Kodiak seiners back Kreiss-Tomkins for governor

A Kodiak commercial fishing group has endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and his running mate, Anchorage Assembly member Zac Johnson, the campaign announced Thursday.

The Kodiak Seiners Association, which advocates for seine fishermen in one of the country's busiest fishing ports, tied its backing to fisheries policy. Kreiss-Tomkins, a former state representative from Sitka who served on the House Fisheries Committee during his decade in the Legislature, pledged to "restore balance to the Board of Fish," keep fishing permits and quota in Alaskan hands, and reduce bycatch.

How much that platform would deliver is a matter of debate the endorsement doesn't resolve. The Board of Fisheries — the seven-member panel that sets state fishing rules — has long drawn fights over how its seats are balanced among regions and gear groups, and "restore balance" means different things to different fishermen depending on which side of those disputes they sit. On bycatch, some Alaska fishermen argue real reform requires banning or sharply curbing groundfish trawling outright, a step well beyond the incremental reduction Kreiss-Tomkins is proposing. And an endorsement from one gear group in one port — seiners in Kodiak — reflects that sector's interests, which don't always align with trollers, gillnetters, sport, or subsistence users elsewhere in the state.

The Kodiak endorsement adds to earlier backing for the campaign from several labor groups and former Gov. Tony Knowles. None of the rival campaigns' fisheries positions are reflected here; this was the Kreiss-Tomkins campaign's announcement.