The IPHC nominees include incumbent Alaska representatives Linda Behnken, of Sitka, Alaska and Bob Alverson, of Seattle, Wash., whose terms are expiring.
Behnken, a veteran longliner, is the president of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, and a former member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Alverson, the general manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association, is also a former member of NPFMC.
Other nominees include:
• Stephen Joner, of Port Angeles, Wash., who is the chief biologist for Makah fisheries management with the Makah Tribe.
• Richard Yamada, of Juneau, Alaska, owner/ operator of a sport-fishing lodge in Southeast Alaska.
• Andy Mezirow, of Seward, Alaska, who is a charter boat captain, fisheries manager and serves on the NPFMC.
• Duane Edelman, of Valdez, Alaska, also a commercial harvester, employed as a mechanical maintenance technician for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
The IPHC nominees must be vetted by the Department of Commerce and State Department, then forwarded for consideration for presidential appointments.
Mezirow, whose appointment on the NPFMC expires in August, is also nominated for reappointment to the council. The two seats opening at IPHC include Mezirow’s and that of current council chairman Dan Hull, of Anchorage, Alalska who can’t be reappointed following the end of his third term on the council.
Other NPFMC nominees include
• Paul Gronholdt, of Sand Point, a commercial harvester;
• Greg Indroeland, manager of Yakutat Seafoods in Yakutat, Alaska;
• John Jensen, of Petersburg, Alaska, a commercial harvester and chairman of the Alaska Board of Fisheries;
• Dan Falvey, of Sitka, Alaska, a veteran harvester and project coordinator for the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association; and
• Tom Panamaross, of Kodiak, Alaska, regional and legislative affairs executive with Koniag, Inc., the regional Native association for the Kodiak region of Alaska.
Walker has also appointed Duncan Fields, of Kodiak, and reappointed Orville Huntington, of Huslia, Alaska, to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, pending approval from the state Legislature.
Fields, a veteran harvester and attorney, completed a third term with NPFMC in 2016. Huntington, whose term expires on June 30, is the wildlife and parks director for the Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks.