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July 13, 2018
T he C olumbia P ress
OCFF: Company facilitates cooperation between fishermen and cable companies
the OFCC was born.
Prior to the OFCC’s forma-
Scott McMullen was an ac-
tive fisherman and he and tion, and continuing in most
others received a certified parts of the world, cable
letter from the cable compa- companies ask fishermen to
ny that threatened lawsuits stop trawling over their ca-
if they didn’t stay away from bles. Many fishermen ignore
a two-mile-wide strip above the requests and some cause
the cable. It encompassed 80 damage.
In response, cable owners
square miles of prime fishing
sometimes file law-
area.
suits to recover dam-
“We felt this was a
ages, and to make an
situation that could
example of the “of-
get out of hand if we
fenders.”
had any more ca-
“In 20 years, we ha-
bles,” said McMullen,
ven’t had a single ca-
founder and chairman
ble break,” McMullen
of OFCC.
said. “No fisherman
The very next cable
McMullen has hit a cable. In
application drove fish-
ermen to band together in most of the world, that’s just
hopes of saving their indus- unheard of.”
Today there are 17 cables
try.
“Fortunately, we had a very off Oregon, some connect to
creatively thinking project Alaska, others to California,
manager for the cable com- Hawaii, and Australia.
A cable for science study
pany,” McMullen said. “We
developed a pact, or agree- goes to the Axial Seamount
volcano 300 miles off Sea-
ment.”
The basic principle allows side.
“When we meet, we lis-
fishermen to fish over bur-
ied cables and requires them ten to each other and, in 20
to stay away from areas with years, we have never had
a split vote on an issue be-
unburied cable.
That company, MCI World- cause of the respect we have
com, built a landing station for one another,” McMullen
that allowed other companies said of the OFCC board. “If
to hook into their system and one person disagrees with a
tions have joined the alliance
to protect fishing grounds
and subsea cable infrastruc-
ture, which is the backbone
of the internet.
The OFCC’s stated goals:
• To continue communica-
tion, coordination and coop-
eration between members of
the Oregon commercial fish-
ing and fiber-optic cable in-
dustries,
• To minimize interference
with commercial fishing ac-
tivities,
• To have a 24-hour hotline
for fishermen to call if they
find their gear is stuck near a
submarine cable,
• To release fishermen from
liability for accidental dam-
age to a cable provided they
follow a set of simple proto-
cols established by the fisher-
men’s cable committee
Because the OFCC works so
well and closely with trawl-
ers, cable companies, and
state government agencies, it
has made Oregon a desirable
place to land undersea cables
and has an excellent record of
keeping cable safe from dam-
age by fishing gear, McMul-
len said.
Companies looking to lay
a cable off Oregon receive
assistance from OFCC fish-
ermen in finding routes that
will provide good burial.
The cooperation between
industries helps speed the
state permit process as well.
Oregon has one of the short-
est permit processes in the
nation.
based on the food’s energy
density. In the study, cats had
24-hour food access.
Food
container
place-
ment for both dogs and cats
was changed daily to guard
against “bowl position bias.”
The researchers found the
cats on average chose to get
43 percent of their calories
from carbs and 30 percent
from protein.
Dogs went for 41 percent fat
and 36 percent carbs.
Not a single dog or cat chose
to get the highest percentage
of its calories from protein.
“Because the choice of mac-
ronutrients was influenced
in both dogs and cats by age
and either lean body mass or
fat body mass, that suggests a
physiological basis for what
they chose to eat,” Hall said.
Continued from Page 1
Above: FV South
Bay, based out of
Warrenton Marina,
serves as patrol boat
for the cable ship
Global Sentinel during
cable installation off
Pacific City last fall.
Left: The forward
bridge of a cable
company’s vessel.
Courtesy OFCC
proposal, we modify it until
all can support it or we drop
it.”
Tech companies such as
Google and Microsoft, as well
as telecom giants like Verizon
and Tata Telecommunica-
Pets: OSU study found interesting food choices
Continued from Page 1
high-fat, high-carbohydrate,
high-protein and balanced
foods. Each day, dogs had an
hour to eat all they wanted up
to a predetermined caloric in-
take – that is, they could get
all the calories they needed
for metabolic requirements
and to maintain weight, but
no more.
The cats in the study were
likewise not allowed to over-
eat, though even when given
unlimited access, cats tend to
eat in a weight-maintenance
way by adjusting their intake