More IPHC news

The government is seeking nominations for two U.S. seats on the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Peterson, Laukitis named to North Pacific Council

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has nominated Theresa Peterson, of Kodiak, and Michael "Buck" Laukitis, of Homer, for seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

More details here.

If confirmed, Peterson and Laukitis will replace Duncan Fields, of Kodiak, and David Long, of Wasilla.

Fields has served his limit of three consecutive terms, while Long has served only one term.

A Walker spokeswoman tells Deckboss that while Long has done a good job and was considered for reappointment, the administration elected to go in a different direction with Laukitis.

Wanna be on the halibut commission?

The National Marine Fisheries Service is extending the nomination period for candidates to fill two U.S. seats on the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Details here.

Alverson, Lane nominated for IPHC

Bob Alverson and Don Lane have been nominated for continued service as U.S. members on the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Here's the official notice.

Alverson is manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners' Association in Seattle. Lane is a commercial fisherman in Homer.

Walker likes for Hull, Mezirow for council

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has nominated Dan Hull for another term and Andy Mezirow as a new member on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Read more details in this letter from Walker to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which can confirm or reject Walker's top choices.

Wanted: two IPHC commissioners

Last week we reported how U.S. officials were planning to reopen the competition for a couple of seats on the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

Now it's official. Here's the call for nominations.

Your (second) chance for a seat on the IPHC

Remember our post of nearly a year ago on the federal government's call for people to serve on the International Pacific Halibut Commission?

That call produced a good number of nominations for two U.S. seats.

But none of them will be selected. At least not yet.

It seems the government is reopening the nomination process, for reasons outlined in this email to current nominees.

'One hundred letters should be our goal'

It's not uncommon to see some pretty stiff competition for seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

But this year, the campaigning seems particularly intense.

You might recall our post back in March about how a large industry bloc was thinking of mounting a challenge to Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire's top choice for a council seat, Lori Swanson. The industry group preferred the second name on Gregoire's list of nominees, Craig Cross.

Well, the challenge is on and Cross is getting a major push.

It's up to the U.S. commerce secretary to decide who ultimately gets the seat, and the decision is expected by the end of June.

Deckboss hears reliably that a ranking Commerce Department official, Eric Schwaab, met with the At-sea Processors Association during its recent gathering in Hawaii. The Seattle-based association represents the Bering Sea pollock factory trawl fleet, and its Washington, D.C., lobbyist, Jim Gilmore, has been leading the charge for Cross.

Here's a Gilmore email from a couple of days ago talking about congressional support for Cross, and laying out details for a "letter writing campaign" to the Commerce Department's National Marine Fisheries Service:

From: Jim Gilmore
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 8:56 AM
To: 'Kenny Down'; 'robert alverson'; 'Arni Thomson'; 'Mark Gleason'; 'Margaret Hall'; 'Sara Chapman'; 'Brent Paine'; jstonecrab@gmail.com; 'Inge Andreassen'; 'Jan Jacobs'; 'Mike Hyde'; 'Dave Benson'; 'Joe Plesha'; 'Doug Christensen'; 'Donna Parker'; 'Mike Breivik'; 'Jim Johnson'; 'John Bundy'; 'Bill Stokes'; 'Neil Rodriguez'
Cc: 'Paxton, Matthew'; 'Theodore Kronmiller'; 'stephanie madsen'; Craig Cross; 'Jeff Bjornstad'; 'Paul MacGregor'
Subject: Craig Cross appt. — letter writing campaign to NMFS
Importance: High

Hello all —

I am advised that to help push Craig Cross' candidacy forward that a letter writing campaign to NOAA/NMFS would be helpful. Letters need to go out today or Tuesday.

For the organizations on this distribution list, can you please get as many of your members as possible to reiterate their support for Craig? One hundred letters should be our goal.

