The committee will advance coastal and marine conservation conservation and management, advise NOAA leadership
Contact
Kate Silverstein and Tyler Wittkofsky, NOAA's National Ocean Service, oceanservicepress@noaa.gov
September 14, 2023
Today, NOAA announced the selection of 20 members to serve on the inaugural Marine and Coastal Area-based Management Advisory Committee that will advise agency leadership on science-based approaches to area-based protection, conservation, restoration and management of coastal, Great Lakes and marine places.
NOAA has a wide range of responsibilities and authorities related to area-based management, including through the national marine sanctuary and national estuarine research reserve systems, and through fishery management areas.
“Area-based management is a critical tool in the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to combat the climate crisis and invest in our coastal communities and industries,” said U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves. “These 20 members will lend essential perspectives and expertise to Commerce’s conservation and restoration efforts as we work towards achieving sustainable development, environmental justice and a clean energy future for America’s ocean and coasts.”
A view of Fagatele Bay in the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. Credit: Matt McIntosh, NOAA.
The committee will provide valuable advice on how NOAA’s area-based management activities can enhance biodiversity, build climate resilience and expand access to nature and the outdoors for underserved communities. The committee will also advise NOAA on implementation of the America the Beautiful initiative, which aims to conserve and restore the nation's public lands and waters.
The committee's unique scope will help NOAA address all types of area-based management in coastal and marine areas, including sites that are managed under different authorities and for different purposes, such as national marine sanctuaries, national estuarine research reserves and areas for fisheries management.
Committee members reflect diverse perspectives and expertise in key areas, including:
Resource management for coastal, marine and Great Lakes areas.Commercial and recreational fishing, marine industries, recreation and tourism.Study of the structure, function, human use and management of coastal and ocean ecosystems.
The selected Committee members also represent tribal and Indigenous communities, conservation, philanthropic and non-governmental organizations, and organizations focusing on youth engagement, education, outreach and environmental justice.
“NOAA is pleased to welcome committee members with a wide range of perspectives and expertise — from science, policy, advocacy and industry – and including tribal and Indigenous leaders,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Effective management of special coastal, Great Lakes and marine areas – and the communities that rely on them — will benefit from their input and advice.”
To provide for staggered membership to ensure continuity, half of the members are appointed to a two-year term (renewable once) and half are appointed to a four-year, non-renewable term, with terms beginning at the committee’s first meeting.The following individuals will serve on the committee:
Peter Auster, senior research scientist and research professor emeritus, Mystic Aquarium, University of Connecticut (two-year term).
Linda Behnken, executive director, Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association; Acting Director, Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust (four-year term).
Jessica Coakley, fishery management specialist, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (two-year term).
Jenn Eckerle, deputy secretary for oceans and coastal policy, California Natural Resources Agency; executive director, California Ocean Protection Council (four-year term).
Deanna Erickson, reserve director, Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve (four-year term).
Kirsten Grorud-Colvert, associate professor and senior researcher, Department of Integrative Biology for Oregon State University (four-year term).
Martha Guyas, Southeast fisheries policy director, American Sportfishing Association (four-year term).Heather Hall, intergovernmental ocean policy manager, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (two-year term).
Mark Hodor, senior legal counsel, Shell USA Inc., Safety, Environment, and Asset Management (two-year term).
Jaime Jahncke, director, California Current Group, Point Blue Conservation Science (two- year term).
Amy Kenney, executive director, National Ocean Protection Coalition (four-year term).
Aaron Kornbluth, owner, Akorn Environmental Consulting (two-year term).
Stephanie Mathes, director of special initiatives, The Corps Network (two-year term).
Joseph Oatman, deputy program manager and harvest director, Nez Perce Tribe (four-year term).
Eric Reid, chairman, New England Fisheries Management Council (four-year term).Donald Schug, socioeconomic analyst, Northern Economics, Inc. (two-year term).
Tracey Smart, senior marine scientist, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Marine Resources Division (two-year term).
Helen Smith, policy advocate, Creation Justice Ministries (two-year term).
Peter Stauffer, ocean protection manager, Surfrider Foundation (four-year term).
