The U.S. Commerce Department has appointed more than twenty members to the eight regional fishery management councils that manage ocean fish stocks throughout the country. On the North Pacific Council, Nome resident Simon Kinneen will soon hold the obligatory Alaska seat.
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) and the other regional councils were established by the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. NPFMC manages fisheries in a 200-mile-long zone.
NPFMC is required to perform duties like hold public meetings and committees, develop fishery management plans, and set annual catch limits.
According to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration press release, Kinneen will begin his 3-year term with NPFMC on August 12th.
Image at top: Commercial fishermen delivering chum salmon in Kotzebue. Photo: Hilary Upicksoun.
