Gubernatorial candidates split on Board of Fisheries overhaul

The four candidates for governor split Wednesday over how to remake the Board of Fisheries, at a Kodiak Chamber of Commerce debate three months after the state voided the board's Western Alaska chum salmon rules. Treg Taylor, who served as Alaska attorney general before entering the race, said the state got the call right. "I want to make sure that people also realize that the board cannot subvert its own promise, the public process, and also its own regulations," Taylor said, adding that he is "very sympathetic to the plight of the families and the communities along the Yukon and the Kuskokwim Rivers."

The board voted 4-3 in February to put Area M, the Alaska Peninsula fishery, on a fixed calendar schedule in place of adaptive management, which had set fishing time by conditions, cutting June fishing time roughly 39% for drift gillnet vessels and 30% for purse seiners. The Aleutians East Borough and others sued in April, alleging a conflicted board member had voted and arguing the cuts would wipe out a June fishery that supplies most of their income without meaningfully conserving chum. Acting Attorney General Cori Mills voided Proposals 126, 127, 141, 147 and 148 on May 19 under the state ethics act, the first time the state has disapproved board-adopted regulations. The Association of Village Council Presidents said the state colluded with Area M. The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee has since commissioned a special audit of the board's conduct from October 2023 through July 2026.

Panelist Tory Sullivan of the Kodiak Maritime Museum asked who the next governor would nominate to the board's seven seats. "When you have 5 out of 7 members at, you know, any particular point that belong to one industry or another, clearly there's a problem," Bernadette Wilson said, floating expansion to nine members with regional representation and clear recusal guidelines. Dave Bronson proposed matching the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's size: "I would be willing to expand the board to 11 members," he said. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins instead called balance in nominations his guiding principle: "A North Star for me on Board of Fish nominations from the governor is making sure that there's balance on the Board of Fish." Wilson, Bronson and Kreiss-Tomkins said they would welcome members with commercial fishing experience; Taylor said he would not appoint someone actively involved in the industry, though retired fishermen "bring a lot of expertise."

All four candidates said yes when moderator Gary Stevens asked whether they would hire a dedicated fisheries advisor. Any structural change to the board would still require action by the Alaska State Legislature. Voters decide the race Nov. 3.