Alaska Representative Louise Stutes, who represents Kodiak, Seward and Cordova, prefaced her letter below with this statement:
“I just penned this letter to the Alaska Board of Fisheries. Typically, I would not do this as I believe the legislature has no place in making allocative decisions about our critical resources. However, when it comes to a break down in public process and public trust, I cannot remain silent. Every decision the Board makes is impactful to our fish populations and the people in our state who rely on them for their lives and livelihoods. It is for this reason that public process, transparency, and ethical procedures must be followed in order for the Board to make the best informed decisions, and to ensure public trust in the board and its decisions. We have been seeing a disturbing trend away from process and transparency at the Board and they absolutely must change course.”
