Fisheries policy and politics are on tap for the 2015
Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference in Anchorage March 6, with updates on
bycatch management and fishery economics from state, federal and industry
representatives.
Conference participants will hear reports from the still to
be confirmed Alaska Commissioner of Fish and Game, oceanographer Jeremy Mathis
of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine
Environmental Laboratory, and Jim Balsiger, Alaska regional administrator for
National Marine Fisheries Service. Acting ADF&G Commissioner Sam Cotten is
one of four people still to be considered for confirmation by the Alaska
Legislature, when was scheduled to convene on Jan. 15.
Also on the fisheries day agenda will be reports on gear
modifications to lessen the catch of non-targeted species, by John Gauvin of
the Groundfish Forum, and the retention, discard and sale of bycatch, from a
representative of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Participants in a discussion on how to achieve greater value
from every pound of seafood will include panelists Mark Gleason, executive
director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers; executive director Julie Decker of the
Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation; and representatives from Northern
Economics, the McDowell Group, Pacific Seafood Processors Association, the
Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, and Whole Foods.
The annual conference begins March 4 with a focus on energy
costs and sustainability, the number one issue facing Southwest Alaska,
including workshops on reducing power costs over the long term, and speakers
from industries engaged in helping communities convert to new energy systems. Participants
will include Alaska Airlines, Pen Air, Ravn Alaska, the Alaska Marine Highway
System, Northern Air Cargo, Sampson, Vitas Marine and others.
The agenda for March 5, with a focus on economic development,
will include communication technology.
The complete agenda is online at http://www.swamc.org/html/2015-conference/agenda.php
Major sponsors include Pen Air, Ravn Alaska, the Aleutian Pribilof
Island Community Development Association, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute,
Wells Fargo, the city of King Cove, the city of Unalaska, GCI, Alaska Airlines,
the city of Kodiak and Kodiak Island Borough.
Southwest Alaska encompasses a vast area including the
Aleutians East Borough, the Aleutians West Census Area, the Bristol Bay
Borough, the Dillingham Census Area, Kodiak Island Borough and Lake and
Peninsula Borough. The region stretches over some 93,875 square miles, an area
roughly equivalent to the state of Oregon.
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