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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2018 Charges filed against Ilwaco charter skippers Accusations of ‘high-grading’ for halibut By NATALIE ST. JOHN Chinook Observer ILWACO, Wash. — Sev- eral local charter skippers and crewmen could soon be reeling in hefty fines and jail sentences. Following a nine-month Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife investiga- tion, the state in early April filed 37 criminal charges against six men affiliated with Pacific Salmon Char- ters: David Gudgell, 57, of Seaview; Robert Gudgell, 56, of Longview; Thomas Mer- riman, 61, of Sammamish; Brian Cables, 59, of Ilwaco; Patrick Gore, 28, of Deer Island; and Richard Mercado, 52, of Tacoma. Investigators say the men systematically urged cus- tomers on recreational hal- ibut-fishing trips to exceed limits and allegedly wasted large numbers of fish during the 2017 season. A woman who answered the company’s phone hung up when asked for comment. “This was unique. I hav- en’t in my 18 years here been a part of a case like this,” Sgt. Dan Chadwick of the Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday. Fish and Wildlife enforce- ment officers opened an investigation last June, after customers contacted the state about allegedly unethi- cal activities they witnessed during their May halibut-fish- ing trip. The whistleblow- ers suspected the crew of “high-grading” — the ille- gal practice of intentionally catching too many fish, keep- ing the best ones, and discard- ing or releasing the rest. In June, an undercover officer booked a fishing trip. After he claimed to have seen high-grading activity on board the Pacific Dream, investiga- tors sought a warrant. In July, state and federal game war- dens searched the company’s Port of Ilwaco office and took STRANDED Chinook Observer David Gudgell is one of several men charged with illegally ‘high-grading’ halibut. a variety of records. Owner Milt Gudgell has operated Pacific Salmon Charters for about 20 years, according to state records. The company has a fleet of seven boats. Some are pri- vately owned by people who book trips through Gudgell, but two boats, the West Wind and the Katie Marie, are oper- ated by his sons, David and Robert Gudgell. Every year, the members Small cities’ building permit programs face uncertainty By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau John Weldon/NOAA Fisheries A male gray whale was found stranded at Leadbetter Point on the Long Beach Peninsula after getting tangled in lines from a crab trap. A research team from Portland State Uni- versity and Cascadia Research Collective concluded that ropes from the trap likely caused the young whale’s death. Oregon jobless rate stuck at 4.1 percent Associated Press PORTLAND — Ore- gon’s low unemployment rate refuses to budge. The state Employment Department said Tuesday the jobless rate for March was 4.1 percent — the same as in Feb- ruary, January and Decem- ber. It was also 4.1 percent in March 2017. Oregon’s nonfarm pay- roll employment increased by 4,200 jobs last month, follow- ing a revised gain of 700 jobs in February. Manufacturing rebounded in March after a lacklus- ter February, and state econ- omists say the retail indus- try has been hiring at a strong clip after a tepid holiday-hir- ing season. Motor vehicles and parts dealers have been adding a lot of workers in the retail sector, and food and beverage outlets have also been hiring. Another unemployment measure, known as U-6, was at 8.3 percent in March, slightly below the 8.6 percent recorded in March 2017. The figure includes discouraged workers who stopped looking and part- time workers who want but can’t get full-time jobs. of the International Pacific Halibut Commission recom- mend quotas intended to pre- vent halibut from being over- fished. When each region on the West Coast and Canada meets its quota, its season ends. For 2017, the commis- sion recommended a Wash- ington state sport-fishing limit of 237,762 pounds. The sea- son lasted just nine days. Fishermen must also abide by a “You get what you get, SALEM — Amid a state- wide housing shortage, the building permit programs of 25 small municipalities could be in jeopardy follow- ing a recent state Depart- ment of Justice opinion that using private-sector consul- tants to oversee plan reviews and building inspections may violate state law. The opinion included in a February memorandum could result in new restric- tions on small jurisdictions and require them to have building officials on staff, city officials said. Small counties and cit- ies, such as the rural city of Aurora, with a population less than 1,000, don’t have the resources to hire a build- ing official. Instead, those local governments rely on third-party contractors to provide building review ser- vices for them. “This is going to raise costs in a huge way because we can’t cover these costs with our current funding,” said Aurora Mayor Bill Graupp. “It will raise costs in housing especially in rural Oregon. Low-cost, low-in- come housing is hit the worst, which is what we are trying to work on in rural Oregon, and this is a huge spike in the heart for us.” Greg Hinkelman, city manager of Clatskanie, said he would like lawmakers to pass legislation next year that allows cities to use third- party contractors to review and inspect plans. “The thing that worries me about the DOJ opinion is that it might be turned into rules and an edict that we have to have a building codes official on staff,” Hinkelman said. “For small cities, this is devastat- ing. If the state of Oregon is forcing small jurisdictions to hire people for things where we typically contract ser- vices out, where does this end? Does it mean I can’t use a contract employee as city attorney or a city planner? Does it have to be staff? “We’ve got a system that works and now someone saying ‘let’s fix what works and it doesn’t have to be this way,’” he added. King City in Washing- ton County has a popu- lation of about 3,000 and relies entirely on contrac- tors to administer its building program. “A full-time or even a part-time building official is an unnecessary six-figure expense or nearly a fifth of our budget,” Mike Weston, the city manager, wrote in a letter to lawmakers. Relying entirely on third parties to conduct a city’s building program violates several state laws, according to the memo by Katherine Lozano, assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Business Activities Section. Car Show! and you don’t throw a fit,” policy. There is a one-fish- per-person-per day limit. A person who is unhappy with the size of their fish can throw it back immediately and try again, but keeping more than one fish as “insurance” and picking the best one later is a definite no-no. As a result, some fisher- men inevitably end up with little to show for their time and money at the end of a day of fishing. Using the seized records, investigators tracked down crew members and around 100 customers who went on halibut trips with Pacific Salmon last year. They spent months interviewing and seeking written statements from the former passengers. Some refused to talk, said they couldn’t remember any- thing or denied seeing any illegal activity. One man who had been fishing with the company for 10 years told officers, “I think you’re going on a witch hunt.” Chadwick said the officer who did most of the interviewing quickly noticed that long-time cus- tomers seemed to have more memory problems than recent one-time customers. At least 30 people did go on the record, saying, among other things, that staff told them to catch multiple hal- ibut, stored the extra catch in a box with no circulating water, sorted catches by size, swapped identifying tags to more favorable fish, dumped smaller fish — many dead — overboard, and lied to regula- tors about their catches after returning to port. Other cus- tomers who were not named in the court documents reportedly corroborated their accounts. Based on customer esti- mates, the company allegedly facilitated the illegal catch of 83 to 104 halibut over the course of nine days. Assum- ing an average weight range for the fish, Pacific Salmon was allegedly responsible for exceeding the Columbia River Area quota of 12,799 pounds by somewhere between 9 and 24 percent, according to court documents. Consult a PROFESSIONAL am turning 65 this Q: I year and have not Steve Putman Medicare Products 503-440-1076 Licensed in Oregon and Washington putmanagency@gmail.com been taking Social Security Benefits to this point. Will I be signed up for Medicare Part A and Part B automatically? A: In your case the answer is No. If someone has not been taking Social Security or Railroad Benefits for at least 4 months prior to turning 65 they would then need to sign up with Social Security to ensure they get Medi- care Parts A and B. 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