A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 19, 2020
County reports new coronavirus case Seafood: Oregon
The Astorian
Clatsop County reported
that a man living in the
northern part of the county
has tested positive for the
coronavirus.
The man is in his 30s and
was recovering at home.
The county said it learned of
the new case on Sunday.
No other details were
available.
A spokesman for the
county said Monday that
the Public Health Depart-
ment will report if posi-
tive cases are employees of
local seafood processors,
which have had outbreaks,
but not if they are contacts
of employees.
The county will also not
report whether or not pos-
itive cases come from the
county’s drive-thru commu-
nity testing program.
The Oregon Health
Authority reported 3,687
cases and 138 deaths from
the virus statewide as of
Monday morning.
The health authority
tracked 1,136 test results in
Clatsop County, including
38 positive cases.
Workers: ‘We have to go back to work’
Continued from Page A1
a week off, unsure of what
her coworkers might think of
those who tested positive, but
went back to work Monday.
“We share the same feel-
ing … going back to work,
and getting infected and
going through this again,”
Reyes said. “But we still
have to go to work, because
this is affecting us fi nancially,
and we just have to do it. We
have to go back to work. We
don’t have a choice.”
The vast majority of work-
ers in local seafood plants
are Latino. Across the nation,
Latinos have been impacted
by the coronavirus at dis-
proportionate rates, in part
because many work at jobs
that are deemed essential.
The Lower Colum-
bia Hispanic Council fi led
a complaint with the state
Occupational Safety and
Health
Administration
against Bornstein Seafoods
shortly before the outbreak
on behalf of workers who
complained about a lack of
social distancing and protec-
tive equipment.
Andrew Bornstein, the
vice president and co-owner
of Bornstein Seafoods,
declined to comment for
this article. His company
reported the positive cases
and shut down while the
Public Health Department
tested the workforce . He has
previously described edu-
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Mirna Marin, back right, and Victor Reyes, front right,
stand with their children on the back stairs of their home in
Warrenton. Marin, a worker at Bornstein Seafoods, tested
positive for coronavirus and spent two weeks in quarantine
with her family.
cating workers on federal
protocols, increasing sani-
tation and staggering break
times to avoid employees
congregating.
Bornstein had also pre-
viously complained of dif-
fi culties in getting proper
equipment, such as infrared
thermometers to test employ-
ees as they come into work.
Michael McNickle, the
county’s public health direc-
tor, shared in Bornstein’s
frustration.
“We have a list of vetted
vendors, and we go through
that at least once a week and
see if we can get more stuff,”
he said. “It’s hit or miss, and
we still don’t have any digi-
tal thermometers on hand. I
am completely sympathetic
with their desire to get this
stuff. I wish we could get it,
too.”
The county has offered to
do another round of testing
at Bornstein Seafoods. But
McNickle said any enforce-
ment falls to state and fed-
eral regulators because
such workers are deemed
essential.
Aaron Corvin, a spokes-
man for OSHA, confi rmed
the complaint against Born-
stein Seafoods but said there
has been no inspection by the
state.
The state recently fi ned
National Frozen Foods Corp.
in Albany for not socially
distancing employees, even
after several tested posi-
tive for coronavirus. But
the inspection in Albany
came after multiple com-
plaints, a similar benchmark
for the state to become more
involved elsewhere.
“By and large, we’re com-
municating with employers,
and we see them endeavor-
ing to comply,” Corvin said.
“Employers aren’t blowing
us off.”
THE VAST MAJORITY OF WORKERS IN LOCAL SEAFOOD PLANTS
ARE LATINO. ACROSS THE NATION, LATINOS HAVE BEEN IMPACTED
BY THE CORONAVIRUS AT DISPROPORTIONATE RATES, IN PART
BECAUSE MANY WORK AT JOBS THAT ARE DEEMED ESSENTIAL.
Business: ‘I’m trying to keep my spirits up’
Continued from Page A1
“We are a small, fami-
ly-owned business. We get
maybe 50 people at a time
in here, can easily social
distance people. If we get
lumped in with amusement
parks, we are in deep trouble.
We cannot wait until Septem-
ber. We have had zero help
from any government agency
— no loans, no nothing. This
is very extreme for us right
now. We have no income
— none.
“We are fl oundering out
here and we are trying to do
the right thing … but what are
we supposed to do as a busi-
ness that is just going down?”
Rath said she has been in
communication with Mitch-
ell and Seaside City Coun-
cilor Tita Montero since the
town hall.
Montero requested a plan
in writing for how Captain
Kid plans to reopen safely.
She said she feels reassured
by the plan and believes the
problem has to do with how
the business is categorized by
the state.
“And I’d be concerned
that there is a ‘no’ coming
out of Salem from people that
don’t have a full understand-
ing of the situation, the type
of business and the type of
controls that these people can
put on their business,” Mon-
tero said.
“It is wise to leave it to
local control because we
understand the business, we
understand what the business
owners are doing to main-
tain safe and sanitary areas.
Because there’s no business-
person who wants to either
get the employees or their
customers sick,” she said.
Mitchell, D-Astoria, said
she forwarded the Raths’
plan to the governor’s offi ce
so the state could potentially
use some of the ideas in guid-
ance for businesses like Cap-
tain Kid.
“I hope they can reopen
soon, because I want for all
of our small businesses to
be able to come back and be
successful,” Mitchell said in
an email.
“That said, I also know
that we need to be cautious,
and I would not want any of
these businesses to rush to
reopen in a way that would
potentially put them at risk
for violating the g overnor’s
orders and jeopardize safety. I
appreciate their willingness to
do what is right for the com-
munity to ensure that when
we reopen, we do so in a way
that promotes the health and
safety of everyone.”
The Raths said they don’t
understand why box stores
were allowed to stay open
but small businesses were
asked to close. They also feel
like they have a disadvantage
compared to larger corpora-
tions in receiving a loan.
Some recreational busi-
nesses in Seaside, including
Funland Arcade, have already
opened. But the Raths are still
waiting to hear when they can
open. Bruce Rath said it feels
unfair.
“They don’t have time to
fool with us,” he said. “It just
puts a hardship on us that we
can’t work for a year.”
The fi nancial crisis the
Raths are facing is not new to
Tammi Rath.
She used to own a restau-
rant called Jebino’s in Eaton-
ville, Washington, with her
late husband, John Bratholm.
They lost their restaurant
and their home after the Great
Recession and struggled for
years to recover fi nancially.
She said the hardship led to
her husband committing sui-
cide in 2018.
“I’m very sensitive to what
can happen when people get
desperate and depressed,” she
said. “We were in debt with
the state, taxes — he was just
done.”
She married Bruce Rath,
her long time friend, in
December .
Bruce Rath was also from
Eatonville, but he moved to
Seaside in 2008 after his late
wife, Patty, encouraged him
to buy the park and fulfi ll his
dream of owning an amuse-
ment park. They had been
married for 44 years when
she died in 2015.
The couple supported each
other through the loss of their
spouses and began investing
in the park.
They started building a
new g o-k art track and a new
miniature golf course. The
golf course was completed
in time for s pring b reak, but
then the governor’s stay-
at-home order was put into
effect. They put the construc-
tion of the new g o-k art track
and other projects on hold
because of the loss of income
since closing.
“I’m trying to keep my
spirits up and do what’s right,
but I just don’t know what
they want us to do,” Tammi
Rath said.
seafood processors
have easily lost at least
35% of their revenue
Continued from Page A1
seasonal hires, ready to put
their heads down and slog
through long 10 to 12 hour
days.
Now there are the plexi-
glass dividers some sea-
food processors have
installed to separate work-
ers and prevent the spread
of the coronavirus, tem-
perature sensors and health
screenings . But in the big-
ger picture painted by the
pandemic , Steele said, the
outbreaks at Bornstein
Seafoods and Pacifi c Sea-
food are “just a blip.”
Besides the additional
costs of new safety mea-
sures and protective equip-
ment, hand in hand with
the pandemic come mar-
ket issues, export problems
and shipping delays and
disruptions.
“The impacts of this
whole pandemic over the
last couple of months are
much, much more signif-
icant than anything that’s
happening at these two
facilities,” Steele said.
“This has just given the
industry here, I guess, a
reality check in a way.”
Backed up
As many counties in
Oregon begin to reopen
their economies , the fi shing
industry is feeling the effect
of restaurant closures and
restrictions . Freezers are
backed up with crab, tuna
and all kinds of products.
Some overseas markets
are beginning to remerge,
but many domestic markets
remain in fl ux.
“That’s a huge struggle
and it’s a huge impact, but
everybody wants to stay in
business,” Steele said. “So
the processors still want to
buy fi sh. They still want
to have fi sh to process and
keep the fi shermen work-
ing. It’s a huge supply
chain.”
Impacts to one cor-
ner of the industry echo in
another. For many fi sher-
men, processors are among
their fi rst purchasers.