As you know, Craig has secured the support of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, as well as Congressmen Rick Larsen and Jim McDermott. We hope to get one or two more Congressional endorsements, as well, but we need grassroots support, too. And a grassroots campaign could make it easier to land more Congressional endorsements.

The A80 fleet has responded to the Congressional endorsements with an aggressive letter writing campaign. We have provided NOAA/NMFS with the two dozen attached letters of support for Craig, many letters written by you to Governor Gregoire. You can use them as a model for letters to NOAA/NMFS. I also suggest that you note the broad range of support for Craig within the industry as I believe most of the letters for Lori are from the A80 fleet.

1. Address letters to Sam Rauch, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, NOAA Fisheries, 1315 East West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD 20910.

2. Email the letter to Bill Chappell at William.Chappell@noaa.gov. He is handling the nominations within NMFS HQ.

3. Please copy the following staff in the WA delegation: Shawn_Bills@murray.senate.gov; Nicole_Teutschel@cantwell.senate.gov; Paul.Hoover@mail.house.gov; Alan.Lee@mail.house.gov; Matt.Bormet@mail.house.gov. (Those are the staffers for Murray, Cantwell, Adam Smith, McDermott, and Larsen, respectively.)

4. If you can have folks blind copy me at jgilmore@atsea.org, that will help us keep a library of these support letters.

Thanks to all for your continued support for Craig.

Jim

Jim Gilmore
Director of Public Affairs
At-sea Processors Association
Washington, DC

Cross is director of government affairs and business development for Aleutian Spray Fisheries. One of Aleutian Spray's vessels, the factory trawler Starbound, is a member of the At-sea Processors Association. Aleutian Spray also has other boats including freezer longliners, which broadens industry support for Cross.

The "A80 fleet" mentioned in the email refers to flatfish trawlers, known as the Amendment 80 fleet, that Swanson represents. This is a relatively narrow segment of the Alaska industry.

Evidently, the Swanson camp likewise is campaigning very hard to reel in the council seat.

A similar competition is developing over an Alaska seat now held by Dan Hull, an Anchorage resident who fishes commercially for halibut and salmon out of Cordova.

Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell in March nominated Hull for a new term on the council.

But Hull supporters are concerned that the Commerce Department might reject Hull and instead choose another, lower name on Parnell's list. That would be Tim Evers of Ninilchik, a longtime boat charter operator.

That's disconcerting to commercial interests who don't want to see more sportfish representation on the council.

Deckboss acquired this recent action alert exhorting Hull supporters to put in a good word for him:

SITUATION. Gov Parnell has nominated Dan Hull (Longliner and gillnetter) and Ed Dersham (Sport) for reappointment to the NPFMC. The Secretary of Commence will make a decision soon and will announce appointments by the end of June.

We understand that there is an effort underway to get the Secretary to appoint a retired charter operator to replace Dan Hull on the council. This would give the charter sector two of eleven voting seats on the Council, which is out of proportion to the single charter issue before the council — halibut charter allocation.

ACTION. If you see Senator Begich, Senator Murkowski, or Congressman Young in Alaska over the Memorial Day recess, please make these points. Senator Begich will be in Petersburg Sunday (May 27).

By June 2, please send a short message via email to the Secretary of Commerce and copy the NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and the Congressional Delegation (email below). Personalizing the message will make it stronger.

IPHC contenders named

Back in February we told you the federal government was inviting nominations for two U.S. seats on the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

So who was nominated? Here's the list.

Ralph Hoard and Phillip Lestenkof currently occupy the two seats, and both are eligible for reappointment. But only one of those names is on the list of nominees.

Parnell likes Dersham, Hull for new council terms

Here's the press release from Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell's office:

March 15, 2012

Gov. Parnell makes nominations to fishery council

JUNEAU — Gov. Sean Parnell nominated Robert "Ed" Dersham and Howard "Dan" Hull for consideration by the U.S. commerce secretary for continued service on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The governor also named Timothy Evers and Julianne Curry as alternate nominees.

