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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2018)
A3 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2018 Revitalized Sea Resources is going swimmingly Old hatchery gets new life in Chinook ing is insuffi cient. “Wild salmon recovery is not hap- pening fast enough or in large enough numbers to keep up with our grow- ing population impacts and needs.” He said Sea Resources’ location — in the lowest reaches of the Columbia, away from any natural or environmentally protected salmon runs — could mean it becoming the most important salmon hatchery in the state. By PATRICK WEBB Chinook Observer CHINOOK, Wash. — Sea Resources is poised for a major comeback. Supporters of the old- est fi sh hatchery in Wash- ington state have regrouped, ready for a busy spring and summer. “Everybody is saying if we don’t do something our fi shing is going to die,” said Nansen Malin, of Seaview, the group’s vice president. Malin, board president Kenny Osborne and other supporters are optimistic that revitalizing the hatchery, along with continued efforts to enhance regional salmon habitat, must be priorities. “This is a community legacy that cannot be let go,” Malin said. “We are going back into the salmon-pro- duction business this spring. “We are in the perfect place to do it, because we don’t compete with the nat- ural runs and we are so close to the bay — and we have the infrastructure.” Coho, chum and Chinook salmon will be the priority species for production; some rainbow trout may be intro- duced in area lakes. “Chinook is the ‘holy grail,’” she said. The concrete raceways where the fi sh grow, the egg room and classroom are all targeted for a makeover. Other efforts include replac- ing signs, many damaged in the 2007 storm, recruit- ing board members and vol- unteers, and liaising with state agencies on changing regulations. The new energy has Osborne excited. While a student at Ilwaco High School in the 1970s, he spent hours learning hands-on environmental science at the hatchery. “We have been essentially ‘waiting in the wings’ for the opportunity to again raise fi sh and hopefully propagate returning fi sh,” said Osborne, a longtime Sea Resources board member who works in real estate and as an insur- ance broker. “We have all the basic tools in place and with some upgrades we hope to be getting going.” Origins Sea Resources was estab- lished in 1893 by Alfred E. Houchen, a former cabin boy on a British man-of-war who deserted in Canada and worked his way south. Houchen ended up on a Bear River tideland farm performing early fi sh culture Key role Patrick Webb/Chinook Observer Nansen Malin, vice president of the board of Sea Resources, points toward the old concrete raceways used for rearing salmon at the Chinook hatchery. experiments before moving to Chinook property owned by Jasper Prest and working with John McGowan to cre- ate a hatchery. The hatchery was taken over by the state in 1890. They and their successors experimented with trans- porting fi sh from traps on Baker Bay to the hatchery for artifi cial propagation. “They were really for- ward thinking — it’s pretty impressive,” said Malin, who has been involved with Sea Resources for a dozen years. Traps were banned in 1935, and the state closed the hatchery. A revised entity became a nonprofi t in the early 1960s. Over the years, its opera- tions have focused on an educational component; this began a collaboration with Ocean Beach School Dis- trict in 1969. Students were trained in salmon propa- gation, with an eye toward employment in other Pacifi c Northwest hatcheries. Although these voca- tional programs that Osborne and others benefi ted from are no longer in place, tours and programs have contin- ued, focusing on the three areas of salmon propagation, watershed restoration and native plants. The hatchery is a popular fi eld trip desti- nation for home-schoolers. Several collaborations have taken place with the Columbia River Estu- ary Study Taskforce, most designed to enhance habitat. In recent years, the board has entered into an agree- ment with the Washing- ton Department of Fish and Wildlife to manage the Chinook River Tide Gate. Water fl ow has a signifi cant impact on the development of habitat. It is all part of a strategy that exploits the fact that the Chinook River water- shed does not have a nat- ural salmon run or any endangered species in the immediate vicinity, Malin said. just fun!! Post opens at 11 am Noon 12 pm RedBox Bowl Michigan State 503-325-3321 BRING POTLUCK 6 pm til ? New Year’s Eve Karaoke BRING POTLUCK - FINGERFOODS ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION 1132 Exchange Street • 325-5771 LOWER COLUMBIA BOWL Bowling Parties... because bowling is Monday, December 31 st vs tionists and fi shermen. Harmond grew up in Longview, taking trips to the peninsula in the late 1960s with his fi sherman father, crabbing in Ilwaco, surf casting from the jetty and clamming on Long Beach. He later worked as a com- mercial fi sherman in Alaska, returning to Washington when the runs diminished. “At a time when many salmon enhancement, edu- cation and production orga- nizations were disappear- ing or shutting down, Sea Resources has remained steadfast,” said Harmond, who is based in Gig Harbor. He said the number of healthy adult salmon return- Impetus Gov. Jay Inslee has set Department of Fish and Wildlife leaders to work with a task force to save southern resident killer whales from extinction. These orcas split their time between Puget Sound and the outer coast, often hunting for Chinook in the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia River. Stud- ies estimate two out of three calves are lost because the orcas have insuffi cient Chi- Clatsop Post 12 Oregon nook salmon. Hatcheries are among partners in this group’s coordinated cam- paign to provide more fi sh. Sea Resources support- ers want to be part of that effort and were consider- ably boosted in May by a $475,000 bequest from the late Ella and Virgil Worth- ington, a peninsula couple who died at ages 108 and 102, and split their estate between the hatchery and the Ocean Beach Educa- tional Foundation. The revitalized Sea Resources is strongly sup- ported by Wayne Harmond, president of Northwest Salmon Research, a group which combines conserva- Butch Smith, who has been acting as an adviser, agreed that Sea Resources is positioned to play a key role. The third-generation fi sher- man owns Coho Charters, is president of the Ilwaco Charter Association and serves on the Ilwaco Port Commission. “We like the work on get- ting production up for local commercial and sport fi sh- ermen — as a port com- missioner, I want to see all forms succeed,” he said. “Having healthy fi sh in our area means a healthy community.” A chance meeting with Smith, and the discovery of their shared values, led Jules Orr, owner of the Salt Hotel and Pub, to join the Sea Resources board. His father worked in salmon enhance- ment and he interned at a hatchery during his high school years. He hopes the hatchery will rekindle links with area students to allow them to embrace lifelong lessons as he did. “In the short term, they will probably remember their time at the hatchery as a cold damp day with the hum of pumps, no cellphone service and the smell of fi sh,” Orr said. “In the long term, I hope and expect they will not forget their involve- ment in the salmon life cycle and make choices that sup- port salmon and other natu- ral resources.” THREE GENERATIONS OF ONE FAMILY! FEATURING THE SOUNDS OF THE HARP, HAMMERED DULCIMER, CELLO & PERCUSSION AND ACCOMPANIED BY AWARD-WINNING IRISH-DANCERS! Friday & Saturday 9:00pm to midnight off 20 Select % Signature Series OPEN: 10AM-10:30PM MON-TH 10AM-12:00AM FRI-SAT 12PM-10:30PM SUNDAY
