Dunleavy appointments would polarize Board of Fish

Gov. Mike Dunleavy sent shockwaves through Alaska fishing communities recently when he announced his choices for seats on the Alaska Board of Fisheries. Three of his four nominees — Israel Payton, Marit Carlson-Van Dort, and Karl Johnstone — are ideologically aligned with board chair Reed Morisky, creating a polarized majority voting block supported by the Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA), whose founder, Bob Penney, contributed at least $325,000 to campaign efforts for Dunleavy. Johnstone and Carlson-Van Dort are likely to receive the most scrutiny during the confirmation process (members must be confirmed by the Legislature in a joint session).

The Board of Fisheries has long been prized for its neutrality in arbitrating disputes between salmon user groups, and its seven board members are typically selected to provide a wide range of voices. This isn’t just a matter of historical convention; when establishing the board in 1975, the Legislature was acutely aware of the threat posed by an unbalanced board, so they included in the statute that:

“The governor shall appoint each member on the basis of interest in public affairs … and with a view to providing a diversity of interest and points of view in the membership.”

Although individually, each of Dunleavy’s appointments may have sufficient merit for appointment, the Legislature also needs to consider board synergy and whether these members’ interests and views add diversity or simply consolidate the board around a single ideology.

The board is currently chaired by Morisky, an Interior resident and sportfishing guide who is lockstep-aligned with KRSA’s ideology and has voted in favor of virtually every proposal they have put before the board, regardless of how controversial.

Israel Payton’s reappointment was predictable and deserved, and he is keenly focused on issues affecting Cook Inlet watersheds. He and Morisky have a nearly identical voting record; however, unlike the current chair, he is one of the most vocal members of the board and is highly engaged with the public. He is willing to express a justification for his votes and has made an effort to understand the needs of commercial fishermen and fishing communities.

He has combined with Morisky to form a reliable voting bloc for KRSA; they were the only two board members last month to vote in favor of KRSA’s radical proposal to drastically alter how fishery resources are allocated in order to codify preference to sport fishing interests.

Johnstone’s appointment raised the most eyebrows and his presence on the board simply contributes a redundancy to Payton and Morisky’s worldview. He recently penned an op-ed for the Anchorage Daily News that called for the large-scale reduction of the Upper Cook Inlet commercial fishing fleet, basing his arguments on a patently flawed economic analysis of the resource. That article will ultimately belie any potential claims that he could play a neutral role on the board or provide a fair analysis of Alaska’s commercial fishing industry. His appointment should be outright rejected by the Legislature, who need to consider how his personality (he’s been accused using heavy handed approaches to influence other board members behind the scenes) and his ideology fit into the current board.

Carlson-Van Dort is another surprise appointment. She is said to have been KRSA’s top choice for the board because she can be ostensibly touted as a commercial fishing advocate due to her close ties to the Chignik salmon fleet; however, her advocacy for that fishery in no way imperils KRSA’s agenda. In many cases, such as Chignik’s consistent attempts to limit fishing activities of adjacent areas, she will likely work to advance the core KRSA causes.

Additionally, her work for the Pebble Partnership, a mining group hoping to develop an open pit mine in the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, will draw the widespread ire and distrust of Alaska’s commercial fishing fleet, who are almost universally opposed to the construction of the mine that will threaten Bristol Bay’s prolific sockeye runs.

Dunleavy also declined to reappoint Robert Ruffner, a Kenai Peninsula resident who has received widespread support from a large array of stakeholders. He, like Payton, is very vocal and thoughtful during deliberations, and has made a laudable effort to understand the needs and intricacies of the wide array of Alaska’s fishery stakeholders. He is the consummate board member, and his reappointment should have been automatic and would have drawn little opposition.

Gov. Dunleavy’s campaign ties to KRSA ought to draw serious scrutiny in light of his Board of Fish nominees, and the Legislature should outright reject this attempt to polarize the board by stocking it with individuals who are certain to advance the agenda of a single advocacy group.

This is now the second time that he has provided critical appointments to large campaign contributors. The Pacific Seafood Processing Association, an industry group consisting of out-of-state companies, contributed $100,000 to the “Dunleavy for Alaska” campaign and the governor, apparently in return, assigned Nicole Kimball, PSPA’s vice president of Alaska operations, to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Kimball is set to replace one of two Alaska fishermen whom the governor declined to reappoint.

These appointments have all of the appearances of the scourge of pay-to-play politics, casting doubt on any claim that the governor is not indebted to his campaign contributors. At the very least, the governor’s fishery appointments should spark a conversation in the state about how relaxed campaign finance regulations allow lawmakers to execute political transactions that are perfectly legal on paper while being clearly corrupt in intent.

Board of Fish neutrality is essential to sustaining Alaska’s coastal communities and ensuring that our fisheries are managed based on tenets of law and science; the board should not just act as a rubber stamp for a single group of stakeholders such as KRSA. Gov. Dunleavy has abdicated his mandated responsibility to select board members that provide balanced views, and instead used his power of appointments to grant favors to campaign insiders and lobbyists. Legislators should outright refuse to confirm Johnstone and Carlson-Van Dort and send a clear message to the governor that it’s not the role of Alaska’s commercial fishermen to pay his campaign debts.

Darren Platt is a commercial fisherman in Kodiak.

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