THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
SATURDAY EDITION | NOVEMBER 28, 2020 | $1.00
Commercial Dungeness crab season delayed
Community
&
Lifestyle
For the second year in a row,
the Dec. 1 commercial
Dungeness crab season is
delayed until at least Dec. 16 for
the entire Oregon coast as test-
ing shows crabs are too low in
meat yield.
The ocean commercial
Dungeness crab season in
Oregon, targeted to open Dec.
1, can be delayed to ensure a
high-quality product for con-
sumers and to avoid wasting the
resource. Crab quality testing in
early November showed a num-
ber of the test areas did not
meet the criteria for a Dec. 1
opening.
ODFW REGIONAL
FISHING REPORT
The delayed opening will
allow crab to fill with more
meat.
A second round of crab qual-
ity testing will occur after
Thanksgiving and results will be
used to determine if the season
should open Dec. 16, be further
delayed, or be split into areas
with different opening dates.
In partnership with the
Oregon Dungeness Crab
Commission and the commer-
cial Dungeness crab industry,
ODFW tests crab out of
Oregon’s six major crabbing
ports. Weekly season opening
updates are posted online until
the decision to open the season
is made.
Crab were also tested for
domoic acid along the entire
coast, and all samples were
found to be safe for human con-
sumption. However, due to ele-
vated levels of domoic acid
detected in razor clams in some
areas, testing in Dungeness
crabs will continue regularly
north of Cape Perpetua.
In conjunction with the
delayed ocean commercial sea-
son, commercial harvest of
Dungeness crab in Oregon bays
that are currently open will
close at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 1 but
Time
Out
Wilson’s Way
www.dfw.state.or.us/RR
SIUSLAW RIVER: Fall
Chinook
Fall Chinook fishing continues
to be fair on the Siuslaw River.
Most of the fish are staging in
the upper estuary waiting for
more rain. The forecasted rain
this week should stir things up
and get these fish on the move.
Expect good conditions for fall
Chinook fishing after the rain
throughout the Siuslaw River.
NOTE: Reminder, Lake Creek,
a tributary of the Siuslaw River,
is closed to all salmon angling
for the 2020 season due to low
forecasted returns in 2020.
Anglers are reminded that due
to low forecasted returns for the
2020 season bag limits have been
reduced. The bag limit for the
Siuslaw River is 1 wild Chinook
per day and 1 per year for the
2020 season.
Cutthroat trout fishing closed
for the season on Oct. 31. Last
updated 11/4/20.
SILTCOOS and
TAHKENITCH LAKES: Coho
Coho fishing in Siltcoos and
Tahkenitch is still slow but
should improve this week with
the forecasted rain. A good shot
of rain will move more fish into
the lake and get them staging in
the creek arms waiting to spawn.
These fisheries typically pick up
in late October, peak in
November, and fish well into
December. Last updated
11/4/20.
ALSEA RIVER: Fall Chinook
NOTE: The port of Alsea boat
launch in Waldport will be
closed until Nov. 1 and possibly
See
FISHING 3B
Tide Tables
Entrance Siuslaw River
High Tide
Low Tide
Nov. 28
10:18am / 7.7
5:42pm / 5.9
4:19am / 2.7
Nov. 29
10:48am / 3.0
4:55am / 3.0
5:47pm / -0.2
Nov. 30
12:13am / 6.3
11:18pm / 7.9
5:30am / 3.2
6:21pm / -0.4
Dec. 1
12:53am / 6.3
11:50pm / 7.9
6:05am / 3.4
6:56pm / -0.5
may reopen if the ocean com-
mercial fishery opens in
December.
Recreational Dungeness crab
harvest in the ocean off Oregon
opens Dec. 1 as scheduled in all
areas. Recreational crab har-
vesting is currently open coast-
wide in bays and estuaries, and
on beaches, docks, piers, and
jetties.
Recreational crabbers should
always call the Shellfish Hotline
(800-448-2474) or visit the
ODA Recreational Shellfish
Biotoxin Closures webpage
before crabbing.
By Lloyd Little
Retired teacher, coach and
game offi cial
With more than 55 years as an
athlete, coach, parent and specta-
tor, Lloyd Little has gained some
insights and perspectives regarding
athletics. Each week, he shares
what he's learned about sports
from his multiple points of view.
The Offi cial’s Story
COURTESY PHOTO
A brick pathway in commemorates OCHS co-founder Shirley Wilson, utilizing brick pav-
ers and special messages from friends, volunters and OCHS supporters.
Just follow the Wilson brick road
B
ack in the early 1990s,
Florence residents
Shirley Wilson and
Betty Blake began looking for
a cat for Blake to adopt for
her mom. There was no ani-
mal shelter here in Florence
to visit.
