Former Alaska Department of Fish & Game commissioner Cora Campbell has been hired as the new Chief Executive Officer of Siu Alaska Corporation, as CEO John Eckels schedules his retirement for March.
Siu is a for-profit subsidiary of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation established in 2009, invested in six commercial fishing ventures in the Bering Sea.
According to a release from NSEDC, Campbell will take over as CEO in the Anchorage office on February 1, working for a few weeks with Eckels before his retirement.
Hailing from Petersburg, Alaska, Campbell was a contentious choice for the Fish & Game commissioner position in 2010, having worked previously as fisheries policy aide for then-Gov. Sean Parnell and former Gov. Sarah Palin. She was 31 years old at the time of her hiring, and various user groups throughout the state questioned the extent of her management experience—but she silenced her critics with strong performance in her years on the job, earning the respect of fishermen and fisheries managers alike.
Eckels says he is leaving the company in capable hands, and Board Chairman Don Stiles says Campbell’s knowledge of state and federal fisheries as a whole will bring a solid vision to the Siu corporation.