Angelo Villagomez, senior fellow, Energy and Environment, Center for American Progress (two-year term).
For more information, please visit the Marine and Coastal Area-based Management Advisory Committee website.
Climate, weather, and water affect all life on our ocean planet. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict our changing environment, from the deep sea to outer space, and to manage and conserve America’s coastal and marine resources. See how NOAA science, services, and stewardship benefit your community: Visit noaa.gov for our latest news and features, and join us on social media.
Alaskans question B.C. government's efforts to clean up the Tulsequah Chief mine site
'There's still some frustration here in Alaska about the slow pace of the clean up'
Chris MacIntyre · CBC News · Posted: Sep 13, 2023 6:34 PM MDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago
Alaskan tribes, conservation groups, and fishers want more information, and involvement, when it comes to the B.C. government's plan to clean up the Tulsequah Chief mine site in northwestern B.C.
In 2019, the province committed to cleaning up the abandoned mine site, which is about 80 kilometres south of Atlin, B.C., and near the Alaska border. Since then, some Alaskans have felt the B.C. government hasn't been transparent with the process.
We can build resilient fishing communities
September 11, 2023
National Fishermen
Linda Behnken and Aubrey Church
Fishery leaders around the country support updating federal fisheries guidelines to secure access to wild seafood
Catching fish from a small boat for a living is a tough business. The days are long, the gear is heavy, and even on a good day the work deck is rocking and rolling with the ocean. Hard days offer up the challenges of surviving inevitable storms, keeping the engine and machinery running, and interpreting the rapidly changing ocean.
But the biggest challenges for our community-based fishermen are access to fish itself and being heard in the noise of federal legislation and fisheries management. A new process at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) makes that clearer than ever.
Linda Behnken and Aubrey Ellertson Church are members of the Fishing Communities Coalition, an association of community-based, small-boat commercial fishing groups, representing more than 1,000 independent fishermen and business owners from Maine to Alaska, who share a commitment to the sustainable management of America’s fishery resources: www.fishingcommunitiescoalition.org. Behnken is a commercial fisherman and the Executive Director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association out of Sitka, Alaska; and Church is the Policy Manager for the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance out of Chatham, Mass.
Battery-Electric Fishing Vessel Marks a Sea Change for Small Commercial Fishers
Aug. 22, 2023 | By Anna Squires | NREL |Contact media relations
See Link to read article online
On a brisk morning this fall, a 46-foot commercial fishing boat will cruise into the cold waters of Sitka, Alaska, and cut the diesel engine. In that moment of near silence, an electric motor will whir to life. This moment will mark a sea change for Sitka's small-boat commercial fishing industry: a transition to energy-efficient commercial fishing, powered by low- and zero-emissions propulsion systems.
The boat in question, a small commercial salmon troller named I Gotta, will make history as one of the first low-emissions fishing vessels ever deployed in Alaska. Using a unique parallel hybrid battery-diesel system, the boat can travel at full speed using its diesel engine, then switch to a battery-electric motor when fishing. In this way, I Gotta’s captain, Eric Jordan, will be able to cut the boat’s fuel use by 80%.
Making Headway To Lower-Emissions Operations
The shift to lower-emissions fishing has been slow to start—but not for lack of interest, said Linda Behnken, ALFA’s executive director.
“We tend to be leaders in the climate and environmental space up here,” said Benkhen, who leads ALFA’s Sitka-based cooperative of more than 160 small-boat commercial fishers, each committed to sustaining salmon fishing for future generations. “Our fishermen are really eager to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and their fuel costs.”
Linda Behnken is the executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association (ALFA). Photo by Bethany Goodrich
But, Behnken said, small fishers cannot risk being early adopters of a new technology if it might jeopardize their fishing season, even when high fuel costs eat up as much as 30% of their revenue.
To take some of the risk out of the equation, Behnken applied to join ETIPP, a network of regional organizations and DOE national laboratories that helps remote and island communities shift their energy systems toward renewable options.
Low- and Zero-Emissions Operations To Ripple Across Alaska
Later this year, ALFA will contract with local boat builders to retrofit I Gotta with its hybrid system. But the work will not stop there. Renewed funding from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will allow ALFA to begin testing not one but three novel propulsion systems that consider different ways fishing boats travel.
