OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017
Founded in 1873
HEIDI WRIGHT, Interim Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
GUEST COLUMN
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A Dungeness crab caught by researchers near the mouth of the
Columbia River.
Helping students prep for college
Scientific research of
Dungeness crab more
necessary than ever
A
delay in the start of Dungeness crab season is nothing
new. Dec. 1 is the first possible date, but seldom the
actual one in recent years. In fact, timing the season’s
start to get better prices and ensure high quality crab is a sign of
sophistication on the part of regulators, processors and the fleet.
As noted in our story last week, however, delays are hard on
the families of crab workers and boat crew members. The first
weeks of crab season are famous for fat paychecks, which go
toward catching up with bills and putting presents under the tree.
If the closure goes past Christmas — and it easily may consider-
ing how slowly crab are hardening and putting on meat this year
— it will be important to step with donations to food banks and
gift drives.
Beyond this immediate issue, there are both long-term con-
cerns and things we can feel good about when it comes to the
status of this locally vital fishery. The Tri-State Agreement that
governs crabbing off Oregon, California and Washington was
made permanent by Congress this August. Since 1998, it has cre-
ated a “sustainable, science-based fishery management program
that keeps fishermen fishing and crab stocks thriving,” according
to U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
This coast-wide system avoids crab in any one area from
being plundered when other stretches of the coast are closed.
This year, as a processor told The Daily Astorian last week, this
approach led to the decision, “Whatever’s better for the com-
modity is best — which is letting the crab sit and grow.”
This attitude has made Dungeness crab consistently one of the
most lucrative fisheries on the West Coast. Catches cycle up and
down, but it is one fishery that doesn’t ever seem to be on the
brink of disaster.
It’s good people have grown smarter about managing crab
harvests, because there are other threats that need attention —
everything from the acidifying ocean to competition with other
industries for offshore areas.
There was confusion on the
part of some out-of-area news
media about this delay, which
It’s good
they incorrectly attributed
people
in part to the marine toxin
domoic acid. Domoic is an
have grown
issue that defies easy under-
smarter about
standing or solutions, with
some species of the marine
managing
planktonic diatom Pseudo-
crab harvests,
nitzschia sometimes creating it
because
as a byproduct and sometimes
not.
there are
At least here around the
other threats
mouth of the Columbia River,
so far this year it isn’t making
that need
much domoic. Recreational
attention.
razor clam digs, which depend
on domoic levels below 20
parts per million, have been
approved this fall. Dungeness
seasons are permitted when crab have up to 29 ppm in their guts.
Tests on crab in the Grayland, Washington area found a maxi-
mum value of 12 ppm in one crab collected Nov. 5. No domoic
at all was detected during testing Oct. 24 off the Long Beach
Peninsula. All are safe to eat.
Big city media aren’t wrong, however, to worry about chang-
ing ocean chemistry, temperature and other conditions. There’s
no telling when domoic might next become a problem in our
area. In the longer term, slight increases in seawater acidity could
interfere with crab-shell formation or harm the ocean food web
that crab rely on.
In addition to the Tri-State Agreement’s sensible management
regime, coastal communities must continue actively advocating
for scientific monitoring and research of all the factors affecting
the health of crab and other fisheries. Only by fully understand-
ing the threats to sea life will we have any realistic chance of
making sure crab are around for future generations.
Sue Cody
Sadie Wooldridge was one of several Upward Bound students who painted the North Coast Food Web
as a community project in 2016.
By SUSAN CODY
For The Daily Astorian
his is the best job I’ve ever
had,” says Jon Graves.
“Students I have worked
with are now
nurses, getting
Ph.Ds or in Japan
teaching English.
They have gone to
college, they have
succeeded and are
giving back. That
is really satisfying.”
Graves is the director of
pre-college programs at Clatsop
Community College. For 12 years
he has guided students through the
maze of college applications and
tests to prepare them for a success-
ful future. Two federal programs,
Upward Bound and Talent Search,
are the main focus of his work.
Upward Bound and Talent
Search are programs introduced by
President Lyndon Johnson’s War on
Poverty in 1965 to get low-income
students through high school and
into college. The goal was to com-
bat generations of poverty.
Both programs are designed for
students who are from low-income
households or whose parents have
not earned a bachelor’s degree, or
both. They are guided on a path to
finish high school and be the first
generation in their family to receive
a college education.
The college has embraced the
programs since the early 1990s.
Around 75 percent of the students
begin college and about 40 percent
earn a bachelor’s or associate’s
degree, Graves says.
During the summer, students
created a professional-looking video
about the Upward Bound program
at the college: bit.ly/W2Wupward
‘T
Building relationships
In Clatsop County, 671 students
are participating in the Talent
Search program that targets sixth- to
12th-graders. Upward Bound has 73
students from ninth to 12th grade.
Eight staff members and school
counselors work with students at
Sue Cody
Jon Graves is the director of
pre-college programs, includ-
ing Talent Search and Upward
Bound, at Clatsop Community
College.
Goal-setting
is one of the
fundamental
steps of
college
preparation.
Knappa, Astoria, Warrenton and
Seaside.
The sister programs work with
the same caseload of students.
“We help get kids through high
school, which can be a crazy time,”
Graves says.
“Building relationships is huge.
One of the best things to help
students succeed is to build relation-
ships with them so they know there
is always an adult in their corner.
Unfortunately, not all students have
that support.”
Talent Search and Upward
Bound host field trips to colleges,
throwing together 30 to 40 students
from different schools.
“Relationships between the stu-
dents in the different schools is just
phenomenal,” Graves says.
“It is fun to watch kids interact
with each other. They have opinions
about other schools. When the field
trip begins, kids from each school
sit together in their own section
of the bus. By the end of the trip,
everyone is spread out and talking
to each other, exchanging phone
numbers.
“It is amazing to see how it
broadens their support group in
Clatsop County and brings down
some of the barriers that are artifi-
cially imposed on everyone because
of what school they go to. It’s just
great.”
Focus on goals
During the school year, Talent
Search works with high school and
middle school students. Goal-setting
is one of the fundamental steps of
college preparation. Staff conduct
workshops on study skills and
encourage students to pay attention
to their grades and make sure they
get the right credits to graduate. As
Graves says, everything matters.
The programs help students and
parents with scholarship information
and filling out the FAFSA (Free
Application for Federal Student
Aid), letting them know what doc-
uments and information they will
need to prepare the application.
“We work with parents to let
them know which loans are avail-
able and which loans are better,” he
says. “We don’t want them to take
too much money out in loans. It
might be better to go to community
college and live at home for two
years, then transfer to a four-year
college, because community college
is free in Oregon if you graduate
and have a 2.5 GPA.”
Sue Cody is communications
lead for The Way to Wellville Clat-
sop County. She is the former dep-
uty managing editor of The Daily
Astorian.