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I'm very pleased that the Portland-centered Think Out Loud has finally headed to the coast where I was born and grew up and where my father was a logger and mother a nurse at Bay Area Hospital.  My parents are still in Coos Bay and my life is still very much shaped by the coast even if I can't find a job there.  

My question though is why didn't TOL interview any of the fishermen in Newport, or the loggers, or the folks who live off the natural resources there (such as farmers, herders, etc)?  I think it's important to bring "new money" and jobs to the coast--I truly do, but you didn't bring anywhere into this conversation the people who have lived there the longest and who have struggled the longest and WAY BEFORE the "economic downturn" that we're currently experiencing.  Furthermore, it would be useful to look beyond the local and address the ways that the federal government has severely limited the ability for fisherman, farmers, and loggers to survive on the coast.  I've seen the destructions of limitations on fishing and logging (even sustainably!), meted out by the federal government with the agreement of state officials, in my home town of Coos Bay and up and down the coast.  Why didn't this come into the discussion?

 If you want to get at the "real" heartbeat of the coast, you would have brought farmers, fishermen, and loggers to your forum.  AS I said, I appreciate the focus on the coast, but only focussing on newcomers and "entreprenuers" is unfortunate and not reflective of the families and individuals like myself who grew up and continue to live on the coast.

Sarah Griffith

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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I'm from Coos Bay, Oregon, and I don't feel that the discussion on marine fisheries reserves has been fair and scientific as Ms. Lubchenko notes.   Most of the discussions cite information about marine reserves from climates such as South Africa and South America, and even southern California.  These are climates very different from ORegon's even if they are scientific.   Currently, this discussion is seeking to shut down fishing on the coast, that many families rely on.  I wonder how Ms. Lubchencko is going to encourage that scientists actually conduct science that is relevant and based on our particular coast rather than citing studies from far off geographies that don't really relate to the Oregon coast?

posted 3 years, 10 months ago
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