newsmakers – Fishermens News

At-Sea Processors CEO Madsen to Retire in December, Tinning to Assume Role

30Oct

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At-Sea Processors CEO Madsen to Retire in December, Tinning to Assume Role

Seafood industry veteran Stephanie Madsen is retiring as CEO of the At-Sea Processors Association (APA) at year’s end. Matt Tinning has been tapped as the organization’s next CEO, with Caitlin Yeager joining APA as vice president of policy and engagement. The upcoming changes were announced Oct. 28. Madsen began working in the seafood industry more than 40 years ago after moving to Unalaska. She served two terms on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council—four years as the first woman chair—and as vice president of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association. She has been executive director of APA for the past 18 years. APA President Jim Johnson noted that when Madsen arrived in Dutch Harbor over four decades ago, the Alaska pollock industry was in its infancy. Madsen's ...

NOAA Names New Head of Law Enforcement Office

25Sep

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NOAA Names New Head of Law Enforcement Office

U.S. Coast Guard veteran James Binniker on Sept. 23 took office as the new director of the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, charged with protecting the nation's protected marine resources, places and habitats, and promoting sustainable fisheries management. Prior to joining NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement as assistant director in 2022, Binniker served for 26 years in the Coast Guard. His work ran the gamut of law enforcement, search and rescue, environmental pollution response, and maritime security operations on multiple ships and shore-based commands. In his last assignment as the chief of the Fisheries Enforcement Division in the Office of Maritime Law Enforcement Policy, he oversaw Coast Guard units conducting domestic fisheries enforcement, marine resource protection, and co...

Three Alaskans Receive Bristol Bay Corp.’s ‘Fish First’ Awards

18Sep

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Three Alaskans Receive Bristol Bay Corp.’s ‘Fish First’ Awards

The Indigenous-owned, Anchorage-based Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) honored three Alaskans recently during the seventh Bristol Bay Wild Salmon celebration in Washington, D.C. The Fish First honors announced Sept. 16 were for those who support and champion Bristol Bay and its wild salmon. This year’s honors went to Tim Troll, Triston Chaney and the late Mary Olympic. Troll is the executive director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust, which he helped create in 1999 to preserve places of cultural and biological importance in the Bristol Bay region. Chaney is a flyfishing guide from Dillingham who has fished commercially with his family to help pay his way through college. Olympic, who died in 2015, was a respected Aleut/Yup'ik elder from Igiugig, whose life represente...

11Sep

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Former Microsoft Executive Named COO of Trident Seafoods

Former Microsoft executive Mike Quinn, a member of Trident Seafoods’ board of directors, has been appointed as the company’s new chief operating officer, effective Oct. 1, the company announced Sept. 5. Trident also announced the appointments of Jeff Welbourn as president of Trident USA, and Kenji Nasu as president of Trident Alaska. The addition of Quinn as COO and the appointment of Welbourn and Nasu to new leadership roles within the company are the next steps in Trident’s long-term vision to modernize operations and refocus its global commercial strategy, according to Trident CEO Joe Bundrant. “These are the right leaders and the right changes that will position Trident for future growth, enabling us to continue our mission of responsibly sharing wild Alaska Seafood with t...

ABSC’s Goen Appointed to Fishery Management Council

28Aug

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ABSC’s Goen Appointed to Fishery Management Council

Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers Executive Director Jamie Goen has been appointed to a Washington State seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to serve the remaining two-year term vacated by the May 5 death of Kenny Down, who had been a voting member of the council since 2015. The appointment was announced Aug. 21 by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The crab sector of the commercial fisheries industry heralded Goen’s appointment as a positive step for the crab fishery. While employed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 15 years, she focused on fishing quote programs, including implementation of the Trawl Rationalization Program. Before going to work for ABSC, Goen worked with the International Pacific Halibut Commission, overseeing the commission...

14Aug

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Ferdinand Named Deputy Director at AFSC

Jennifer Ferdinand has been appointed deputy director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, AFSC science and research director Robert Foy announced Aug. 6. Ferdinand, a former commercial fisheries observer, joined NOAA in 1998. In his announcement, Foy praised Ferdinand’s leadership skills, saying she is highly regarded by colleagues, staff, constituents and partners for her ability to bring together disparate groups to build consensus. Ferdinand spent a decade with AFSC’s Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division as a debriefer, observer trainer and program manager. In 2008, she became the center planning officer, coordinating the development and implementation of the center’s strategic planning process. In 2018, she became director of the organization’s Fisheries Monitori...

17Apr

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New CEO Joins Bumble Bee Seafoods

Seafood industry veteran Andrew Choe has joined Bumble Bee Seafoods as the San Diego-based company’s chief executive officer. His appointment, effective April 1, was announced by Bumble Bee Board of Directors Chair Jerry Chou. In his statement, Chou said that Choe “has priceless knowledge and expertise in our complex industry and is a people-focused leader with a history of helping talented teams succeed.” For eight years, Choe was CEO of StarKist Co., highly engaged in all aspects of the business, including supply chain management, manufacturing, customer and broker relations, innovation and brand building. Most recently Choe served as CEO for SENSEE World, a company that provides products to help the visually impaired. Choe holds degrees in psychology and economics from t...

Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC

27Mar

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Wash. Governor Nominates Conservationist for Seat on NPFMC

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on March 22 nominated Becca Robbins-Gisclair, senior director of Arctic Programs for the Ocean Conservancy, to one of two obligatory Washington state seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. The governor said Robbins-Gisclair was his first choice, noting her work with Alaska tribes and grassroots organizations to protect a region that is on the frontlines of global climate change. She also serves as a domestic advisor for the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and the Bering Sea Fishery Advisory Body, and has worked for several Alaska organizations as a natural resources advisor. Robbins-Gisclair resides on Coast Salish lands in Bellingham, Wash. In his letter of recommendation to NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator for Fish...

28Feb

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BBRSDA Selects New Executive Director

Seafood industry veteran Lilani Dunn has been promoted to executive director of the Bristol Bay Seafood Development Association (BBSDA), which represents drift gillnetters harvesting the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Her appointment was announced on Feb. 21. She succeeds Andy Wink, of Wink Research & Consulting, who served as executive director of the BBRSDA for five-and-a-half years. Dunn joined the BBRSDA in 2020 to oversee the association’s salmon marketing efforts, after holding positions with the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) and Orca Bay Foods. She is the president of Northwest Fisheries Association, a member of the National Fisheries Institute, and serves as chair of ASMI’s domestic marketing committee. “The marketing program is our single ...