Nancy Fitzpatrick, the
executive director of Ore-
gon’s salmon and albacore
commissions, has heard
some processors have held
on to whole frozen alba-
core and frozen loins.
Normally
the
fi sh
would have been distrib-
uted over the winter and
spring, but some proces-
sors have struggled to
move the product as differ-
ent markets compressed or
closed down because of the
coronavirus.
“We haven’t started
albacore season yet … so
how that will impact pur-
chase power when the sea-
son comes, I don’t know,”
Fitzpatrick said.
The commercial alba-
core season off the Oregon
C oast typically runs from
June through October, with
the majority of the tuna
landed in August.
Beyond the markets,
the spread of the corona-
virus remains a major con-
cern to crews on the water
and impacts many of their
decisions.
In April, whiting and
groundfi sh fi shery repre-
sentatives pushed for —
and received — a two-
week temporary waiver
from
human,
at-sea
observer coverage require-
ments over concerns about
exposing crews and plant
workers to the coronavirus.
Ahead of the whiting
fi shery opener, the Mid-
water Trawlers Coopera-
tive based in Newport part-
nered with state and local
health offi cials to test all
crew members associated
with the cooperative.
For local salmon fi sh-
ermen, concerns about the
coronavirus means some
are leaving for docks and
fi shing grounds in Alaska
earlier than usual to com-
ply with quarantine mea-
sures in that state.
Leaving earlier
The full economic fall-
out remains unknown and
stimulus and relief money,
while welcome, will not
cover the damage.
A federal stimulus pack-
age allocated $300 million
to fi sheries, $16 million of
which is coming to Ore-
gon as disaster relief funds.
The money can go to com-
mercial fi shing businesses,
charter and for-hire fi shing
businesses, certain aqua-
culture operations, pro-
cessors and other related
businesses.
The initial ask to Con-
gress from the fi shing
industry was for $1.5 bil-
lion for fi shery disaster
relief.
Oregon’s seafood pro-
cessors have easily lost at
least 35% of their revenue
— one of the benchmarks
for possible funding — and
more, Steele said.
Many fi shermen and
fi shing guides are consid-
ered independent contrac-
tors and may not have been
able to qualify for unem-
ployment if their income
has taken a hit because of
the coronavirus.
All of these groups will
be dipping from the same
CARES Act pot.
“It’s not going to be
nearly enough,” Steele
said.
The HEROES Act,
passed last week by the
U.S. House but unlikely
to clear the U.S. Senate,
would provide an addi-
tional $100 million for fi sh-
ery relief funding — sig-
nifi cant but ultimately just
another drop in the bucket,
industry groups say.
Oregon Sea Grant Fish-
eries Extension, associated
with Oregon State Uni-
versity, hopes to track and
document the impacts of
the coronavirus on Ore-
gon’s seafood industry. A
team has sent out a sur-
vey and plans to share the
results with local, state and
federal decision-makers.
“We obviously can’t
guarantee that better deci-
sions will be made — but
we hope that they will at
least be informed deci-
sions,” the team wrote
in an email to fi shing
communities.
For now, Steele expects
safety measures at plants
specifi c to the coronavirus
will need to be in place for
a while.
“O bviously it’s chang-
ing the world,” she said
of the pandemic. “I don’t
think there are many busi-
nesses that after this is all
over are going to go back
to the way it was. I don’t
know where we’re all
going to end up in terms of
permanent changes.”
Family: ‘We’re going to kind of take it up a notch’
Continued from Page A1
will fi ll in and have been
helping her set up plexi-
glass, acquire masks and lay
down the social-distancing
markers.
“There have been a lot of
people stopping by, saying
they’re glad we’re reopen-
ing,” Denise Kinney said.
McDaniel, who took over
the market in 2017, closed
because of fi nancial reasons.
He recently won a prolonged
legal battle with the federal
government over the store’s
inability to accept food
stamps because of a prior
drug conviction long before
he took over the market .
The closure left few
options for groceries down-
town after the departure of
the Astoria Co+op from the
Shark Rock Building on
Duane Street.
The Kinneys said they
have been approved to take
food stamps and hope to
expand the market’s offer-
ings of produce, prepackaged
deli items and other fresh
food . They have discussed
partnering with Main Street
Market in Warrenton to bring
in meats and eventually hope
to add an ice cream machine.
“Some day, I’d like to
make it into a little deli,”
Denise Kinney said.
It will take a while for
people to get used to having
a downtown market again,
Steve Kinney said, but peo-
ple have already been try-
ing to stop by while they’re
refreshing the inside and
adding new signage.
“We’re going to kind of
take it up another notch,” he
said.
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