Port 1 considers buoys, marina user concerns

Port District 1 commissioners discussed navigational buoys and marina user concerns at their March 8 meeting.

Puget Island commercial fisherman Mike Backman told the commissioners he had talked with some fishermen who don’t care for Freshwater News, a publication available to read in the marina office, because they feel it represents an anti-commercial fishing viewpoint. He suggested subscribing to the Columbia River Gillnetter and displaying both publications.

Port Manager Jackie Lea explained that the port does receive a copy of the Gillnetter but it is frequently stolen from the office.

“There’s a lot of good things in (Freshwater News),” said Commissioner Brett Deaton, adding, “I would absolutely not outlaw it from being in the office.”

Commissioner Gary Quigley said he would take care of getting another copy of Columbia River Gillnetter in the port office.

"I appreciate that," said Backman.

Backman added that some fishermen have expressed to him that they have had difficulties reserving space for their boats during spring salmon season.

Assistant Port Manager Abe York responded that the marina requests both sport boats and commercial boats to call in advance and that reservations are made on a first-come-first-served basis. “Those who do, commercial and sport, can usually get a spot,” said York.

Quigley, who is a commercial fisherman, said “you’ve got to have rules; it’s spring season. There are boats everywhere.”

Deaton said he asked for the commission to discuss Cathlamet Channel’s navigation buoys in response to groundings by yacht clubs coming to the marina. The area around buoy 5, located on the upriver stretch of the Cathlamet Channel, has experienced severe shoaling, said Deaton. He suggested the port write a letter to the Coast Guard expressing concern about the shoaling.

Deaton displayed the Local Notice to Mariners that the Coast Guard’s Navigation Information Service puts out weekly via email. The notice referenced the shoaling and urged boaters to use caution in the area and to cross it at high tide.

"You can’t run the buoys anymore, especially from 5 to 7," he explained.

Deaton said he believed the Coast Guard would not move the buoy and incur the subsequent liability without resurveying the area. “But somebody would have to pay for that,” he added.

“We could put our own buoy out there. Port #2 does that in Deep River,” suggested Quigley.

“That’s risky,” said Deaton.

Lea reported that she would be attending a Corps of Engineers meeting for Columbia River stakeholders on March 23 and said she would bring up the shoaling and the buoy. She encouraged the commissioners to attend.

“Our customers think that we should be doing something about the buoys,” she said.