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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2018
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Fishermen wait for word about the start of crab season at the Warrenton Marina.
Crab season: ‘Even if it starts
late, crabbing never really
goes past March or April’
Continued from Page 1A
ABOVE: Justin Wilson and Flynn Shaw prepare the fishing vessel Swell Rider at the
Warrenton Marina ahead of the start of crab season. BELOW: Flynn Shaw and Justin
Wilson secure crab pots on the Swell Rider.
over the weekend to catch more crab for
another meat test which revealed they
are now at 24.6 percent meat recovery.
Corbin and others planned to go
back to the processors this afternoon
to try to negotiate a price for the whole
area. However, fishery managers and
crabbers said that with rough ocean
conditions expected to follow a warm
and sunny weekend, few boats would
likely venture out even if they did set-
tle on a price. Bar crossing restrictions
were in place Saturday and Sunday on
the Columbia River.
If price negotiations had gone dif-
ferently from the start, fishermen could
have set gear out over the weekend and
started pulling it today, Corbin said. Sea
swell and wind are expected to pick up
later today, settle a bit on Tuesday and
then roar back up again on Wednesday.
“Now it creates a different set of
challenges,” he said.
The late start has been a blow to
the local economy. Crews who spent
months preparing pots and loading
boats have yet to be paid and restau-
rants hoping to offer locally caught crab
are still waiting. Fish processors are on
standby. Fishermen who switch over to
fish halibut or cod in Alaska are look-
ing at a smaller and smaller window
of opportunity to make some money
crabbing.
In Washington’s Pacific County, fuel
sales during the commercial crab season
and the Buoy 10 summer sport fishing
season make up the bulk of the tiny Port
of Chinook’s revenue.
“Even if it starts late, crabbing never
really goes past March or April,” said
John Demase, marina manager. “So
that’s a month and a half of fuel sales
lost that we will not recover.”
In Oregon, the commercial Dunge-
ness fishery averages 16 million pounds
per season and an average ex-ves-
sel value of $32.5 million, according
to the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife. In Washington state, ex-ves-
sel value averages approximately $19.9
million. Landings fluctuate but average
at about 9.5 million pounds each season.
Last season, crabbers landed 18.4
million pounds in Oregon by March and
the season opened on Jan. 1 coastwide
in Oregon and Washington. The season
before opened on Jan. 4, though south-
ern Oregon and California experienced
varying opening times. Previous open-
ings back through the 2010-2011 sea-
son all opened in December north of the
Oregon-California border.
High levels of the marine toxin
domoic acid have disrupted past sea-
sons, delaying openers or even shut-
ting down the fishery midseason. This
season, elevated levels of the toxin will
keep the coastline from Cape Blanco
north of Port Orford to the Oregon-Cal-
ifornia border closed for at least the
next two weeks. Fishery managers plan
to conduct additional sampling in that
area.
Bronstein: ‘I wanted to Dollar General: Set to open 1,000 locations this year
find like-minded people’ Continued from Page 1A
portation said. The work entails
Continued from Page 1A
“I got an opportunity
to work with these things
called PCs back in the early
days,” he quipped.
Bronstein lived in Sil-
icon Valley for about 25
years and worked for prom-
inent lawyer and venture
capitalist Craig Johnson. As
the world was being intro-
duced to the internet, he
helped lawyers in separate
locations connect during
meetings and share data
electronically.
“We did things differ-
ently in the legal industry
before the dot-com boom
exploded,” he said.
Soon after the Great
Recession hit, he created a
mobile app that helps law-
yers keep track of their bill-
able hours. He’s continued
to run the company since his
move north.
Bronstein wanted to be
close to family in Oregon,
remain near the ocean and
practice his long-distance
cycling hobby. He found
all three opportunities in
Astoria, a town he says has
become a destination for
cyclists on coast-to-coast
or border-to-border jour-
neys. He’s hosted dozens of
cyclists in his home since he
first moved here.
“People tend to find the
history and culture of the
town fascinating,” Bron-
stein said. “There’s an
attraction here.”
Clatsop County, which
favored Democrat Hil-
lary Clinton over Trump
by 6 percentage points in
the 2016 election, also fea-
tures a diversity of opinions
on national politics. Bron-
stein said that, despite his
left-leaning viewpoints, his
goal is to encourage citizen
participation rather than to
change opinions.
“I wanted to find like-
minded people and encour-
age others to become
active,” he said.
“Dollar General refiled their
application with all the parking
spots included, and is march-
ing through the building pro-
cess permit right now, with
very little change other than the
added parking I can see so far,”
City Planner Carole Connell
said at Thursday’s commission
meeting. “They put it all in the
back.”
Cross Development hopes
to build the 9,100-square-foot
store in a vacant lot about 250
feet north of Highway 101
and Pacific Way, across from
Fultano’s Pizza and Bowl-
ing. The property is owned
by Terry Lowenberg of Beach
Development.
In their September denial of
the variance request, the Plan-
ning Commission took issue
with aspects of the applica-
tion, including what city staff
determined to be inadequate
or incomplete plans for storm-
water drainage, signage, septic
systems, traffic congestion and
fire safety.
In a traffic study conducted
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Site of a planned Dollar General store along U.S. Highway
101 in Gearhart.
by Dollar General, about 285
transactions per day are antic-
ipated, with about 142 transac-
tions per day by vehicle. The
store would see about 2,000
transactions a week.
Police Chief Jeff Bowman
had safety concerns about the
new store, especially turns
from the shared driveway
onto Highway 101, which is
posted at 40 mph. Bowman
said the new store would lead
to increased calls for service,
including disturbances, alarms
and accidents.
Fire issues have been
resolved, Connell said Thurs-
day, after owners agreed to
install a sprinkler system.
Traffic plans have been
delivered and are still being
reviewed for minor details,
Department Review Coordi-
nator Matthew Caswell of the
Oregon Department of Trans-
restriping the existing center
lane, since the double yellow
striping doesn’t allow vehicles
to enter and travel along the
center lane for turning. Road-
work will likely be done in the
spring.
Stormwater plans may
undergo review to see if they
meet state code, Sweet said.
“The only thing we’re work-
ing on that’s left is to make
sure their drainage plan is ade-
quate. Their plans seem to be
appropriate.”
Dollar General is set to open
1,000 locations this year, for a
total of more than 14,000 stores
nationwide, National Public
Radio reported in December.
It will have more stores than
McDonald’s has restaurants.
The Astoria Design Review
Committee last year rejected
the design for a proposed Dol-
lar General in the Mill Pond
neighborhood.
“They’re building in small
towns all over the coun-
try,” Connell said Thursday.
“They’re stock plans. They all
look the same.”