Since 1978, ALFA has worked to safeguard ocean health and improve the economic viability of small boat fishing. Photo courtesy of ASMI, Josh Roper Photography
The first, a series hybrid system, will allow fishing boats the flexibility to travel either short or long distances while minimizing diesel fuel use. The series system uses an electric motor to power the propeller at all boat speeds and a battery to power the motor, allowing boats to travel their typical 10- to 20-mile routes under battery-electric power. These batteries can be charged at a dock using Sitka’s 100% renewable hydroelectric dams. In the rare case that captains need to travel hundreds of miles for an extended trip, they can recharge the boat’s batteries with an onboard diesel generator.
ALFA will also test a fully battery-electric system for mariculture vessels, which cultivate fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. These vessels stay within 10 miles of shore and follow regular transit schedules, making them candidates for full electrification. Most importantly, by transitioning these vessels to zero-emissions operations, ALFA will eliminate the risk of fuel spills close to shore or near vulnerable aquatic species.
Finally, ALFA will assess an additional parallel hybrid system, like the one chosen for I Gotta, to demonstrate its effectiveness in different operating conditions.
Learn more about NREL's sustainable transportation and mobility research and its specific focus on commercial vehicle decarbonization. And sign up for NREL's quarterly transportation and mobility research newsletter, Sustainable Mobility Matters, to stay current on the latest news.
The scales of justice: Salmon fisheries in federal court, fighting to keep their lines in the water
Hosted by Evan Kleiman Aug. 18, 2023 FOOD & DRINK
See here for link to listen to news story
More than 90% of wild salmon are caught in Alaskan waters, where the fish travel from the coasts of California, the Pacific Northwest, and British Columbia. As the total number of fish have declined, limits of a catch have naturally decreased. The Wild Fish Conservancy, based in Washington, sued over technicalities in the Endangered Species Act. The salmon have been deeply compromised by dams and pollution, says third-generation Alaskan and journalist Julia O’Malley. Because the fish swimming up from the Lower 48 may be potentially endangered, Alaskan fisheries must come up with a mitigation plan. A judge was compelled by the Conservancy’s complaint of how to enact such a plan. Alaskan fisheries recently won a last minute reprieve in a lawsuit that would have kept lines out of the water this fishing season.
OPINION: Data-driven fisheries management for future generations
Anchorage Daily News
By Doug Vincent-Lang
“As commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, I am proud to work every day with people who make Alaska’s fisheries a global model of sustainability and fisheries management. It takes all of us — from the deckhands on commercial fishing boats, to my staff here at the department, to Alaska families reporting their subsistence numbers — to uphold the data-driven, science-based management practices that set Alaska’s fisheries apart.”
We prioritize scientific research and data collection, ensuring that the department has the information necessary to make smart management decisions. To this end, Fish and Game deliberately invests in regular surveys, various assessments, and monitoring of fish stocks, allowing the department to set fishing quotas that balance the long-term health of fish populations with economic and cultural priorities benefiting all Alaskans.
Recently we have been witnessing unprecedented change in our oceans. Managers, fishermen, and scientists alike have many questions about the future. Fish and Game’s focus on science-based fisheries management works to ensure the long-term survival of our fish stocks and realization of community and economic benefits thanks to healthy and robust fish populations in most of the state. This involves the enforcement of limited entry and fishing quotas to prevent overfishing while incentivizing conservation and stewardship among fishermen. Additionally, this sometimes means reduction of bag limits and other appropriate seasonal and area limits to fisheries are needed to protect spawning or otherwise vulnerable stocks. In short, sustainability is enshrined in our state constitution.
For generations, consumers the world over have known that buying Alaska seafood means supporting healthy marine ecosystems and fisheries that support thriving coastal communities. However, other international fisheries management systems do not always share the State of Alaska’s commitment to sustainability. To protect the integrity of the claim of sustainability across the global industry, it is up to organizations such as the Marine Stewardship Council, or MSC, an organization that evaluates and sets standards for sustainable fishing around the world, to act with integrity and uphold its own standard, even when doing so means missing out on profits.