So, the two decided to
build one.
Mutual friend Ellen Mick-
lewright asked her architect
husband Richard to design
the building for free. Along
with friends Ann Rhule and
Carol Foster, they formed the
nonprofit Florence Humane
Society, became its board and
started raising money.
As funds grew, they were
able to hire their first profes-
sional administrator and to
build their dream of a safe
place to care for dozens of
wayward dogs and cats await-
ing new homes.
“Shirley? She was cute
and ornery,” said friend Pam
Hyman, a close friend of
Wilson’s. “She and Betty kept
a scrapbook which is still at
the shelter to chronicle their
adventure. It’s quite a history.”
They also started the
humane society’s thrift store
that’s now on Bay Street at
Kingwood in Old Town.
Wilson fostered as many
animals as she could.
“Her family was all back
East so her pets and fosters
were her family here. She did
dog training too for new dog
owners who adopted from
the shelter,” said Hyman.
Wilson passed April 4,
2019, at age 93. Her obituary
said she had “worked in me-
dia sales at KABC in Los An-
geles where she grew to love
her Los Angeles Dodgers.
Friends say, ‘Give her a dog
on her lap and the Dodgers
on TV and she was happy.’”
Friends, fans and others
grateful for Wilson’s work
decided she needed to be
commemorated for her hard
work in founding what is
now the Oregon Coast Hu-
mane Society at 2840 Rhodo-
dendron Dr. in Florence.
“It has taken some time,
but the Shirley Wilson Way
commemorative walkway,
along the front of our shelter,
is being lined with pavers
etched with personal messag-
es from shelter friends and
supporters who recognize the
See
WILSON 3B
I joined the Forest Grove
Referee Association while at-
tending Pacifi c University in
the early 1970s. We were re-
quired to have 16 hours of on-
court instruction to be-come
knowledgeable to court posi-
tioning, mechanics of viola-
tions and offi ciating practice
games.
We also needed to pass the
OSAA rule book test. Once I
became certifi ed, I offi ci-ated
over 200 games in the next
four years. I covered teams
from middle school through
Pacifi c University JV contests.
I was also assigned to referee
city league games when once
talented or untalented adults
tried to make moves they have
seen in the NBA.
Technical fouls are used by
offi cials to keep control of a
sometime unruly game situ-
ation. I used technical fouls
sparingly but can recall two
occasions it became necessary
for me to use my “T” power.
Th e fi rst was during a city
league game in Gresham. Team
A was vastly over-matched in
a game by team B. One player
on Team A was so frustrated
he had to be issued a technical
foul.
When the game ended, they
lost by 50 points, the technical
fouls individual followed me
out the door to confront me.
When he said he thought I
had unfairly favored the other
team, I looked him in the eye,
took off my whistle, held it out
to him and said, “You could
have called this game and still
lost. Your team got placed in a
league too good for it.”
Th e next technical I called
was during a Pacifi c Universi-
ty JV game against Vancouver
Community College. Th e sec-
ond half of a close game was
underway.
While I was sprinting the
sidelines, a profanity was di-
rected at me from the VCC
bench area. I turned and gave
the bench a technical foul.
See
LITTLE 2B
Dec. 2
1:34am / 6.3
12:22pm / 7.8
6:40am / 3.6
7:33pm / -0.5
Dec. 3
2:16am / 6.2
12:58pm / 7.7
7:18am / 3.7
8:13pm / -0.4
Dec. 26
3:01am / 6.2
1:38pm / 7.4
8:02am / 3.8
8:56pm / -0.2
Razor clam closure extended to entire Oregon coast
The Oregon Department
of Agriculture (ODA) and the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife (ODFW) an-
nounce the closure of the re-
mainder of the coast for razor
clamming.
Recent razor clam samples
indicate the marine biotoxin
domoic acid has exceeded the
closure limit.
Razor clam harvesting is
now closed from the Colum-
bia River to the California
border.
ODA recommends you dis-
card and do not eat any razor
clams dug from the Oregon
coast on Nov. 16 as this is
when samples were dug.
Mussel, bay clam, and crab
harvesting is open along the
entire Oregon coast.
ODA will continue to test
for shellfish toxins twice per
month, as tides and weath-
er permit. Reopening areas
closed for biotoxins requires
two consecutive tests with re-
sults below the closure limit.
Contact ODFW for recre-
ational license requirements,
permits, rules and limits.
For more information call
ODA’s shellfish biotoxin safe-
ty hotline at (800) 448-2474,
the Food Safety Division at
(503) 986-4720, or visit the
ODA shellfish biotoxin clo-
sures webpage.