House Fisheries committee forwards four fisheries nominees after day of testimony

Chair Stutes called the House Special Committee on Fisheries to order and said the panel would consider the governor's appointment of Tracy Welch as commissioner of the Commercial Fishery Entry Commission and three nominees to the Alaska Board of Fisheries: Paul Cyr, Blair Hixson and the reappointment of Mike Wood.

Tracy Welch, who identified herself as a lifelong Southeast Alaska resident and the executive director of United Fishermen of Alaska, told the committee she has participated in commercial fisheries for more than 30 years, holds a law degree from the University of Oregon and has led tribal administration and program efforts in Petersburg. Welch described having worked with CFEC through her role at UFA and said she is familiar with emergency transfer and appeals processes through fishermen's experiences.

The committee then took testimony for Paul Cyr, who said his two decades working on Alaska's waters'including roles in mariculture, seafood processing and lodge operations'gave him a broad perspective. Cyr said his approach to the Board of Fisheries would emphasize process, people and science and that conservation must come first.

Blair Hixson, who grew up in Bethel and operates a lodge on the Anvik River, said his experience spans subsistence, sport and personal-use fisheries and that the board's role is allocation. On questions about conflicts of interest, Hixson said he would consult ethics oversight and "if I benefited financially I would recuse myself." He told members he prioritizes the resource and outreach to local stakeholders when making decisions.

Mike Wood, joining remotely, summarized his prior service on the Board of Fisheries and said he has worked to balance stakeholder interests and science. On the recent board-generated, out-of-cycle actions (including contested gear-type changes in Cook Inlet), Wood said he did not vote in favor of the most recent board-generated proposal and that he shares legislators'concern about timing and transparency in some deliberations.

Public testimony during the session was overwhelmingly supportive of the nominees. United Fishermen of Alaska, regional fisheries organizations, individual fishermen and sport-fishing groups praised Welch's expertise, welcomed Southeast representation on the Board of Fisheries for Cyr and Hixson, and cited Wood's experience and willingness to engage with stakeholders. Testimony also repeatedly raised concerns about recent "out-of-cycle" Board of Fisheries actions and urged clearer public process and responses to legislators.

Representative Hemshutt moved that the committee "review the qualifications of the governor's appointees, Tracy Welch to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission, as well as Paul Cyr, Blair Hixson, and Mike Wood to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and recommend that their names be forwarded to a joint session for confirmation." The chair said the committee would forward the names and asked members to sign the committee report; the meeting adjourned at about 11:40.

What's next: The committee recommended forwarding all four names to the joint session for final confirmation; the full joint session will consider those nominations and take a final vote.