Wednesday, August 19, 2015

PSMFC Holds 68th Annual Meeting

The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission will gather at Girdwood, Alaska, some 40 miles south of Anchorage Aug. 23-26 for its 68th annual meeting, to discuss issues ranging from ocean conditions and climate change to genetics.

Presenters will include Brad Gilman of Juneau, with the law firm of Robertson, Monagle and Eastaugh, plus an update on Washington DC legislative activity from the same law firm.

Alan Risenhoover, acting director of NOAA Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement will provide an update on NOAA. Cisco Werner, director for the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and John Stein, director of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, will discuss ocean conditions and climate change. The panel on federal issues and perspectives will include Jim Balsiger, administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Region; Chris Oliver, executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council; Barry Thom, deputy director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Robert Turner, assistant regional administrator for NOAA’s Sustainable Fisheries Division.

Discussions on salmon genetics will be led by Doug DeMaster, science and research director of the Alaska Fisheries science Center; research geneticist at the Auke Bay Laboratories of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center; and Bill Templin, principal geneticist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game gene conservation laboratory in Anchorage.

More information about the conference is online at www.psmfc.org.