The Columbia Press
February 19, 2021
3
Strong management of fisheries works, oversight committee contends
Rigorous management prac-
tices have helped rebuild de-
pleted fish stocks worldwide,
according to a new report.
Nine of ten West Coast
groundfish stocks have suc-
cessfully rebuilt since the
stocks were declared over-
fished or depleted in 1999.
Most recently, the stock of
cowcod was declared rebuilt,
or at sustainable levels, in
2019, decades ahead of the
expected date. Only one fish,
the yelloweye rockfish, is un-
der a rebuilding plan, and yel-
loweye are rebuilding faster
than expected, according to a
2017 rebuilding analysis.
“Identifying
Management
Actions that Promote Sustain-
able Fisheries” was published
recently in the journal “Nature
Sustainability.”
Greater investment in fisher-
ies management leads to bet-
ter outcomes for fish and the
fisheries they support, accord-
ing to Chuck Tracy, executive
director of the Pacific Fishery
Management Council, which
manages commercial and rec-
reational ocean fisheries on the
West Coast.
The agency was one of 24 in-
ternational management and
research entities collaborating
on the study.
The study was led by Michael
Melnychuk, a research scien-
tist at the School of Aquatic
and Fishery Sciences at the
University of Washington.
“Rebuilding these overfished
stocks was a painful process
for West Coast fishermen,”
Tracy said. “This study shows
that their short-term sacrifices
paid off in the long run, leading
to more sustainable fisheries
for future generations.”
Beginning in 2000, the Pa-
cific council adopted stringent
management measures to
achieve stock rebuilding suc-
cess, including large area clo-
Cindy Yingst/The Columbia Press
Commercial fishing vessels dock at Warrenton Marina.
sures; low annual catch limits,
quotas, and harvest guidelines;
gear modifications; retention
prohibitions or limitations;
and adaptive management
practices responsive to closely
monitored fishery impacts and
stock fluctuations.
The management practices
are key to promote sustainable
fisheries, according to the Uni-
To learn more
Read more of this story at
thecolumbiapress.com
versity of Washington study.
“Rebuilding these stocks re-
quired collaboration between
a lot of different people, from
fishermen to scientists to envi-
ronmentalists,” council Chair
Marc Gorelnik said. “It was a
tough process, but in rebuild-
ing these stocks, we also built
long lasting, valuable relation-
ships. Responsible fisheries
management requires sacri-
fices, but it pays off. This is a
really hopeful story.”
According to Melnychuk, the
study confirmed what many
researchers already expected.
“In general, we found that
more management attention
devoted to fisheries is leading
to better outcomes for fish and
shellfish populations,” he said.
“While this wasn’t surprising,
the novelty of this work was in
assembling the data required
and then using statistical tools
to demonstrate what everyone
has always taken for granted to
be true.”
Research was funded by
The Nature Conservancy, The
Wildlife Conservation Society,
the Walton Family Founda-
tion, and a consortium of Seat-
tle fishing companies.
Innovators: Couple opens small-business incubator lab in Warrenton
Continued from Page 1
room with welding and met-
allurgy equipment, and a
computer lab. Soon he’ll have
a certified kitchen for bakers
and others who want to sell
food to the public.
Eventually,
walls
and
shelves in the space will be
filled with works by artists
and others that can be pur-
chased by the public. Money
from sales could be used to
help support the artists or
to pay for time using equip-
ment.
“My idea was, ‘let’s use all
the stuff we have at home
and let people use it to create
stuff,’ ” Nina said. “We’re just
excited to let people create
and do whatever they want.”
Travis, 35, was born in As-
toria and graduated from
Warrenton High School in
2003. Nina, 32, is a 2006
WHS graduate.
He has built up their finan-
Vegabond 3D
The new business is at
7 N. Highway 101, next to
The UPS Store.
Visitors are encouraged
during this month’s daily
open house tours. “Mak-
erspace” work areas and
memberships officially
begin March 1.
For more information,
call 503-861-8530.
Cindy Yingst/The Columbia Press
Work spaces and sewing machines line the wall of one room at
Vegabond 3D.
cial stability working remote-
ly as a systems developer for
Sweden-based Ericsson, one
of the world’s premier infor-
mation and communication
technology companies. But
no one starts at the top.
He began teaching himself
computer programming as
a child. At 15, he established
his first small business. His
early adulthood was spent
working in the canneries and
then for several medical com-
panies.
His love of technology and
drive to learn new skills led
him to acquire many tools,
both mentally and physically.
He continues to teach himself
new skills and is working on
a smart watch that could help
those with childhood trau-
mas or mental roadblocks re-
train how they think.
“This is my workshop and
I’m opening it up to others,”
he said.
The couple is eager to share
what they know, helping oth-
ers to become successful.
In addition to work tools,
their space is filled with self-
help and self-train books and
STEM- or science-based toys
for children.
“We really want to appeal
to anybody and everybody,”
Nina said.
They will mentor those
wanting to learn new things
or start businesses of their
own.
And they want to teach chil-
dren to be thinkers. Their
own children, Candace, 14,
Xan, 12, and Xavier, 9, are
home-schooled and spend
part of their day learning
in Vegabond’s computer
lab. Plans are to organize
weekly community days for
home-schoolers at the center.
“The universe just told me
to do it,” Travis said of the
new work center. “I realized
this is what I’d been doing
all these years, working up to
this.”