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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016 Changes coming to hatchery programs Five-year transition planned By KATIE FRANKOWICZ For The Daily Astorian Significant changes are coming to certain federal- ly-funded hatchery programs next year, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion staff told stakeholders at a briefing Thursday. Rob Jones, NOAA’s West Coast head of hatcheries, said the agency is proposing a vari- ety of increases and decreases in salmon production at Mitch- ell Act-funded hatcheries along the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington state. This, coupled with other proposed changes, he said, will continue work decades in the making to design the “next generation of hatchery operations.” The proposed changes in production would be phased in over an approximately five- year transition period, and will eventually affect abun- dance to commercial and sport fisheries. “I expect that what will emerge from this opinion is changes to release numbers,” Jones said in a press confer- ence later. “In some places there will be reductions. In other places, it could be the status quo or even increases.” It is likely any reduction would not be felt in fisheries until around 2026, estimated James Dixon, a fisheries biol- ogist with NOAA’s West Coast Sustainable Fisheries Division. There are 62 hatchery pro- grams that receive Mitch- ell Act funds in the Colum- bia River Basin — in Oregon, Washington state and Idaho. The Mitchell Act is a law passed by Congress in 1938 to put money toward conserv- ing and rebuilding declining salmon and steelhead runs on the Columbia River. Together these hatcheries produce more than 63 million fish annually and, over the past 10 years, received funding that has ranged from $12 million to $22 million per year, accord- ing to a Mitchell Act final envi- ronmental impact statement published in 2014. NOAA is required to review hatchery operations and their effects on threatened or endangered stock and make funding decisions for hatcheries that operate on money from the Mitchell Act. Throughout the transition period proposed Thursday, “we’ll be really tailoring each hatchery program after under- standing where each of their fish end up,” Jones said. “We’re going to be watch- ing very carefully how these actions (play out) and if some- thing doesn’t play out very close to what we expected, we’ll revisit whether that action will be adjusted.” And that, he said, could very well happen within the first five years. The proposed changes dis- cussed Thursday with stake- holders will be gathered in a biological opinion expected to be released in January. This opinion will address how NOAA plans to mitigate impacts of hatchery operations on protected fish. Though the agency had already started a larger review of the impacts of Mitchell Act funding several years ago, they are on a tight timeline with this particular biological opinion due to a legal challenge filed by the Wild Fish Conservancy. The group argued that the agency was not doing enough to pro- tect listed fish from the impacts of hatchery fish, according to NOAA spokesperson Michael Milstein. Since reforms of hatch- ery programs began in ear- nest in the 1990s, NOAA has continued to study and learn “how the fish are doing and the hatcheries are performing,” Jones told stakeholders. Ilwaco man sentenced to six years for sex abuse By KATIE FRANKOWICZ For The Daily Astorian A 21-year-old Ilwaco, Washington, man pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree rape and was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday. Jesse Lee Jetland, 21, of Ilwaco, was arrested in March following a month- long investigation by the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office after he had been found in a 13-year-old Asto- ria girl’s bedroom. He and the middle-schooler had sex and he had hidden in her room for nearly a day before he was caught. He also had sexual contact with another underage girl during this same period, and provided marijuana to both girls. The sex and sexual con- tact were consensual, but with minors, which led to the charges of sexual abuse and rape, explained Clat- sop County Deputy District Attorney Dawn Buzzard. Jetland was sentenced to 75 months for each charge and will serve these sen- tences concurrently. He also pleaded no contest to a charge of delivery of mari- juana to a person under 18 years old. Other charges against him were dismissed. Family, hospital settle wrongful death suit Family had alleged medical malpractice By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian A $2.1 million medi- cal malpractice and wrong- ful death lawsuit against Columbia Memorial Hospi- tal has been settled. Ann Potter, an Asto- ria bookkeeper, died several weeks after having surgery at the hospital in 2013 for a perfo- rated ulcer. Her family alleged that Edouard Duret, the doc- tor who performed the surgery, prescribed Potter pain medica- tion that can cause stomach or intestinal bleeding. Potter, 77, was married to Tom Potter, an architect who served on the Astoria City Council. Tom Potter died last year. The family’s lawsuit named Duret, who has retired, and the hospital. The terms of the settlement are confidential. “It’s a satisfactory reso- lution,” said Mark McCull- och, a Portland attorney for the family. Paul Mitchell, a spokes- man for the hospital, declined to comment. The suit was filed last March. A hearing on a motion in the case had been scheduled for Thursday in Circuit Court. A trial had been set for January. OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Naselle Youth Camp is tar- geted for closure in Wash- ington state Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed state budget. The youth camp, one of Pacific County’s largest employers, houses 76 young people who have gotten into trouble with the juvenile jus- tice system. Inslee plans to relocate them to Echo Glen Children’s Center in Snoqualmie and Green Hill School in Cheha- lis. The governor’s budget claims savings of $7.4 mil- lion over the coming two-year budget cycle. In an interview in April, Pat Escamilla, the youth camp’s new superintendent, said state officials assured him the camp was staying open for the fore- seeable future. The youth camp is one of just three across the state, and is the only one that has the state Department of Nat- ural Resources occupational programs. Closing the camp has been suggested several times by governors since the 1990s, but the decision is ultimately up to the state Legislature. BLOCKS of 10 JOIN OUR UNLIMITED PROGRAM “New Release” Movie Rentals $ SALE $ 29 9 5 4 movie rentals at a time 19 95 per mo. excludes new releases Large Selection DVD’s on Sale 1 $ 99 & up No minimum purchase Gift Certificates Make choose their The Perfect Gift... they own videos! Hurry, time is running out to get here by Christmas. 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His attorney, A neurological eval- Mary Ann Murk, uation showed Jet- asked Circuit Court land has a number Judge Philip Nelson of developmental to allow Jetland to delays, she said. stay at the Clatsop Still, she told County Jail through Nelson, “he under- the Christmas holi- stands and he’s day. Jetland’s birth- accepting the con- day falls on Christ- sequences of his mas Day and he Jesse Lee Jetland actions.” had hoped to see his The charges to family before leav- which Jetland pled ing for prison. guilty are both Measure 11 Judge Nelson said he had crimes that carry mandatory no control over this and it minimum prison sentences. would be up to the jail and When he is released, Jetland the Oregon Department of will be required to register as Corrections. a sex offender.