Unfortunately, the MSC has failed at this duty in recent years, as it has observed Russian actions in Ukraine, assessed the implications for its Russian client fisheries, and chosen a path of accommodation and appeasement. It is why I wrote them a letter detailing our concerns with their continued certification of Russian fisheries. In the letter, I pointed out that the MSC has preserved its own revenue stream from Russian fisheries while providing indirect support for the Putin regime and his brutal war of aggression all the while applying strict standards to Alaska’s fisheries with the hope that they will eventually establish equity. This creates an unlevel playing field, and more importantly, gravely misleads consumers and markets who believe that the seafood they are buying is certified to the highest environmental and ethical standards. In essence, their certification of Russian seafood denigrates the certification they give to Alaska fisheries. Nonetheless, the State of Alaska remains committed to the highest levels of sustainability and will continue to value science and process when making management decisions.
The actions of the MSC continue to prove why Alaska’s homegrown, third-party Responsible Fisheries Management, or RFM, certification program is a better value for the seafood industry. Unlike MSC, RFM prioritizes sustainable fisheries management over corporate profits by applying consistent certification standards to all fisheries. Not a single Russian fishery is RFM certified, and it should remain that way as long as those fisheries are tied to the Putin regime.
Here in Alaska, our commitment to management and sustainable practices isn’t driven solely by market benefits or cold profits. Our motivation stems from respect for the resource, respect for harvesters and consumers, and respect for all Alaskan communities depending on the longevity and health of fish stocks today and well into the future.
Doug Vincent-Lang is the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Making the Case for Fishermen in the Farm Bill
Emily Coffin from the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association Blog
August 14th, 2023
Last week, Congresswoman Pingree, along with her colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee, including Chairman GT Thompson of Pennsylvania, hosted Maine farmers and interested parties at Freeport High School to receive input on the 2023 Farm Bill. The bill is passed once every 5 years and determines how the federal government prioritizes domestic food policy. Although it was originally introduced in 1933 for the benefit of the agricultural industry, the bill has developed into a comprehensive amalgamation of bills that support all sectors of the food economy. The bill is extensive, from nutrition to broadband access. It includes 12 subsections and has great influence on how the country buys, produces, and manages national food production. Within the bill there are USDA provisions that provide grants to young farmers as marketing programs that could open and extend access and opportunity to fishermen, seafood processors, and other participants in the industry. It is a wonderful legislative opportunity to expose the fishing industry to the numerous federal benefits that farmers and food producers enjoy.
Sitka’s seafood donation network connects abundance with scarcity in Western Alaska
Posted by Robert Woolsey, KCAW | Jul 25, 2023
A seafood donation program that began in Sitka during the pandemic is still growing. Now called the Seafood Distribution Network, the program is supplying sockeye to families on the Yukon and Chignik rivers, whose traditional salmon runs have crashed.
The market shift in seafood during the COVID pandemic created a problem for the industry: Unlike many other sectors, the supply – the fish – was still there. How to connect those fish with people when traditional markets vanished?
For Linda Behnken, director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, it was about connecting the dots.
“So we worked with the local processors here to figure out what fish was stranded by markets being closed, by restaurants being closed, the supply chain disruptions,” Behnken said. “We raised money, bought fish from fishermen that was stranded product, and then started distributing it to people in town that told us they were in need. So it was really ‘You let us know if you need seafood, we’ll provide it.’”
And that’s how ALFA’s Seafood Donation Program got started in 2020. Basically, a processor-to-doorstep delivery service for people who were having trouble getting by. It didn’t take long for word about the program to get out.
“And then we started hearing from people outside Sitka that there was a need and people really wanted seafood,” Behnken continued. “So we did a distribution with Sealaska, for example, that reached every community in Southeast Alaska. And we did distributions in the Lower 48 to Tribes along the Columbia River, to Anchorage military families, to communities in Western Alaska. Where we heard there was need, we found partners to work with to make that happen.”
Behnken credits Sitka-based processors Seafood Producers’ Coop, Sitka Sound Seafoods, and Northline Seafoods, along with Tribes and tribal organizations across the state for helping make the connections that kept the program going.
