Gov. Mike Dunleavy today announced the appointment of Soldotna resident Indy Walton to the Board of Fisheries. His term is effective Sept. 3rd, 2021 through July 1, 2023.
Walton received his degree Education from Brigham Young University and worked as an educator in Alaska for five years. He has been commercial fishing for 37 years, with 22 years of set netting in Bristol Bay and Kodiak and 15 years of drift netting in Bristol Bay.
Walton has owned a lodge for the past three years on the Kvichak River and has worked as a licensed financial advisor with Edward Jones Investments for the past 19 years. Additionally, he has coached hockey in Soldotna for the past 23 years.
Appointments to the Board of Fisheries must be confirmed by the Alaska Legislature.
Another Commercial Fisherman!
Ken – hard to say what his true occupation is as he is also a financial advisor & sport fishing lodge owner. Let’s hope he can follow the science & not bend to politics.
Nothing wrong with having a fisherman evaluating fishing in Alaska. This guy has been around for a while and appears to put Alaska first in terms of protecting our fisheries. At least this guy is not some political hack who pals around with Tuckerman Babcock and the other goofballs Governor Dunleavy persists in running around with to his detriment.
Give the guy a chance.
Well, being as how he is replacing Fritz Johnson in what is ‘nominally’ the Bristal Bay Comfish seat, it is in fact more interesting that he is not currently a commercial fisherman. Being a Lodge owner on the Kvichak who used to be a commercial fisherman is something quite different. Confirmation seems unlikely.
Mr. Walton is indeed, an active and current commercial fisherman, who has built a family-owned and operated business in Bristol Bay, through many years of dedication, discipline, hard work, and perhaps a bit of luck. I admit that as a fellow Soldotna resident, I may be a bit biased, but I believe he will be a rational and sensible voice on the BOF.
Depoliticize:
Your opinions might be credible if you were better informed. Walton has been appointed to a seat occupied by Abe Williams who was not confirmed. Not Fritz Johnson!
Whether he will be confirmed or not remains to be seen. However it will not matter much since the BOF is finally weighted towards the hundreds of thousand sports and dip net Alaskans instead of a few limited entry commercial permit holders.
Unless he gets blind sided by a rogue accusation during confirmation he will likely be easily confirmed. But with legislators like Poison Ivy Spohnholz or Louise Stutes who have proved that they will lie and do anything to stack the BOF with commercial sympathizers, anything is possible.
Alaskansfirst.
Perhaps your opinion might be more credible if you were better informed. Abe Williams was Dunleavys first choice to replace Fritz Johnson. Since he wasn’t confirmed, Indy Walton is now the governors choice to replace Fritz.
Don’t know much about Mr. Walton, but with experience as both a commercial fisherman and a sport fish lodge owner, he should be well rounded. Will be interested to see what the various user groups have to say about him.
Those “few permit holders” are heavily, personally invested in THE BEST salmon fishery of the northern hemisphere. That fishery was once one of the most lucrative bright spots in Alaska’s economy. Those few permit holders hold a treasure of historic fisheries knowlege the likes of which cannot be duplicated anywhere. Those few permit holders have been severely buffeted by cohesive discriminatory malicious behavior of ALL state agencies. They have to fight for the right to install a street light! The amount of state taxes and royalties those few permit holders have paid to Alaska over decades would make your head spin. When Ted Steven’s was alive he understood what these few permit holders have on the line. The public does not know the impact that heavy military maritime actions have on the ocean salmon and never will but it isn’t good. It is not climate change it is international warfare activities in the high seas. Things the quiscient media has been instructed by London and others not to say. Our Alaska salmon stocks are in the process of being ruined by foreign interests. I think what is needed is a charming quiscient personality to round out the board and complete the bring down of Alaska’s economy.
Actually I hope the candidate has loyalty to those few permit holders and the vestiges of that fishing industry to preserve and serve their place for generations. It is odd to me that the Seattlites running the show in Juneau hate so intensely their closest neighbors across the gulf and strait from themselves. What gives? Stupidity?
Those limited entry permits were free. Commercial fishermen are largely from out of state. Commercial fishermen get breaks at the gas pump. They pay half the harbor fees of other users in Juneau. If they have a bad season the federal government steps in and starts writing checks. It’s time for things to change for this welfare industry
I don’t believe you are correct about that.
Andrew,
The original limited entry permits were issued to long term fishermen at no cost. My permit, which was bought in the early 80’s, cost me Tens of thousands of dollars. According to the commercial fisheries entry commission,by far the majority of entry permits are owned by alaskan residents. All of the marine users,sport and commercial do not pay the road tax if they buy their fuel at a marina. Have yet to receive one of these checks from the federal government. Welfare industry? That is a slap in the face to the hard working individuals in the commercial fishing industry. Please educate your self before posting ignorant comments such as this.
Revoke operating authority of ak fish and feathers In cook inlet for mismanagement of people’s resource.
The fish belong to the people not some commercial special interest who took to much…..and wreaked the fishery..
Subsistence versus sport versus commercial fishing is an interesting subject.
The state constitution seems confused on it but the intent seems to be: “The legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people.”
So the question is does allocating a large portion of the statewide catch to commercial interests, who utilize the resource to earn a profit, maximize the benefit to the people or does reserving that allocation to the general population who are utilizing the resource to put food on the table maximize the benefit?
In a perfect world of unlimited fish both can be accommodated but that’s not the world we live in so we have to choose…individual Alaskans first or commercial interests first.
Personally I believe that resident Alaskans who harvest natural resources for their own personal use should always come first and if shortages mandate restrictions those restrictions should affect commercial interests first, even to the extent of shutting them down completely if that’s what it takes to ensure that residents get access to what they need.
After all, residents fishing for food aren’t trying to make money off our natural resources…we’re just trying to feed our families.
Of course there is another way that passed in a number of states …..”Ban all nets within 6 miles of cook in let’s coast…..period.” plenty of case laws to stop these criminals after the referendum passes popular vote. Give um the quivers.
We are not arguing about the success of commercial fishing and their dedication…..what the issue is…..alaska fish and feathers managed the fisheries for only the commercial interest and marginalized sport and subsistence fishing that the citizens of this state use. Accountability of the director and management at that commission are in the past and presently need changing to the citizens benefit. By the way could you buy back my sport fishing licenses and tackle when the fish and feathers screws it up??? Only right it sounds like to be equal users.
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