NOAA Fisheries has announced two alternate commissioner appointments for the United States to the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC): Bob Alverson, long-time manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association in Seattle, Wash., and Richard Yamada, of Auke Bay, Alaska, president of the Alaska Charter Association. Their terms run through January 31, 2019.
Alverson, who was reappointed, has served on the IPHC since 2014 filling in the commission seat reserved for a Washington resident. The Fishing Vessel Owners Association is a trade association formed in December of 1914 to represent halibut boat owners involved in longline fishing in the North Pacific who harvest halibut, sablefish, Pacific cod, rockfish and turbot.
Yamada, who will serve in the seat reserved for an Alaska resident, has been involved in recreational fishing in Alaska for over three decades as a business owner and recreational fishing advocate. He came to Alaska from Hawaii in 1972 as a Russian linguist in the US Air Force. In 1982 he opened Shelter Lodge in Juneau. He also served for five years as chairman of the board of United Anglers of Alaska. He replaces Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association who occupied the seat on an interim basis.
Alverson, who was reappointed, has served on the IPHC since 2014 filling in the commission seat reserved for a Washington resident. The Fishing Vessel Owners Association is a trade association formed in December of 1914 to represent halibut boat owners involved in longline fishing in the North Pacific who harvest halibut, sablefish, Pacific cod, rockfish and turbot.
Yamada, who will serve in the seat reserved for an Alaska resident, has been involved in recreational fishing in Alaska for over three decades as a business owner and recreational fishing advocate. He came to Alaska from Hawaii in 1972 as a Russian linguist in the US Air Force. In 1982 he opened Shelter Lodge in Juneau. He also served for five years as chairman of the board of United Anglers of Alaska. He replaces Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association who occupied the seat on an interim basis.