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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2021)
149TH YEAR, NO. 51 DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2021 $1.50 A new market for squid State regulators rushing to catch up By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Astorian If Joe Mulkey could fi sh for market squid year-round, he would. The emerging Oregon fi shery ticks a lot of boxes for the commercial fi sher- man from Reedsport: the use of seine gear and electronics, and, of course, the recent profi tability. In the p ast fi ve years, the market squid fi shery has moved from almost nonexis- tent to booming. Now boats that would normally fi sh for squid in California’s Monterey Bay have headed north and Ore- gon fi shermen are seeing new opportu- nities in local waters, hunting the small, short-lived animals. Last year, the fi shery saw the high- est participation yet in Oregon and fi sher- men landed more than 10 million pounds. Before fi shing took off in 2016, fi sher- men had only landed 4.5 million pounds in Oregon since 1980. But as market squid surges forward, state fi shery managers are rushing to catch up. In March, the state issued a suite of reg- ulations specifi c to the squid fi shery and plans to discuss further regulations and parameters later this year. On Friday, an advisory panel made up of state fi shery employees and indus- try stakeholders, including Mulkey, met to discuss a number of issues to help inform how the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Com- mission proceeds. As the panel discussed possible gear restrictions, vessel monitoring and changes to how fi shermen might enter the fi shery, one central, unanswerable, issue remained: Will the squid stick around? The long-term sustainability of the fi shery is a question mark. No established quota Oregon’s market squid fi shery has no established quota and no set season. There are no reliable population estimates. No one knows what the squid population off the Oregon C oast really looks like or how it might respond to the shifting ocean con- ditions associated with climate change. See Squid, Page A3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Market squid are an emerging fi shery in Oregon. PUMPKIN TIME TOP: A family takes photos in the pumpkin patch at Rhett’s Ranch in Chinook. LEFT: Shelly Solum poses for a family photo with her grandchildren, from left to right, Stella, 3, Burk, 10 months, and Ember, 1. Photos by Lydia Ely/The Astorian Pandemic weighs on school nurses Greater responsibility to track coronavirus By ETHAN MYERS The Astorian In Staci Brown’s offi ce at Astoria Middle School, there is a whiteboard with the phrase, “It is a no bones day.” It’s a TikTok-inspired theme from an aging New York City pug that means it’s a day to unwind and do something for yourself. But a few minutes before , Brown was notifi ed of a coronavirus case at Astoria High School, and as the school nurse for both schools , there is no time for relaxing. Since the pandemic struck, the day- to-day responsibilities of school nurses have been transformed. While each day is diff erent , school nurses are in charge of monitoring students’ symptoms, assisting in contact tracing and commu- nicating with parents. “When you think about the two fronts that are getting hit hard by this, you have the health care front and the education front, and they’re at the crux of both of those … I know in our dis- trict, we could not have been safe and operating school concurrently with- out their work,” Tom Rogozinski, the superintendent for the Warrenton-Ham- mond School District, said during a news conference in September with other school leaders. Tara Johnson, who handles nursing duties at Astoria elementary schools, has worked in the school district for Lydia Ely/The Astorian A whiteboard referencing a recent TikTok trend is on display in Staci Brown’s offi ce at Astoria Middle School. over three decades. The past year, she said, has been unlike any other. “It’s mostly COVID now,” John- son said . “We don’t want staff or stu- dents here at school if they are not feeling well. It’s a lot of staff asking questions, too … That’s changed a lot, too, because we didn’t usually deal with staff so much. I t was mostly just the kids.” ‘Putting it all into practice’ For Brown, school nursing was meant to be a part-time gig while she settled into her new home in Astoria. Just before the pandemic, the school district increased her hours. Shortly after, it ramped up to full time. “Last year was really hard, keeping up with all the new guidance that was coming out every six weeks. Every- thing was new. W e didn’t really know a lot, trying to stay up on the CDC (Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention) website, the Oregon Health Author- ity website and talking with our health department,” Brown said. “Now that we know a little bit more, that research side is a little bit better, but now it’s put- ting it all into practice because we do have kids back this year.” While there is an overall bet- ter understanding of how to operate through the pandemic, schools have had to constantly adapt to the state’s changing protocols and framework. “As soon as you know what you’re doing, they change the rules,” said Kate Gohr, the principal of Astor Elementary School. When a virus case arises at one of the schools, the nurses, administrators and superintendent drop what they are doing to stay on top of any possible spread. “The fi rst thing is we have good communication with our families,” Brown said. “The health department will try to let us know if they hear of a positive case, but really it’s mostly the parents calling us and them taking that fi rst step.” The team then pulls up seating charts in classrooms and communicates with the positive student or staff member to determine who else they need to reach , including who they rode to school and ate lunch with. They eventually con- duct a video conference call to make sure all the bases are covered. See Nurses, Page A3 A crucial node in the public service network Murphy to retire from sheriff ’s offi ce By ERICK BENGEL The Astorian enae Murphy fi gures she has processed about 60,000 reports as the staff assistant at the Clatsop County Sheriff ’s Offi ce . When deputies respond to calls and work their beats, their encoun- R ters become reports — from lost dogs and simple citations to rob- beries and murders — that fi nd their way to Murphy. She proofreads them, checks their accuracy — making sure, for example, that the dates are correct and the written times sync with the recorded times. If an incident warrants, she sends the report to agencies such as Circuit Court and the district attorney’s offi ce. Lately, she’s been responsible for records requests and background checks. She is a crucial node in the local public service network. After more than 19 years at the sheriff ’s offi ce, Murphy, 58, plans to retire next month. The best part of the job, she said, has been “being part of such a professional team” and interact- ing with the public when they call or come into the offi ce. “I’ll miss that,” she said. Lydia Ely/The Astorian See Murphy, Page A3 Renae Murphy is retiring from the Clatsop County Sheriff ’s Offi ce next month.
