A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2022
Lamprey swim past Soda Springs Dam
IN BRIEF
A long-awaited
milestone for species
Suspect sought in
Seaside gun incident
SEASIDE — Police are seek-
ing the whereabouts of Jeremy
Lee Morinville, a 24-year-old
Warrenton man considered a sus-
pect in a gun incident Sunday
afternoon.
At about 2:45 p.m., police
Jeremy Lee
received a report that a gunshot
Morinville
wound victim was being treated at
Providence Seaside Hospital. The
victim had been shot at his home and drove to the hos-
pital for treatment, police said.
The injuries were described as non-life-threatening
and the victim was taken to Portland for continuing care.
The victim and suspect are known to each other,
police said, and police do not believe it was a random
encounter.
Police said Morinville, who was recently released
from prison, should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information on Morinville’s where-
abouts is asked to call 911 or to contact Sgt. Detec-
tive Josh Gregory of the Seaside Police Department at
503-738-6311.
Park district board member resigns
SEASIDE — Erika Marshall has resigned from the
Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District Board, cit-
ing other commitments.
“I don’t really want to resign,” she said. “I just am
being spread too thin at the moment. I have a very
demanding role with Mercy Corps as senior director of
global HR and also have two kids, Jahzara and Maleek
Marshall.”
Over the past few years, she has been coaching soc-
cer, basketball and softball for girls who are now sixth
and seventh graders.
“This is really my passion and I am hoping whatever
extra time I have can be spent coaching and supporting
young female athletes in our community,” she said.
Marshall, who was appointed to the park district’s
Position 4 in 2020 after the resignation of John Chap-
man, was elected in 2021.
— The Astorian
Columbia Riverkeeper challenges
new gas pipeline, generator
The environmental group Columbia Riverkeeper
has fi led a petition challenging the Federal Energy Reg-
ulatory Commission’s approval of the Coyote Springs
Cogeneration Project near Boardman.
According to state and federal energy department
documents, the $32.5 million gas pipeline compressor
station would operate on a 22-acre site at the Port of
Morrow Industrial Park. The plant would have two com-
bustion turbines that would generate 440 average mega-
watts of energy when complete. The project would be
built in phases.
Columbia Riverkeeper seeks a rehearing of the reg-
ulatory commission’s approval. Audrey Leonard, staff
attorney at Columbia Riverkeeper, said the organization
is “taking a stand against another misguided fossil fuel
project.”
— East Oregonian
DEATHS
Aug. 27, 2022
In DYGERT,
Brief
William
Nelson, 71, of Asto-
ria, died in Astoria.
Deaths
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
Aug. 10, 2022
MATTSON,
John
Matthew, 74, of Asto-
ria, died in Astoria.
Caldwell’s
Luce-Lay-
ton Mortuary of Asto-
ria is in charge of the
arrangements.
ON THE RECORD
By COURTNEY FLATT
Northwest News Network
It seemed like a nor-
mal Monday morning. Rich
Grost pulled his truck into
work and went to see what
fi sh had swam past the Soda
Springs Dam on the North
Umpqua River.
He thought he might see
a giant 50-pound C hinook
salmon. What he saw was
even better — after nearly
10 years of waiting.
A Pacifi c lamprey pro-
pelled itself through the
dam’s fi sh ladder.
Grost, an aquatic sci-
entist on Pacifi c Power’s
North Umpqua Hydroelec-
tric Project, and an Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife employee gave
each other a high-fi ve.
Grost said they’d been
waiting for what seemed
like forever to see lamprey
swim past the Soda Springs
D am.
“It seemed like it was
going to be an inevita-
ble event, but it was like:
when, when, when, when?”
he said of the excitement he
felt that morning.
Pacifi c Power installed
this fi sh ladder in 2012 with
lamprey in mind. Lamprey
need wet, rounded corners
to travel up fi sh ladders,
unlike salmon.
However, while salmon
immediately began using
the fi sh ladder, lamprey
wouldn’t make it past the
dam for another 10 years.
Often, fi sh ladders are
designed with 90-degree
angles and jumps for
salmon. However, lam-
prey use their mouths, or
oral discs, to suction and
jump their way up fi sh lad-
ders and waterfalls, such as
Willamette Falls, said Kelly
Coates, the director of nat-
ural resources for the Cow
Creek Band of the Umpqua
Tribe of Indians.
