Thirteen Applicants on Governor’s Desk for Two Possible Alaska Council Seats
SEAFOODNEWS.COM By Peggy Parker - February 12, 2016
There are eleven voting members on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, six of which represent Alaska. The majority bloc of Alaskan votes will see at least one new face this year because three-term member Duncan Fields will be stepping down in June.
Fields, from Kodiak, has served three consecutive three-year terms, the maximum allowed. David Long of Wasilla, whose first term also expires this year, could be reappointed. Long has worked in many Alaska fisheries as a skipper and fleet manager.
Whether Governor Walker has one or two new appointments to make, he will have more than a dozen applicants, from Sand Point to Sitka, to choose from.
Alan Austerman may be the most well known. Born and raised in Kodiak, he served as Majority Leader of the State House, and as a first-term Senator, before becoming the Fisheries Policy Advisory to Governor Frank Murkowksi.
Linda Behnken of Sitka has been the executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association for 18 years...
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