In 2005, Comey resigned
from the Justice Department and
entered the private sector. He has not
elaborated on his reasons for depart-
ing, but U.S. Senate hearings in 2006
revealed the intensity of the pressure
he faced under then Attorney Gen-
eral Alberto Gonzales.
I felt I could understand that
stance more clearly by knowing of
his doubts beforehand.
I ran into Comey one time after
our meeting in White Plains, stand-
ing in a line for a soft-serve cone at
King Cone in Somers, New York.
In September 2013 he was sworn
in as the seventh director of the FBI,
a rare appointee of both the Bush
and Obama administrations.
As he did in the prosecution of
Martha Stewart, Comey opened an
investigation of Hillary Clinton not
for any deed or misdeeds associ-
ated with the emails, but for lying to
investigators.
Will his insistence on following
his own path change the course of
American history?
While the successful prosecution
of Martha Stewart put the design
diva behind bars, it was only Mar-
tha Stewart — and her stockholders
and fans — who suffered from her
crimes.
In an election process that has
badly veered out of bounds, his
choices assume great consequence.
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori-
an’s South County reporter and edi-
tor of the Seaside Signal and Cannon
Beach Gazette.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Support Opry
his Wednesday, we’re hop-
ing for a supportive crowd to
come to the Lovell Room at 14th
and Duane streets to eat Fort George
pizza and help keep the Astor Street
Opry Company afloat.
Since 1985, “Shanghaied In
Astoria” has entertained us. ASOC
is real community theater, where
250 volunteers work to hone acting
skills, perform in seven productions
T
throughout the year and support an
incredible teen theater club.
Teamwork, learning, cooper-
ation, and all the creative human
powers blossom in theater. This
group functions on less than a shoe-
string of finances. They need your
support.
The silent and oral auction on
Wednesday is made possible by the
donations of over 100 businesses
and individuals. They understand
the value of theater. Please attend
to help ASOC. It’s a fun evening
with great items to auction.
This night honors Judith Niland
for her many years of guidance
at the theater. The doors open at
5:30 p.m. for food and a silent auc-
tion. The oral auction begins at 6:30
p.m. A $25 ticket get you dinner and
drink and a bidding number.
SARA MEYER
Astoria