Tag Archives: Port of Astoria

Port of Astoria: Twelve more workers test positive for Coronavirus at Bornstein Seafoods

Clatsop County reported Friday that 12 more workers at Bornstein Seafoods in Astoria have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the outbreak to 26. The county Public Health Department began testing workers at the seafood processor on May 2 after the company informed the county on May 1 that an employee had tested positive for the virus. Bornstein Seafoods has shut down two plants at the Port of Astoria in response to the outbreak and advised employees to self-isolate at home. The Bornstein Seafoods outbreak rippled across Astoria. >click to read< 09:25

Mickey Sisk Jr. paints the outriggers on the F/V Swell Rider

Coronavirus undercuts Port of Astoria’s progress

Will Isom, the Port’s executive director, has focused on low-cost projects that benefit the agency and keep staff busy during a massive drop-off in business caused by the coronavirus.,, Bornstein and Da Yang seafood companies, which employ hundreds of people processing, freezing and shipping catch on Pier 2, have so far kept operating while checking workers’ temperatures, increasing sanitation and enacting more social distancing. “It is a constant concern and effort,” said Andrew Bornstein, co-owner of Bornstein Seafoods with his family. “We have installed partitions, spaced out lines, broken up lunch and dinner breaks to have less people in the lunchroom at a time.” Commercial Dungeness crab prices were already hurt by China’s travel restrictions and ban of live-animal imports during the coronavirus outbreak. >click to read< 09:31

Investment in a boatyard. Port of Toledo offers strategic lessons for Astoria

Marine workers, business leaders and politicians gathered earlier this month to watch the trawler Pegasus get lowered into the Yaquina River from the former Sturgeon Bend Boat Works, a shuttered boatyard acquired from Fred Wahl Marine Construction in 2010 by the Port of Toledo. Widening and modernizing the vessel took more than 10 months, $3 million and tens of contractors. Purchasing and developing the boatyard has cost Toledo more than $10 million, largely from state grants and loans.Toledo’s vision to turn the boatyard into a thriving economic generator offers lessons to the Port of Astoria. >click to read<  22:55

Protected sea lions causing trouble at Northwest ports

A big rebound in the sea lion population along the West Coast in recent years has created a constant battle to wrangle the protected animals. They’re smart and fun to watch from a safe distance, but also noisy, smelly and proving to be a headache for some coastal marinas.  “It’s a free zoo kind of, just don’t pet ‘em!” observed Dennis Craig of Olympia,,, The flip side of these flippered fish fiends can be seen in the mounting bill to the marina, including the cost of busted docks, broken electric stanchions and lost business. >click to read<09:05

Boat owner responds to Port of Astoria lawsuit

A boat owner being sued by the Port of Astoria for abandoning his vessel shot back recently,,,,The Port sued Nick Mathias, a California resident and owner of the Coastwise, claiming he fell behind on moorage before sending a letter in September notifying the agency he would be abandoning the vessel. Mathias claims the Port in 2014 was charging him $2,000 annually for moorage fees, raising it to $3,000 the next year, $9,600 the third year and finally $37,000. The Port has closed all access to the East Mooring Basin causeway because of a rotting substructure, leaving a dwindling group of boat owners to reach their vessels by skiff. >click to read<18:53

A full range of emotions regarding sea lions was on display Tuesday at the Port of Astoria!

Port of Astoria Commissioner Bill Hunsinger marshaled his fellow commercial fishermen Tuesday to talk about what the agency can do to stop sea lions from ruining fishing on the Columbia River. Hunsinger added the Sea Lion Committee to he Port Commission agenda for the meeting Tuesday, which was packed to the gills with commercial and guide fishermen who largely feel the river’s endangered salmon runs, and by extension their livelihoods, are threatened by pinnipeds. In the front row was a small contingent from the Sea Lion Defense Brigade,,, Read the article here 13:47

‘You can’t make this stuff up.’ Fake Killer Whale goes Belly Up in effort to drive Sea Lions from the Port of Astoria!

John Wifler, pilot of the fake killer whale was bearing down on some sea lions when his unusual vessel capsized in the wake of a large cargo vessel.  He had to clamber through an escape hatch as a rescue tender raced out to save him from drowning. Port of Astoria Executive Director Jim Knight said the sea lions ‘got deathly silent’ when the giant killer whale sailed into view. There are serious environmental concerns associated with the sea lions: ‘They basically create 10 to 30 pounds of poop a day.’ (from eating salmon)  Video, photos, Read the rest here 12:19