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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 2019)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2019 Sanborn: All nine suites are now full Tug: He was lucky Continued from Page A1 Continued from Page A1 “He just was ahead of his time, and eclectic and just had this vision of what I think would just make people happy and feel like they just stumbled upon this secret,” Norgaard said . D ownstairs at the San- born Building is United Way of Clatsop County and professional offi ces, such as Counseling Solu- tions NW, run by Camille Holland. Across a main lobby from Norgaard, artist Son- dra Carr opened Weird Sisters Freak Boutique. She describes her space, decorated in nautical, for- ested and other themes, as an art installation reimag- ined as a shop, showcasing the work of local artisans. “We’re just trying to collect all the freaky weirdness in one place,” Carr said. Norgaard recruited Megan Davis, owner of the Floral Haze Vintage boutique and her former next-door neighbor from the Copeland Building, to move into the center suite of the mall, where a local family had attempted to open a Mexican restaurant. Janet Hutchings recently opened West Coast Artisans, a gallery for local artists, on 10th Street in the former McVa- rish Gallery. Jill McVar- ish has concentrated her efforts into the Secret Gal- lery, a back room in the upstairs interior of the Sanborn Building accessed Tug had been adopted by Paul Turchetta from the a ni- mal s helter only a few months before. In the days ahead of the Fourth of July, Tug had ignored the booms and explo- sions in his Astoria neighbor- hood, seemingly unfazed. On the night of the Fourth, Turchetta was downtown with his brother and sister-in- law, Tug in tow. They went to the Riverwalk ahead of a city fi reworks show. Just before the fi reworks started to go off, Turchetta decided to take Tug back to the car and con- templated just taking him home. But things did not go according to plan. The fi rst big fi rework exploded in the sky as they reached the base of 15th Street. “He literally looked up at me and he started dragging me up the street,” Turchetta said. When the next big explo- sion went off, Tug broke loose. Turchetta fell and Tug raced uphill, his leash snap- ping behind him. Turchetta started to fol- low but was stopped by a car. The driver said he and his girlfriend had seen every- thing that happened. He told Turchetta to hop in and they would go after Tug. “My girlfriend is already chasing him,” the man said. Turchetta looked up 15th Street and distantly saw a woman running full speed straight up the hill. “Oh, she’s a triathlete,” the man remarked casually. Photos by Edward Stratton/The Astorian Kirsten Norgaard has turned The Cellar on 10th wine store in the basement of the Sanborn Building into the new Kit’s Apothecary. Janet Hutchings, center, took over the former Jill McVarish Gallery on 10th Street and turned it into West Coast Artisans, a gallery hosting a collection of local artists. from 10th Street through a side door and up a hall- way named the John Jacob Astor Alley. “They see a secret, and they’re like, ‘Ooh, what’s this about,’” McVarish said of passersby. “And the building is so compelling.” McVarish enlisted Chris Minnick, a local writer who organized the Asto- ria Freak Show, to mar- ket the Secret Gallery and help organize events in the space, such as a vegetar- ian fundraiser dinner next month for Clatsop Animal Assistance. All nine suites in the Whales: Entanglements pose problems Continued from Page A1 The bulk of the whales found tangled in fi shing gear on the West Coast are reported off California, but gear from all three states has been implicated . ‘OK to live with’ Pulling gear earlier than usual “is something every- body seems OK to live with,” said Clint Funder- burg, vice president and director of the Oregon Coast Crab Association, a group of commercial fi shermen that formed this year in response to the debate around crab gear and whales. “It’s some- thing that’s doable.” Other changes — such as gear modifi cation or further limiting entry into the fi sh- ery — could be more con- tentious, he said. In September, the Ore- gon Fish and Wildlife Com- mission will hear a regula- tory package that includes accountability and infor- mational measures and rep- resents an effort to fi ll in some gaps. Along with California and Washington state, Ore- gon has begun the process of applying for an inciden- tal take permit from the fed- eral government, a lengthy process that, if successful, would allow crab fi shermen to lawfully take a small num- ber of endangered whales each year in the course of fi shing. “But the hardest conver- sation is moving into what we do with our fi shery in terms of lines that are in the water and making those count and reducing them where they don’t count,” Caren Braby, a marine resources program man- ager for the state, told the whale entanglement work- ing group at a meeting last week. A survey Oregon Sea Grant sent out to the state’s commercial fl eet revealed a mix of opinions on man- agement measures. No one action elicited universal support. “Instead we have a divided fl eet,” Braby said during a presentation to the Fish and Wildlife Commis- sion in June. “We have a lot of dissension about what would be effective, what the fl eet could live with and how to move forward.” For Funderburg and other fi shermen, even if they switch between fi sheries, crabbing continues to be a major money maker. “Without it we wouldn’t survive,” he said. “The state’s been good working with fi shermen,” Funderburg said. “I think they understand we need to come up with something that keeps us in