The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current, December 03, 2019, Image 21

Historic Oregon Newspapers

The daily Astorian., December 03, 2019, Page 21, Image 21

Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR

About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2019)

Prev Page of 30 Next Prev Issue Next Text PDF JP2 (1.4 MB) Clip/Print Image

Return to Top

Prev Page of 30 Next Prev Issue Next

Newspaper Page TextA7 THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019 Beau Garreau Atlantic salmon escaped the Cooke Aquaculture net pen oﬀ Cypress Island in 2017. Cook Aquaculture will pay $2.75M over 2017 salmon net pen collapse By EVAN BUSH Seattle Times Cooke Aquaculture has reached a settle- ment to pay $2.75 million in legal fees and to fund Puget Sound restoration projects, putting an end to a Clean Water Act lawsuit that followed the 2017 collapse of one of the ﬁ sh-farming company’s net pen structures. The nonproﬁ t Wild Fish Conservancy, an advocacy group that opposes ﬁ sh farming in open water, initiated its lawsuit against Cooke in August 2017, about a week after a Cooke net pen near Cypress Island col- lapsed. Washington state regulators would later say the company’s negligence led to the collapse and determined that as many as 263,000 Atlantic salmon escaped the ﬂ oating cage structure and into Puget Sound. Fears did not materialize that the escaped salmon would survive and spread in Washington waters long-term. Some were concerned they could be a threat to native salmon. The legal settlement, which awaits fed- eral ofﬁ cials’ review and a judge’s signature, bookends a contentious and litigious chap- ter in the ﬁ ght over ﬁ sh farming in Wash- ington waters that resulted in the termination of some of Cooke’s leases, a $332,000 ﬁ ne to Cooke from state regulators and a ban on farming nonnative ﬁ sh like Atlantic salmon that state lawmakers passed last year. Mean- while, Cooke seeks to open a new chap- ter with its recent proposal to farm native steelhead. The settlement Wednesday follows a U.S. District judge’s ruling earlier in the week that Cooke had failed to inspect some moor- ing components at several of its ﬁ sh farms, did not complete required inspection forms at some sites and did not properly track the number of ﬁ sh in its net pens or report all escapes as recently as 2018. About $1.6 million from the settlement is slated to pay the Wild Fish Conservancy’s legal fees, according to a court settlement document. The other $1.15 million would go to the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment, an Oakland, Califor- nia-based nonproﬁ t, for projects to improve Puget Sound water quality and aquatic hab- itat. The Rose Foundation often manages grants after court settlements, according to its website. The Wild Fish Conservancy brought the lawsuit under a provision of the Clean Water Act that allows for citizens or groups to ﬁ le lawsuits to enforce federal environmental laws, regulations and permits. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in October proposed to issue Cooke a ﬁ ve-year aquaculture permit to farm steel- head. Public comment on the proposal closed on Nov. 22. Kurt Beardslee, executive director of the Wild Fish Conservancy, said Wednesday’s settlement “reminds the public and Legisla- ture of the high level of risk this industry has no matter what species it’s raising.” Beardslee has called for a more thorough environmental review process by the ﬁ sh and wildlife department. The settlement, if approved by the judge, puts Cooke under a consent decree and requires the company to perform load anal- yses before putting new ﬁ sh in its cages; complete upgrades to its infrastructure; and send permitting correspondence between the company and state regulators to the ﬁ sh con- servancy directly. Beardslee said the measures would help the Wild Fish Conservancy “immensely” with the advocacy group’s “oversight” of Cooke. “We think the public needs to know what’s happening and this is just a vehicle for the public to have access to understand what’s happening,” he said. Cooke said in a statement Friday it had planned upgrades before the collapse. “Three years ago, when Cooke acquired the existing 30 year old net pen facilities from a previous owner, we planned to add signiﬁ cant investments on top of the $75- plus million contribution we made to Wash- ington’s economy when we purchased the company. In fact, our permits to replace the Cypress salmon cages were sitting with reg- ulators at the time of the unfortunate inci- dent,” said Joel Richardson, Cooke’s vice president of public relations in an email. Richardson added: “Cooke Aquaculture Paciﬁ c LLC has now reached an agreement to the satisfaction of both parties and we are working with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe