Clarification
The article below posted on Septemeber 14th about a replacement for Arne Fuglvog, former fisheries advisor to Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, stated: “Murkowski’s office has declined to offer names of any of those being considered, but industry sources expressed concern that the Washington State-based Freezer Longliner Coalition in Seattle had been asked to provide a list of potential candidates for the job.”
Kenny Down, Executive Director of the Freezer Longline Coalition in Seattle, says his group has never been asked to provide a list of potential candidates for the job as the story suggests.
Down says the story of Arne Fuglvog’s resignation was widespread, and the Freezer Longline Coalition, like many if not most industry representatives with large percentages of Alaskan Members, urged qualified Alaskan candidates to apply for the position. He notes that the high-level position requires extensive knowledge of the Alaskan fisheries, North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and Alaska’s Board of Fish among other things, and that it will be a difficult position to fill, but that his group has not been asked to provide a list of names.
Chris Philips, Managing Editor, Fishermen’s News
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska has yet to announce who will fill the vacancy left by the departure of her fisheries advisor, Arne Fuglvog, following his plea agreement after breaking federal commercial fishing laws. An aide to the senator said that the search for the right person was expedited during the recent congressional recess and that they were working on a short list.
Murkowski’s office has declined to offer names of any of those being considered, but industry sources expressed concern that the Washington State-based Freezer Longliner Coalition in Seattle had been asked to provide a list of potential candidates for the job. According to those sources, Stefanie Moreland, federal fisheries coordinator and right-hand lady to Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game Core Campbell is on top of the list. Also reportedly on the short list are Sarah Melton, a fisheries analyst with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage, and Kevin Adams, a commercial fisherman and board member of United Fishermen of Alaska. Moreland and Adams did not initially respond to messages left for them, Melton, who holds a natural resource manage, environmental law certificate from the Lewis and Clark Law School, said she had not been contacted by Murkowski’s staff but that she was approached by those in the industry about the job. Melton spoke with enthusiasm about her role in crafting analytical documents for the federal council needed for decision making, and applauded what she described as the balance of conservation and progressive development taken in the council’s approach to fisheries issues. She expressed particular enthusiasm for her opportunities both at the council and in teaching a business law course at the University of Alaska Anchorage in helping commercial harvesters become more effectively active in the business and politics of fisheries.