existence. We’re such an important part of the coastal economies and these small communities.” Stave off lawsuit At a meeting in June, Fish and Wildlife Commis- sioner Bruce Buckmaster, of Astoria, asked if staff was confi dent the measures they were recommending would stave off a lawsuit similar to what was seen in California. “It does matter that we have this threat of lawsuit, but it doesn’t matter,” Braby replied, “and what we really need to focus on is doing the right thing for the whales and the crab fi shery and that will set our course.” Entanglement numbers for large whales like hump- backs and gray whales sky- rocketed for four straight years beginning in 2014. Forty-six whales were con- fi rmed entangled off the Ore- gon, Washington state and California coasts in 2018, the majority of them hump- backs, according to a federal report released in June. Of the 46 entanglements , 24 were associated with spe- cifi c fi sheries or gear . Com- mercial crab fi sheries in California and Oregon and commercial and tribal crab fi sheries in Washington state accounted for 14 of the entanglement reports. Last year’s numbers were slightly lower than the his- toric highs seen in 2015 and 2016, “but still represent a concerning level and a large increase compared to pre- 2014 levels when the aver- age was less than 10 con- fi rmed entanglements per year,” the report found . As of July 16, there have been 10 confi rmed reports of entangled whales and two unconfi rmed reports, accord- ing to preliminary data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra- tion. Of these, six entangle- ments were associated with commercial fi sheries — four specifi cally with commer- cial crabbing. Researchers and fi shery managers are looking at how fi shing could be adjusted so that the most effort is hap- pening at times when there appear to be fewer whales around. Leigh Torres, a researcher with Oregon State Univer- sity and a member of the working group, launched a study to answer questions about when whales are off the Oregon Coast, why, what oceanographic condi- tions may come into play, how many are humpbacks that are part of stocks listed under the Endangered Spe- cies Act and, ultimately, how fi shermen can avoid whales. “The ultimate goal is to provide these layers of entanglement risk,” Torres said. Torres and her team fl y on Coast Guard helicopters four times a month, looking for whales. They collect data on where they see whales, but also where they don’t. This summer and next sum- mer, Torres hopes that when they do see whales, they’ll be able to launch boats to take photos to identify indi- vidual animals and take tis- sue samples. What it all ultimately means for commercial crab- bers remains to be seen. Fishermen don’t like to see whale entanglements, said Tim Novotny, a spokes- man for the Oregon Dunge- ness Crab Commission. Besides, “from a purely business standpoint, it’s not cost-effective.” Whale entanglement is not something the industry can ignore. If the problem is not addressed and whale entanglement issues con- tinue or worsen, fi shermen run the risk of “somebody else telling you how to oper- ate your season,” Novotny said. “Another thing you don’t want.” The c rab c ommission provided some initial fund- ing for Torres’ study and has kicked in money to help cover the costs of new, dou- ble-sided tags for the fl eet — examples of the commission “putting its money where its mouth is,” said Hugh Link, the executive director. “For the c rab c ommis- sion, for the crab fi sher- men, the thought process has always been: Whatever we can do to take a proac- tive approach to not entan- gle whales,” Novotny said, “and to manage the resource as best as we can for what’s good for the ocean, for what’s good for the fi shery.” Sanborn Building are now full, owner Eliza- beth Konez said. In addi- tion to the underground and art tenants are long- time Marine Drive staples Himani Indian Cuisine and an accounting fi rm run by Mike Wallis, who also ran the wine shop. At the corner entrance on 10th and Marine , Konez is building out the Coffee Underground, a new cof- fee shop with seating in the underground lobby she hopes of driving more foot traffi c downstairs. “I think just getting them in the door,” she said of marketing the space. “Right now, you walk by. Kit’s got some nice sig- nage, but it’s hard to know what’s downstairs.” They searched, but there was no sign of Tug. Turchetta returned home, called the police to let them know about the missing dog and left a message at the shelter. “It was a restless night,” Turchetta said. But he didn’t have to wait long the next morning for word of Tug. The police called him at 7 a.m. to let him know Tug had shown up on a family’s front porch. Tug bounces straight up and down like he’s riding a pogo stick when he fi rst meets you — eyes a little wild and ears fl opping. Sweet-tem- pered, he might still try to use your arm as a chew toy. When Turchetta snaps on his leash, Tug is inclined to grab the leash in his mouth and loll on the ground like a furry toddler. It was Tug’s eyes that drew Turchetta when he fi rst saw the dog at the shel- ter: bright, direct, brown and gold. Piercing eyes, Turchetta thought. Those eyes and the fact that “he needed a home.” With the route Tug took up 15th Street on the Fourth of July, he passed a num- ber of opportunities to disap- pear: down streets and into the woods. Young, energetic, panicked and with fi reworks going off through the late hours of the night, he could have easily kept running. “He was lucky,” Stephens said of Tug. “He could have been lost for a long time.” Will Tug ever attend another fi reworks display? 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