"The fisheries resources in the North Pacific are of vital importance to Alaska, and each of these nominees possesses excellent management and conservation skills," Parnell said. "Mr. Dersham and Mr. Hull have served effectively on the council, and Alaska's interests will continue to be well-served by these nominees."

Dersham, of Anchorage, is completing his first full term on the NPFMC, having served a partial term immediately prior. An active charter boat operator and lodge owner in Lower Cook Inlet for more than 25 years, Dersham retired from a career as a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. He also served for nine years on the Alaska Board of Fisheries, worked as a consultant for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and served as a coordinating liaison between the Board of Fisheries and the NPFMC. Dersham earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Oregon.

Hull, of Anchorage, is completing his first term on the NPFMC. He is the owner of Hull Fisheries LLC, fishing for halibut and salmon out of Cordova. He is currently a member of the Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee and a former member of the Cordova District Fishermen United board of directors, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council Public Advisory Group, the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corp. board of directors, the Prince William Sound Fisheries Ecosystem Research Planning Group, and the United Fishermen of Alaska board of directors. In addition to his 30-year career in commercial fishing, Hull also worked as a research associate for the Institute of Social and Economic Research. He earned a master's degree in marine affairs from the University of Washington and a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Dartmouth College.

Evers, of Ninilchik, is currently a member of the Advisory Panel to the NPFMC. A longtime charter operator, Evers owned Deep Creek Sport Shop, Big Valley Lodge and Cabin Rentals, and Fishward Bound Adventures. Evers is the founder and former president of the Deep Creek Charterboat Association, and served on the Central Peninsula Fish and Game Advisory Committee. In addition, he served five terms on the National Association of Charterboat Operators.

Curry, of Petersburg, is the executive director of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association and a member of the Advisory Panel to the NPFMC. Curry participates in commercial fisheries for halibut, sablefish, salmon, herring and crab. She is a member of the board of directors and executive committee of United Fishermen of Alaska, and is the chair of the Petersburg Commercial Fishing Committee. A member of the Petersburg Marine Mammal Center board of directors, Curry earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Northern Arizona University.

With jurisdiction over the 1 million square mile Exclusive Economic Zone off the coast of Alaska, the NPFMC has primary responsibility for groundfish management in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, including cod, pollock, flatfish, mackerel, sablefish and rockfish species harvested mainly by trawlers, longliners and pot fishermen.

Established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the NPFMC is one of eight regional councils dedicated to the oversight of the nation's fisheries.

The commerce secretary is empowered under the law to choose the final council appointees from applicants nominated by governors of coastal states.

Lori Swanson, trawl fleet rep, tabbed for council

Lori Swanson, executive director of Groundfish Forum, is Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire's top choice for a seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Gregoire's alternate nominees are Craig Cross and former council member John Bundy.

Assuming the U.S. commerce secretary accepts the governor's preferred pick, Swanson will take over the seat now held by Dave Benson, who terms out in August.

The Anchorage-based council has 11 voting members from Alaska, Washington and Oregon. It helps regulate federal fisheries off Alaska. Members serve three-year terms.

Swanson has served on the council's Advisory Panel since 2006. Her employer, Groundfish Forum, is a Seattle-based trade association of flatfish trawlers.

Here is Gregoire's nomination letter.

Wanna be on the IPHC?

The government today published this Federal Register notice inviting nominations for people to serve on the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The IPHC, as I'm sure you know, is a fishery management panel with three members from the United States and three from Canada.

The Department of Commerce is seeking nominations for two U.S. seats now occupied by Ralph Hoard and Phillip Lestenkof. Both are eligible for reappointment.

Hoard is a longtime IPHC member and, if I'm not mistaken, a now retired Icicle Seafoods executive. Lestenkof is president of Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association.

Maybe you'd like to relieve one of these guys on the IPHC?

Read the notice for details on the nomination process and deadline.