On paper, it sounds like an impossible undertaking – delivering 645,000 seafood meals across the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, but Behnken says it conformed to basic Alaskan values.
“Alaska is a big state, but we’re also a small state and communities really care about other communities,” she said. “And we have a lot of relatives in different parts of the state, and that there is clear reason for us to share between those areas that have a lot and those areas of scarcity, but the infrastructure isn’t really there. So that’s what we’re working on developing is that infrastructure in Alaska so Alaskans can benefit from Alaska’s fish,
A grant from the Alaska Community Foundation got the Seafood Donation Program rolling; a regional food systems grant from the US Department of Agriculture helped ramp it up. But just the energy of regular Alaskans is helping fuel things now. In a pilot project in Dillingham this June, ALFA organized a drive to collect subsistence sockeye for communities affected by the crash in chinook and chum stocks.
Natalie Sattler is the program manager for ALFA.
“We worked with a lot of community members and locals in Dillingham and the Bristol Bay area to help us collect seafood and it was all subsistence donations,” Sattler said. “And within one week, we were able to collect 5,000 pounds of sockeye and folks rallied support, they went down to their setnet sites – kids, families, everyone just you picking fish and donating it and getting it ready to ship out.”
This year, the sockeye will be going to communities on the Yukon and Chignik rivers. And besides providing food, Behnken says the fish are intended to keep food traditions alive.
“What we’ve heard from people in these communities that aren’t able to harvest fish themselves right now because of scarcity is that they really wanted round fish because being able to process that fish as a family – and as a community – is really culturally important,” Behnken said.
The pandemic and the salmon crash have been a one-two punch for many communities in Western Alaska. In a news release, Rep. Mary Peltola said programs like ALFA’s Seafood Distribution Network were a critical part of the rebound. “Low salmon abundance is an issue that needs to be addressed at every level, from the federal government down to individual communities, and efforts like this are an important piece of that larger goal,” Peltola said.
Bristol Bay community members collect over 5,000 pounds of donated salmon for Yukon and Chignik communities
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 18, 2023
Dillingham, AK - In June, Dillingham-area residents harvested and collected over 5,000
pounds of subsistence-caught sockeye salmon that will be distributed to families in the
Yukon and Chignik unable to harvest their own local salmon due to low salmon returns.
The salmon donation was coordinated through the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s
Association’s (ALFA) Seafood Distribution Network with the help of local partners,
including Northline Seafoods, Bristol Bay Native Association, Grant Aviation, and Bristol
Bay Native Corporation.
In June before Bristol Bay’s commercial fishery opened, local Dillingham residents
helped ALFA collect subsistence salmon from families who were fishing at Dillingham’s
Kanakanak Beach. Northline Seafoods - a new seafood processor in Bristol Bay that
specializes in processing and freezing whole fish - helped oversee the cleaning and
freezing of the salmon. The salmon was frozen whole in response to requests from
Yukon and Chignik communities for whole fish so that they could fully utilize the salmon
and practice their food traditions. In addition, each salmon was labeled with the name of
the family that donated it -
In the coming weeks, Grant Aviation will help fly the salmon to Yukon and Chignik
villages, including Alakanuk, Pitkas Point, Saint Mary’s, Chignik Lagoon, and Chignik
Bay. The fish will also be used by the Yukon River Drainage Fishermen’s Association
Educational Exchange program where several youth will travel to communities on the
Yukon and share their experiences around salmon.
“This salmon donation project was a bit of an experiment for us; we didn’t know how
many people would be willing to contribute a portion of their subsistence harvest for
families that they didn’t know. When people heard that we were collecting salmon for the
Yukon and Chigniks, they jumped at the chance to contribute and help other Alaskans -
especially those who depend on subsistence for their diet and culture. We were thrilled
by the positive responses and were able to collect our target of 5,000 pounds of salmon
much quicker than anticipated,” said Natalie Sattler, Program Director for the Alaska
Longline Fishermen’s Association. “We couldn’t have done it without the generous
support of our partners, especially Bristol Bay Native Association, Grant Aviation, and
Northline Seafoods.”