“They just suction cup
their way up the falls. It’s
kind of a unique move.
It requires a lot of core
strength,” Coates said, jok-
ing about the way lamprey
move upstream.
The news of the fi rst
lamprey to get past the
Soda Springs Dam quickly
circulated among the wide
group of people and agen-
cies that had worked to
get lamprey to this point,
around 180 miles inland
from the Pacifi c Ocean.
A few weeks later, a
second lamprey suctioned
itself to the glass fi sh obser-
vation area, perhaps sig-
Pacifi c lamprey are an imperiled species in the Northwest.
‘THEY JUST SUCTION CUP THEIR
WAY UP THE FALLS. IT’S KIND OF
A UNIQUE MOVE. IT REQUIRES
A LOT OF CORE STRENGTH.’
Kelly Coates | director of natural resources for the
Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians
naling more lamprey could
make the journey next
year, said Sam Moyers, a
biologist with the Oregon
Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
“It was pretty late in the
season when they crossed
the dam,” Moyers said.
“Usually, lower in the river,
they would have found their
little hidey hole to hang out
in for the summer.”
Moyers said he hopes
more lamprey will make it
past the Soda Springs Dam
earlier in the season next
year.
“It’s a water temperature
thing, and it’s a numbers
game,” Moyers said.
Pacifi c lamprey are an
imperiled species in the
Northwest. Young lamprey
spend at least fi ve years in
river sediment, fi lter-feed-
ing until they’re able to
migrate out to the ocean.
When adult lamprey
return inland to spawn,
they don’t always return
to the exact location where
they were born, as salmon
do. Scientists believe pher-
omones play a role in the
direction lamprey head,
which is one reason Coates
said she’s excited to see
lamprey making it past
the Soda Springs D am.
Others could follow their
pheromones.
Moreover, Coates said,
lamprey, known as xtàan
in Takelma, the language
of the Cow Creek Band of
the Umpqua Tribe of Indi-
ans, are a culturally import-
ant fi rst food to the tribe.
Their lipid-rich bodies pro-
vide a good source of pro-
tein. Often, people eat lam-
prey dried or smoked.
In addition, I ndigenous
people traditionally use
lamprey oils as hair and
skin moisturizers. People
also use lamprey as tradi-
tional medicines, Coates
said. For example, when
her 1-year-old daughter
began teething, Coates said
she fed her daughter dried
lamprey.
“She slept better that
night than she had in three
nights,” Coates said. “So, I
can personally attest to lam-
prey being good medicine.”
The North Umpqua
River is a usual and accus-
tomed fi shing spot for the
Cow Creek Band of the
Umpqua Tribe of Indi-
ans. Lamprey haven’t been
harvested in this area in a
really long time, she said.
Harvesting lamprey is an
eventual goal once the pop-
ulation is sustainable.
Beyond healing I ndige-
nous people, the return of
lamprey will help heal the
ecosystem, Coates said. In
addition to fi lter-feeding
when they are young, lam-
prey provide food sources
for other fi sh. Adult lam-
prey bring marine-derived
nutrients to the streams in
which lamprey spawn and
die.
The two lamprey that
made it past Soda Springs
Dam could signal a bet-
ter future for lamprey in
the Umpqua River system,
Coates said.
“It’s helping to restore
the balance, putting the
system back on the trajec-
tory to be healthy and func-
tional,” she said.
Getting more lamprey
into colder waters will be
important as climate change
causes warmer waters, said
Bob Nichols, the f orest-fi sh
p rogram manager for the
Umpqua National Forest.
During the 2021 heat dome,
a tremendous number of
lamprey died before spawn-
ing in the South Umpqua
River, Nichols said.
“The access to cool
water habitats are going to
be pretty important in the
future,” Nichols said.
Lamprey numbers in the
Umpqua River system have
been depressed since the
early 1970s.
However, more lamprey
have shown up recently
in the Umpqua River sys-
tem, Moyers said. Almost
1,400 lamprey have shown
up at Winchester Dam on
the North Umpqua River,
around 118 miles from the
Pacifi c Ocean.
“That’s the highest count
we’ve had since 1986,”
Moyers said.
