Sue Aspelund, executive director of the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association, is resigning effective May 15.
This news comes on the heels of Robert Heyano's resignation as board chairman.
Aspelund was hired only a year ago as the association's executive director.
I don't know if I would call that turmoil; "leaving for personal reasons" may actually hold up in this particular case.
ReplyDeleteWell 8:32, You may want to sweep it all under the rug but the likelihood of what you suggest is next to nil. 2 board members, a board president and two executive directors in a year. Yea, they all wanted to just dig in their garden. Sue Aspelund was the consummate professional and I think she left a good job to join the RSDA. Much more likely she couldn't continue to work with a bunch of idiots violating statutes and pursuing personal agendas in a forum with no leadership; thanks Heyano. I say we give the new board after this election a year or two and if they can't get it together send the whole thing packing. I'll use my one percent for the next five years for a down payment on a new RSW system.
ReplyDeleteScrubbing a deck that hadn't been clean for over 8 years is tiresome work. That work appears to be well on it's way. It looks to me like Sue wants to enjoy retirement years after serving Bristol Bay fishermen with all her best. She is also spending 4 months helping with the transition if I read that right. The Heyano departure was the eyebrow raiser. Kudos to Sue and a rsda heading in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteI vote we do away with BBRSDA. Pay the fisherman back the money they've paid in. Currently marketing fish that is owned by the cannery(s). I find is soooo ironic here is a group paying their own money to market something that is NOT owned by them, rather someone else. I'd love it if I was a cannery! I'm getting something for nothing is what I'd be drinking to if I was them....
ReplyDeleteTurmoil is referencing the state of the board, not Sue's reason for leaving. The simple answer to the question is "yes", the board is in turmoil and it's due to the lack of leadership from current board members.
ReplyDeleteBit funny how they all quit at once
ReplyDeleteTime to vote out the sinking ship.... where's the petition? I want to sign it.
ReplyDeleteThe guy making the point that we're spending money to market something we don't own is spot on. I'd go a step further and say the board (especially the watershed residents on the board) knows this. They seem to be fine with an orginization that seeks to transfer wealth from fisherman who catch to fishermen who don't. The welfare giveaway in the form of a subsidized ice barge is only one example. Heyano thanked the bbedc when he quit. Their money comes from a pollock giveaway engineered by the federal govt. my money is earned and call me crazy but I want to spend it myself.
ReplyDelete@3:58 - If we are to vote out "sinking ships" lets start with AIFMA. That's basically all we would be left with if we were to wave goodbye to the RSDA.
ReplyDelete@ 3:58 - Wait a minute, let me rephrase that previous statement regarding AIFMA, since "sinking ship" is too harsh. I meant train-wreck. There, that's softer, I feel better now.
ReplyDeleteYou have to market your product. Visalia Onions, Yakima Apples, Florida Oranges, are all marketed by farmers that pay into marketing. That's the way the world works in advertising. The more recognition we get in the market place the more we make.
ReplyDeleteBristol Bay Gillnetters: a bunch of cowboys without a clue.
ReplyDeleteAs the only positive marketing tool that is working to increase prices and quality founders, the clueless fiddle and will go fish for 40 cents again.
The bigs got ya by the nuts and will squeeze hard this year, cheap fish to be had.
Keep on destroying your institutions for excellence, take it in the shorts and whine all day long on the radio.
Aren't ya tired of not getting paid **** for your fish cuz you couldn't agree on anything to save yourselves.
The best Bay investment will always be in processing, cuz you give it away for free, cry and whine, but nothing ever happens, because you are weak.
Strong men get organized.
The BBRSDA has failed, and so have you....again and again.
Cowboys, do keep the cows out of the orchard 9:27.
ReplyDeleteThe BBRSDA didn't.
Forcing me to pay for two company's ice barges, is totally illegal, IN ALL 50 STATES!
