A4
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, July 14, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
SAMANTHA STINNETT
Circulation Manager
SARAH SILVER
Advertising Sales Manager
GUEST COLUMN
Remembering a Renaissance man
D
wight Caswell was a big man.
Big in so many ways.
We walked together. Trav-
eled down into deep canyons, both
physically and metaphorically. Stood
atop pueblos, crossed Death Val-
ley, and slogged along dune tops like
freemen.
Our little caravan was seeking the
next camera shot, the next adventure.
He carried heavy equipment, a Has-
selblad camera, tripod
and a bag of lenses.
Like a big-game hunter,
he knew his equip-
ment intimately; when
to shoot, hold up, and
race — heart pumping
for the perfect photo
DAVID
— into the heart of the
CAMPICHE
lion’s den.
Dwight did a stint
as our bartender in the Shelburne Pub
in Seaview, Washington, before he
became a pastor. He was a believer. He
ministered to the souls of the less for-
tunate, to the sick and hungry, to his
congregation and to friends.
He was guided by keen intelligence
and a moral dictate. He knew right
from wrong, and he never let truth fall
far from the source. That is, unless to
illuminate a comic relief moment or
a wry joke. He liked to tease. I like to
tease, and at times our combined teas-
ing rose to an artful level, especially
with our customers at the pub.
“This is my twin brother,” I would
say to an unsuspecting guest. He was
6-foot-4 and I languish under 5-foot-
7. “But we’re not identical twins,” he
would reply. “I got the brains, David
the hair.”
“Yes,” I would counter, “but Dwight
can’t row a boat in a straight line.” And
on we went.
Photographing together, Dwight
Dwight Caswell with his camera at Teal Slough.
taught me patience. I would shoot
dozens of photos of a winter storm
at Beards Hollow, Benson Beach, or
somewhere in the great spread of sil-
ver waters lapping in and out of Wil-
lapa Bay. Dwight waited patiently for
the right light, the right shadow, the
perfect second when the topsy-turvy
waves curled into a deranged ball of
fury, crashing down as if to proclaim,
“I’m boss here.”
He had fine teachers: the legend-
ary Brett Weston and Ansel Adams. He
was a good listener, an adept student.
But ultimately he was the great teacher,
himself.
He loved his San Francisco 49ers.
I backed the Seattle Seahawks. It was
hard to lose simply because of the
good-hearted retribution that rattled the
walls of our living room, postgame.
“Pay up, Campiche.”
“Pay up, Caswell, you cheap putz!”
“Dunce.”
“Moron.”
Yes, grumpy old men, happily wag-
ging their index fingers at each other.
Then we would laugh together and
hug.
To the very end before his death on
Friday, his courage and wit did not des-
ert him. Nor did the twinkle in his eyes.
His wife, Rhonda, offered her stead-
fast support and loving presence.
Moral integrity followed him like a
friendly spaniel. I considered him a
truth-teller, an artist, gourmet, seeker,
gardener of both plants and souls.
I will miss him, my buddy. Miss his
appetite, his palate. His shepherding.
Pastoring with a sense of humor. A pro-
clivity to open his heart to Jesus Christ,
and, to a lesser degree, to the wisdom
of the Buddha or the Dalai Lama. Or
Bill Moyer. He was an open book and
praised kindness and intelligence.
Kindness is as kindness does. He
remains my dear friend.
David Campiche is a potter, poet,
writer and lifelong resident of the Long
Beach Peninsula.
GUEST COLUMN
Keeping albacore on local menus requires leadership
By DAVE GERSHMAN
and RAY CLARKE
S
ummer is here and family barbecues
will be in full bloom, with albacore
tuna being a tradition for many peo-
ple in the Pacific Northwest for genera-
tions. To keep this tradition, along with
the important jobs and nutrition that this
valuable species provides, we need to
modernize how albacore is managed.
Even though scientists estimate that the
albacore tuna population is healthy, chal-
lenges exist and new threats are on the
horizon, from forecast increases in local
ocean temperatures to other countries that
might want to increase their catch.
With their streamlined, torpedo-shaped
bodies and high metabolisms, alba-
core tuna can swim at speeds upward
of 30 mph, journeying far across the
entire North Pacific. Because these fish
are highly migratory, it takes interna-
tional cooperation among fishing nations,
through vital regional fishery management
organizations.
What many believe is needed to safe-
guard the albacore fishery for future gen-
erations is an agreement on a management
procedure, also known as a harvest strat-
egy. A management procedure is a mod-
ern approach that involves working with
all the stakeholders to set a vision for the
fishery, then develop standards for assess-
ing the fishery performance, and develop
harvest control rules — which are pre-
determined actions to keep the fishery
healthy. The process is agreeing on the
rules of the game before it’s played. It
marries scientists, fishermen and govern-
mental regulators to an aligned common
objective.
Fortunately, setting a harvest strategy
for albacore tuna has already started, but
this year is critical. Considerable work has
been undertaken since 2015 to identify a
host of objectives, including to maximize
catch while keeping a sustainable amount
of albacore tuna in the North Pacific.
This also included testing what may
be a hypothetical range and catch limits
to see how they impact the status of the
stock. This approach also tests assump-
tions and incorporates uncertainties about
the fishery and environment. What if the
stock becomes less productive because of
environmental conditions in the future?
What if another country ramps up its
catches quickly?
The good news: With the right strategy
in place, one that includes preagreed har-
vest control rules to keep fishing levels
consistent and commensurate with popula-
tion size, computer simulations show that
Luke Whittaker/Chinook Observer
Dock workers in Ilwaco unload albacore tuna in 2020.
North Pacific albacore will stay healthy.
Now, it’s time for the United States
to show leadership and work with other
countries, such as Canada and Japan, to
bring a proposal to adopt and implement
a management procedure to the regional
fishery management organizations, start-
ing with the meeting of the Inter-Ameri-
can Tropical Tuna Commission in August
and following with the Western and Cen-
tral Pacific Fisheries Commission later in
the year. These two organizations share
responsibility for setting fishing rules
across the North Pacific, and should ide-
ally adopt mirrored strategies to achieve
a common approach to albacore that
migrate across this area.
These actions also could spark the
cooperation needed to make more prog-
ress in adopting a management procedure
LETTERS WELCOME
Letters should be exclusive to The
Astorian. Letters should be fewer
than 250 words and must include the
writer’s name, address and phone
number. You will be contacted to
confirm authorship. All letters are
subject to editing for space, gram-
mar and factual accuracy. Only two
letters per writer are allowed each
month. Letters written in response
to other letter writers should address
the issue at hand and should refer to
the headline and date the letter was
published. Discourse should be civil.
Send via email to editor@dailyasto-
rian.com, online at bit.ly/astorianlet-
ters, in person at 949 Exchange St.
in Astoria or mail to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR.,
97103.
for the southern stock of Pacific albacore
that is a vitally important source of jobs
and income to the United States’ territory
of American Samoa.
So often, the challenges facing our
oceans are seen as insurmountable, and
industry and conservation organizations
are pitted against one another in terms of
which way to go. Although there are real
challenges facing the albacore fishery, sus-
tainable management relies on a host of
policies and groups working together.
We — and our organizations — agree
that modernizing this fishery through
the management procedure approach is
achievable and the right step to maintain a
productive fishery for years to come.
Dave Gershman is an officer in interna-
tional fisheries at The Ocean Foundation,
a nonprofit that supports and promotes
organizations dedicated to reversing the
trend of destruction of ocean environments
around the world.
Ray Clarke is the vice president, fisher-
ies management and government affairs at
Bumble Bee Seafoods.