Chief Operating Officer of Coastal Villages CDQ group
Mr. Rudy Tsukada of Anchorage is Governor Mike Dunleavy’s preferred nominee to fill a seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
Dunleavy made the announcement on March 15 in a letter to US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
Three names are required to be submitted for consideration, although the preferred choice is almost always approved.
Ryuichi “Rudy” Tsukada is the Chief Operating Officer of Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF). It is one of six Community Development Quota (CDQ) programs that receive shares of Bering Sea crab and groundfish “to provide economic and social benefits to support the subsistence fishery lifestyle of the group’s 20-member communities” Dunleavy stated.
CVRF’s main motto is “Pollock Provides.”
Dunleavy added “my preferred nominee would provide balanced and insightful experience to the NPFMC and contribute greatly to fisheries management and conservation in the North Pacific.”
Dunleavy also pointed out that “Rudy is also known in sportfishing circles as one of the kayak anglers that popularized saltwater sport fishing for halibut and salmon from a kayak in southcentral Alaska. If appointed, his goals will be to ensure that stakeholders are heard and that their concerns are fairly considered, while also ensuring that living marine resources are well-managed for the benefit of current and future generations.”
Rudy Tsukada on the June 2019 cover of Fish Alaska Magazine showing a 127-pound halibut
caught from his pedal-drive kayak in Resurrection Bay. Photo credit: Facebook/Rudy Tsukada
The other nominees
Sam Rabung is the Director of Commercial Fisheries for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Governor Dunleavy said Rabung “believes in managing the resource for the maximum benefit of the people following the sustained yield principle, minimizing waste and promoting full utilization.”
Tom Taube is the Deputy Director of ADF&G’s Sport Fish Division who is currently in acting director status.