Yakima, WA - After 66 years of marketing the state's No. 1 crop, the Washington Apple Commission is making plans to shut down...The defendants were seeking nearly $50 million in refunds...But the outcome was something the commission never anticipated: U.S. District Judge Edward Shea in Richland ruled less than two weeks ago against the commission, based on a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court opinion that said forcing growers to pay for promotions that benefited their competitors infringed upon their constitutional protection of free speech…
http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/april_2003/wa_state.htm
Wow, you sound like like a really fun person.
ReplyDeleteDespite the turmoil, the RSDA gave Bay fishermen a united voice. The group did a lot of things to get name recognition for its fish and fishermen around the world. It worked hard to get quality improvements for the fish. It came up with great promotional campaigns. Now what? Back to a bunch of guys screaming at each other and the processors? I think it is a tragedy that the RSDA is thinking of disbanding. Strenght in numbers, guys, especially when you have a good message.
ReplyDeleteHarsh criticisms that come from anonymous so called fishermen are thoughtless and careless and have no place in preserving the fishery we rely upon.
ReplyDeleteTo protect the Bristol Bay fishery and the salmon requires many good people contributing constructive efforts.
Organizing fishermen is the only way that we can protect the valuable common property fishery that we depend upon.
David Harsila, AIFMA President
Look up the term oligopsony to see why we keep getting screwed. The rsda should spend the majority of its time and money trying to lower the number of boats fishing so we can get the economics in our favor instead of the processors, then the marketing might be worth it
ReplyDeleteHarsila,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, what does posting as anonymous have to do with caring about the fishery or making sensible observations. This blog is full of thoughtful constructive ideas from anonymous posters and some very thoughtless comments from the same. You post using your name and you rarely make sense and AIFMA is nothing but an irrelevant organization with a membership that is less than 10% of the permit base. ....and from your comments it's clear you really don't have a clue what BBRSDA is supposed to do. The real issue here is leadership. Heyano failed. Aspelund took the job and quit. Other Board members stepped down unable to support seated board members personal agendas. Will somebody please read the statute that created RSDAs, step up and lead this organization. Please.
"...Organizing fishermen is the only way that we can protect the valuable common property fishery that we depend upon."
ReplyDeleteDavid Harsila, AIFMA President
So, Mr. Harsila, as far as "organizing fishermen," how has that worked out for you with AIFMA? Strikes & lawsuits leading to a threadbare membership, come to mind. Your body of work includes these escapades and should be noted as you attempt to bring your program to the RSDA. Do you feel that you deserve a free-pass?
How would you attempt to "organize" us via the RSDA? Being a disaffected, previous member of AIFMA, may I suggest that you "organize" your efforts around passing the torch?
Have you no shame?
What's really amusing is all the armchair critics and experts, and how far from the truth they are. The BBRSDA has a functioning and strengthening board of directors. We have some great people working for us. Sue Aspelund's term has refined and redirected the organization. To say that we are failing and falling apart is spoken from those that do not have any idea what we have done, are doing, and where we are going. Once again I challenge you naysayers to use more than your mouths and become proactively involved at some level. Each board member has given hundreds, if not thousands of hours of time to organize efforts to benefit the fleet. If you have valid ideas or projects let us know. Taking cheap uninformed potshots just hurts our stature and shows your ignorance of the facts. When I read some of this trash talk, I can only imagine that the authors have never had the privilege of serving his fellow fishermen and received such platitudes himself. We are your representatives, we are not perfect, but we sure as high water try to make you more money. Return on investment, we understand that, give us a break. We are going through a structural change and I think you will be impressed with the improvements. Try to find some part of us that YOU can support. I look forward to your creative and experienced input.
ReplyDeleteRespectfully,
Larry Christensen
Vice President, BBRSDA
Fast Fact: The existing BBRSDA funds would NOT be returned to the fleet. By legislative action they are allocated to us and by legislative action they would be reallocated to an alternative non profit should we disband.
