Three fisheries industry veterans appear to be under serious
consideration for executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska, the statewide
commercial fishing trade association that represents 37 commercial fishing groups.
They are Julianne Curry, Joe Childers and Sarah Melton.
The decision could possibly come at UFA’s board meeting scheduled
for Oct. 17-19 in Anchorage.
Current executive director Mark Vinsel announced in June his
plans to voluntarily leave his job and transition back to his former post as executive
administrator of UFA. He has served as executive director for the past eight years.
Curry announced in the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association newsletter
earlier this year that she planned to resign as executive director and the that
PVOA board had hired Brian Lynch, a former Alaska Department of Fish and Game troll
biologist, to take over that post on Oct. 28.
Childers is a former UFA president currently working as a fisheries
consultant. Childers has with more than four decades of involvement in North Pacific
fisheries. He has worked as a broker of limited access licenses, fishing boats and
seafood. He also has served for six years as co-vice chairman of the North Pacific
Fishery Management Council.
Melton, who has a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School,
is a former fisheries analyst with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
She is currently with the Anchorage fish, game and development consulting firm of
Franklin and Ash LLC. She also has worked with the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric
Research