to shift from rearing Atlantic salmon to Northwest native, sterile triploid, all-female rainbow trout.” Triploid ﬁ sh eggs are forced to retain a third set of chromosomes, which makes almost all of the ﬁ sh sterile as adults. Rain- bow trout and steelhead are classiﬁ ed as the same species. Steelhead migrate out to sea, where they can grow larger. The Washington Department of Natural Resources terminated the company’s lease near Port Angeles in December 2017. The company wants the lease reinstated for its project with the tribe and has challenged the department’s decision in Thurston County Superior Court. Cooke plans to replace Atlantic salmon with steelhead at its other Salish Sea leases. State ﬁ sh and wildlife ofﬁ cials have said risks of captive steelhead to trout stocks in the natural environment — the spread of viruses, escapement and escaped ﬁ sh inter- breeding with wild or hatchery ﬁ sh — are low and could be largely mitigated with measures required by the agency. APPLIANCE PACKAGE DEALS APPLIANCE AND HOME FURNISHINGS OBITUARY POLICY The Astorian publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include a small photo and, for veterans, a ﬂ ag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business day prior. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Death notices and upcoming services will be published at no charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m. the day of publication. Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at DailyAstorian.com/forms/obits, by email at ewilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via the funeral home or in person at The Astorian ofﬁ ce, 949 Exchange St. in Astoria. For more information, call 503-325-3211, ext. 257. SEVENDAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TODAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY 529 SE MARLIN, WARRENTON 503-861-0929 Over Mattresses, Furniture & More! 30 Y E A R S IN C L AT S O P COUNT Y SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY HOURS OPEN: MON-FRI 8-6 * SATURDAY * SUNDAY 10-4 We Service What We Sell REGIONAL FORECAST Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. Seattle 51 41 51 42 54 44 53 43 51 40 Cloudy, a little Periods of sun Rain and drizzle A touch of rain rain Rain 51 37 Low clouds 52 37 Chance of rain Aberdeen Olympia 50/43 51/45 Wenatchee Tacoma Moses Lake 50/41 ALMANAC UNDER THE SKY TODAY'S TIDES Astoria through Sunday Tonight’s Sky: Cassiopeia is nearly directly overhead before midnight. Astoria / Port Docks Temperatures High/low ................................ 44/33 Normal high/low .................. 50/38 Record high .................. 62 in 1958 Record low .................... 22 in 1985 Precipitation Sunday ..................................... 0.38” Month to date ........................ 0.38” Normal month to date ......... 0.36” Year to date .......................... 41.33” Normal year to date ........... 57.73” Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Time High (ft.) Time Low (ft.) 6:32 a.m. 5:37 p.m. 7.0 12:16 p.m. 3.7 6.5 none Cape Disappointment 6:17 a.m. 5:15 p.m. Source: Jim Todd, OMSI Hammond SUN AND MOON Sunrise today .................. 7:39 a.m. Sunset tonight ............... 4:31 p.m. Moonrise today ............. 1:04 p.m. Moonset today ............ 11:36 p.m. First Full Last New 6:23 a.m. 5:29 p.m. Warrenton 6:27 a.m. 5:32 p.m. Knappa 7:09 a.m. 6:14 p.m. Depoe Bay Dec 3 Dec 11 Dec 18 Dec 25 5:36 a.m. 4:30 p.m. 6.6 11:46 a.m. 3.8 6.2 11:55 p.m. 1.3 7.2 11:59 a.m. 4.0 6.7 none 7.4 12:00 p.m. 3.8 6.9 none 7.3 12:43 a.m. 0.9 6.8 1:17 p.m. 3.2 7.2 11:13 a.m. 4.3 6.7 11:24 p.m. 1.5 City Atlanta Boston Chicago Dallas Denver Honolulu Houston Los Angeles Miami New York City Phoenix San Francisco Wash., DC Wed. Hi/Lo/W 51/38/s 37/27/sn 40/29/pc 68/40/s 47/28/pc 84/73/pc 69/47/s 67/55/c 70/54/s 39/31/s 70/55/pc 60/51/r 50/37/s 60/40/s 40/31/pc 39/28/pc 64/47/pc 44/26/c 84/73/sh 72/52/pc 62/52/r 76/55/s 42/33/pc 67/52/r 59/50/sh 50/36/pc Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow ﬂ urries, sn-snow, i-ice. 37/32 Hermiston The Dalles 39/27 Enterprise Pendleton 39/29 43/30 39/30 La Grande 40/32 46/36 NATIONAL CITIES Today Hi/Lo/W 38/33 Kennewick Walla Walla 37/28 Lewiston 38/29 48/41 Salem Pullman 38/26 Longview 51/41 Portland 47/40 37/30 Yakima 36/28 48/40 Astoria Spokane 34/28 Corvallis 45/33 Albany 46/35 John Day Eugene Bend 47/33 40/30 42/33 Ontario 39/32 Caldwell Burns 37/21 40/31 Medford 52/32 Klamath Falls 45/27 City Baker City Brookings Ilwaco Newberg Newport Today Hi/Lo/W 37/27/pc 56/42/pc 50/43/pc 45/36/pc 53/41/pc Wed. Hi/Lo/W 38/27/pc 54/47/c 50/44/r 46/39/c 52/44/c City North Bend Roseburg Seaside Springﬁ eld Vancouver Today Hi/Lo/W 55/41/pc 51/38/pc 51/43/pc 50/36/pc 46/39/pc Wed. Hi/Lo/W 54/43/c 53/42/c 51/44/r 50/42/c 47/41/c