Those numbers likely
contributed to a few lam-
prey making it farther
upstream into the North
Umpqua system and to the
Soda Springs Dam, Moy-
ers said.
Coates said lamprey
don’t have any passage bar-
riers on the main stem of
the South Umpqua River
so they can get close to the
river’s headwaters. Now
that lamprey have passed
the Soda Springs Dam, they
can get to the headwaters of
the North Umpqua River as
well.
“This expands their
range,” she said.
Barriers in the river,
such as dams and culverts,
are one of the biggest prob-
lems for lamprey, Coates
said. The Pacifi c Lamprey
Conservation Initiative, for
which Coates is the tribal
co-chair, works with land-
owners to remove or mod-
ify passage barriers to make
rounded corners.
“Passage barriers are
one of the main reasons we
don’t see Pacifi c lamprey in
more places,” Coates said.
Assault
Alvarez, 27, of Gearhart,
On
the
• Evelyn
Rose Record
Moss, was arrested on Saturday
22, of Warrenton, was
arrested on Saturday on
S.E. Marlin Avenue in
Warrenton for fourth-de-
gree assault.
• Evan Thomas Burt, 33,
of Hammond, was arrested
on Saturday on Lake Drive
in Hammond for fourth-de-
gree assault constituting
domestic violence.
Theft
• Beau Dewayne Goli-
ghtly, 35, of Astoria, was
arrested on Saturday at
Fred Meyer in Warrenton
for second-degree theft.
• Keana Christine
at Fred Meyer in War-
renton for second-degree
theft.
• Jerry L. Buckhan-
non, 43, of Hillsboro,
was arrested on Aug. 23
at Walmart in Warrenton
for second-degree theft.
• Robyn L. Rasmus-
sen, 42, of Lafayette, was
arrested on Aug. 23 at
Walmart in Warrenton for
second-degree theft.
• Randolph Ross
Searls, 64, of Warrenton,
was arrested on Aug. 21
at Walmart in Warrenton
for fi rst-degree theft.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Gearhart City Council, 6:30 p.m., work session, (electronic
meeting).
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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Oregon angler has
caught more than 1,000
diff erent species of fi sh
By ALLISON FROST
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Luke Ovgard has been
fi shing for as long as he can
remember — literally. He told
Oregon Public Broadcasting’s
“Think Out Loud” that one of
his very earliest memories was
going on a long fi shing trip
with his dad when he was 3 .
“I did eventually hook a
fi sh, but I had no idea what
to do. So instead of reeling it
in, I just sort of backed up to
the bank a little bit higher with
each step until I pulled the fi sh
onto the bank. And then that
would become our dinner later
that night.”
Ovgard is now a writer and
a high school teacher in s outh-
ern Oregon, but he’s never
stopped fi shing. But it wasn’t
until about fi ve years ago that
he started carefully keeping
track of the number of fi sh spe-
cies he caught. That put him in
a niche community known as
“species hunters,” anglers who
catch and catalog their fi sh
before releasing them.
Ovgard caught his 1,000th
fi sh species in mid-July,
becoming only the sixth in the
world to make that mark. He
calls his endeavor his “Spe-
ciesQuest,” which he writes
columns and blogs about. His
Instagram is all fi sh, all the
time.
Aside from the thrill of
the hunt, he feels this kind of
fi shing has a much deeper
purpose.
“Every single species mat-
ters whether or not it has com-
mercial value,” Ovgard says.
“Whether or not it’s small or
ugly, it deserves to be pro-
tected and to have its story
told.”
Ovgard says that because
he can focus on lesser-known
species, he’s able to share data
with biologists and research-
ers — data like migration and
feeding patterns, invasive spe-
cies monitoring, and even new
populations of fi sh.
“I’m not alone in this,
either,” Ovgard says. “It’s a
Luke Ovgard holds a yelloweye rockfi sh he caught and
released in summer 2021.
fairly common occurrence
in this subset of the fi shing
community.”
Ovgard says for him,
“That’s one of the beauti-
ful things about this type of
fi shing.”
The number of fi sh spe-
cies he’s caught now numbers
1,101 — and he has no inten-
tion of putting away his fi shing
gear anytime soon.
10K RUN/WALK
SUNDAY, OCT. 9
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