Well.... the *** is hitting the fan! Go figure... all the drift fishermen are giving 1% every year to let the minority voting membership create their kingdom. I bet that if the BRSDA continues on its new path we will look back and wish that we didn't let this monster out of the bag when the 1% is raised to the statutory maximum (I think it is 2.5%).
ReplyDeleteThe new direction.....posted in the special meeting minutes..... hire, hire, hire..... more money more money more money.
They want to hire a Program Assistant ASAP; and when existing contracts for Marketing Director and Sustainability Director expire, they want to convert those to employee positions. MOTION CARRIED 5/1/1 (CARSCALLEN ABSTAINED).
Either Ms. Carscallen is fearful of all the costs associated with hiring, managing, funding, employees, or, and I skeptically believe, she is probably one of the potential employees to be put on salary (I am sure that will mean a benefits package as well).
So much for having money to fund marketing projects, the 1% will soon be raised to fund salary bonuses, inflationary costs, and rising health care costs for those employees of the BBRSDA.
It would have been better to give the money to ASMI and let the state government deal with those kinds of issues.
Let's get a majority of drifters voting on these issues.
Some needed changes are necessary. Sue did an ok job, maybe. But please tell me how I benefitted from my contributions over the years. We still have an over capitalized fishery and nothing on the horizon to fix it. How has RSDA helped. Where were they when BOF proposals to increase boat length and allow real stacking were submitted. The RSDA chair, Fritz Johnson fought against these proposals. And now he is on the BOF. Not only does he argue against things that will help, he has a conflict that will likely take him out of the game even if if he wanted to help. I for one would like to know where the money has gone, who benefitted from it and why so many are deserting what appears to be a sinking ship. Am i alone on this? And now we are told that what ever $$ are in the RSDA coffers that they cannot be returned, but have to go to another non-profit. Isn't that just great? Whew, something stinks.
ReplyDeleteYour 1% gets you very little return. Giving the money to ASMI isn't a solution either. As previously noted, very little of the fish can benefit from marketing dollars, as that which goes to the can and that which goes into processors own value added programs in the US and China is not going to benefit at all.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest return will come from processors investing intelligently in their plants to lower costs and turn out the highest value products on site. Inevitably, a good portion of this gain will find its way back to the fleet. There is no place in a high volume, short duration fishery for plants designed to run a few hundred thousand pounds a day into one or two product forms. Processors need to be thinking plants that handle 2 million lbs a day minimum, with fillet lines, portioning lines. half lb and quarter lines. This is how you make money on fish. Plants that are heavily H&G and 1# tall are losers, and that loss opportunity goes right to fish price. Not a single processor has an adequate facility now. My bet is SBS gets there first and Icicle (and its successor) and OB never make the cut.
As far as marketing goes, the best tool we ever had was MSC. A good quantity of the remaining BB sockeye goes to Europe and MSC is a big deal there. And who trashed MSC......
4:01 - I think your comment about MSC is right on. MSC was dropped and now shortly after we are hearing the market demand for sockeye is weak and exvessel price will fall.
ReplyDeleteBig mistake I think.
Mr Vice President, the board has been going through structural changes several months before Bob Waldrop resigned. That was over 1 year ago. Patients is one thing all fishermen are forced to deal with. However, in the case of the RSDA our patients is running very thin.
ReplyDeleteThe price of fish has a lot to do with the strong dollar vs the Euro and Yen. MSC is a rip-off organization. Among other things they charge the processors everytime their label is on a package, value added or otherwise. All Alaska Salmon has to be sustainable or the fishery can't be opened. The Alaska sustainably caught label is enough.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the ice barge...better quality fish makes for a better price for all.
ReplyDelete1:25 PM........the Alaska label is simply not enough. It means very little in Europe and Asia as compared to the MSC logo. The processors will realize this and seek to rejoin MSC, but it may be too late for this year.
ReplyDeleteMSC NOT processor owned and run by inept overtly high paid staff at ASMI. Pay MSC a global recognized body its cheaper .ASMI staff annual salary is almost 2 million.
ReplyDelete