“Our company was first approached in 2020 to help address the growing shortage of
salmon in Alaska’s rural communities and have been involved in the Seafood
Distribution Network ever since. Making sure local Alaskans have access to high quality
seafood is incredibly important to us and we are committed to supporting the Network’s
ongoing efforts to build the infrastructure and distribution systems needed to improve the
resiliency and sustainability of Alaska’s local food system,” said Ben Blakey, CEO of
Northline Seafoods.
“At a time when so many communities are struggling with low salmon returns and facing
another summer of empty smokehouses and freezers, I am filled with hope to see local,
grassroots efforts like this salmon donation project in Dillingham. This project not only
embodies what subsistence is all about, but it is also an example of Alaskans at their
best: sharing and taking care of each other during times of need. Low salmon
abundance is an issue that needs to be addressed at every level, from the federal
government down to individual communities, and efforts like this are an important piece
of that larger goal, ” said Alaska U.S. Congresswoman Mary Peltola.
The Seafood Distribution Network emerged through ALFA’s Seafood Donation Program,
which was started in March 2020 in response to COVID-19 and its impacts on local
fisheries and families. Since then, ALFA’s Seafood Donation Program has provided
more than 645,000 donated Alaska seafood meals to families experiencing food
insecurity in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. With funding from the USDA, ALFA is
currently undergoing a Regional Food System Partnership planning process in which it
will develop a more long-term plan for the Seafood Distribution Network and future
seafood donation efforts.
###
We Are Going Fishing!
Posted by Linda Behnken Jul 6, 2023 Commercial Fishing, Featured, Salmon, Sustainable Seafood, Working Waterfronts Leave a Comment on the Marine Fish Conservation Network page
After months of fighting to save Southeast Alaska’s Chinook salmon troll fishery from a misguided lawsuit filed by the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), our fleet is going fishing!
On June 21st the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court’s May decision to close the fishery while the National Marine Fisheries Service addresses technical issues with its Endangered Species Act documents. We are deeply relieved that the appeals court followed the science.
The WFC lawsuit alleges that the Alaska troll fishery is a threat to Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), a pod of salmon eating orca that live most of the year in Puget Sound. The substantial body of science on the topic establishes that the real threat to the SRKW is habitat damage from urbanization, industrial pollution, and noise disturbance in their home range–not fisheries. Even if fisheries were a threat, it takes twisted logic to identify the small boat, low volume, hook and line troll fishery operating over 800 miles away from the orcas’ home range as the problem. Closing Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery would not benefit SRKW or the salmon they depend on, but it would destroy the rural and indigenous families and villages that depend on the troll fishery. As the appeals court opined, the documented socioeconomic costs are not justified by the speculative environmental impacts claimed by the WFC.
The Ninth Circuit decision is also a testament to the groundswell of support that Alaska’s trollers received from tribes, conservation groups, businesses, local communities, the Alaska’s State Legislature, and Alaska’s Congressional delegation. From a scientific, cultural, and social justice perspective, this lawsuit is a misfire–and a major distraction from the crucially important work to recover Puget Sound orca.
Salmon, orcas, and our planet would be better served if we worked together to address the complex issues that threaten the future sustainability of our fisheries and coastal ecosystems: dams, urban pollution, mining, and climate change. Transferring the conservation burden and cost onto fishing families isn’t the answer–as experts assert. Lynne Barre, who has led the SRKW recovery program at the National Marine Fisheries Service since 2002, points out in her October 2022 written declaration that the WFC oversimplifies and overestimates the impacts of shutting down Southeast’s troll fishery, failing to account for the mobility of both Chinook and orca populations and their fluctuating migratory pathways.
The hard truth is that there are no shortcuts when it comes to restoring wild salmon. We have seen everywhere else in the world that without healthy habitat and free-flowing rivers, we cannot have healthy wild salmon. Alaska trollers understand this. We work to protect salmon habitat to protect our way of life, our communities, and ocean health.
If nothing else, I hope that our legal battle to save our small boat fisheries, communities, and way of life in Southeast Alaska can be a reminder to both fishermen and non-fishermen around the country that we need to work together to ensure our fisheries are sustainable and our oceans are healthy for generations to come.