In late March, with no public notice, Governor Mike Dunleavy officially submitted his appointees to the Board of Fisheries for legislative approval. They were Josh Hayes and Blair Hickson, both recreational fishing guides — Hayes of Anchorage for the Kenai River and Hickson of Cayman Bay, Bahamas for the Anvik River in Western Alaska.
But there’s been a change.
According to the Deckboss blog by Wesley Loy, Paul Cyr of Ketchikan is now an appointee instead of Josh Hayes of Anchorage. There is no official mention of Cyr’s appointment anywhere on the State of Alaska website but a search states that he is a “Statewide Recreational Boating Access Program Coordinator, stationed in Anchorage who has worked for the Division of Sport Fish since 1989.”
The two new appointments, Cyr and Hickson would replace Greg Svendsen and Gerard Godfrey whose Board terms expire on June 30 this year.
Current BOF Mike Wood is being reappointed. All need legislative approval.
New CFEC appointment, also with no notice
On April 21, Dunleavy appointed Tracy Welch of Juneau to the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. Welch is currently the executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska (whose website is outdated by two years).
Welch joins one other commissioner, Rick Green, a special assistant to ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang and a former longtime radio talk show host based in Anchorage. the other being Rick Green. Her appointment also must be approved by the Alaska Legislature.
The CFEC commissioners are responsible for managing the annual renewal of thousands of commercial fishing permits and vessel licenses, adjudicating permit disputes and appeals and determining which fisheries require limited entry to prevent overcapitalization.
The commissioner’s salary is typically around $136,000 per year.
