Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell recently nominated Duncan Fields and David Long for consideration by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for service on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC). The governor also named Stefanie Moreland and John Moller as alternate nominees.
"The fisheries resources in the North Pacific are of vital importance to Alaskans and Alaskan communities, and these nominees are experienced in the harvest, conservation, and management of fisheries resources," Governor Parnell said. "Mr. Fields and Mr. Long will effectively press forward on issues that are important to Alaska."
Fields, of Kodiak, is completing his second term on the NPFMC. He has been an active fisherman since 1960. Fields serves as a technical advisor for the Gulf of Alaska Coastal Communities Coalition, the vice president of natural resource and community development for Old Harbor Native Corporation, and a natural resource consultant for Shoreside Consulting. He served on the NPFMC Advisory Panel from 2001 through 2007 and is a member of the executive committee of the United Fishermen of Alaska. He earned a bachelor's degree with a comprehensive social science major from Cedarville College and a juris doctorate from the University of Oregon School of Law.
Long, of Wasilla, has acquired extensive and diverse experience over the past 40 years through active participation in fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Bristol Bay, and Sea of Okhotsk in a variety of gear types and fisheries. He is a licensed master of oceans, has mastered vessels with oceanographic research and development programs, and has served the Alaska State Troopers as a vessel supervisor. He has also participated in the NPFMC process by providing testimony and information. Long is also an avid sport fisherman.
Moreland, of Juneau, is currently a special assistant in the Office of the Governor. In that role, she serves as a policy advisor on fisheries, wildlife, oceans, and Arctic issues. She formerly served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Moreland has additional public service in fisheries management working as a federal fisheries coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, as the commissioner's alternate on the NPFMC, and as an economist and research analyst for the State of Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission. Moreland earned a bachelor's degree in natural resources and environmental studies from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and a master's degree in resource and applied economics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Moller was born in Unalaska and resides in Juneau, where he serves as a senior rural affairs advisor and special assistant in the Office of the Governor. He worked for many years as a commercial fisherman and currently owns and operates a commercial fishing vessel in Southeast Alaska. He also owns and manages commercial properties. Moller has served on a number of Alaska Native and local government community boards and committees, including four years on the advisory panel to the NPFMC. He also served for 13 years as general manager of the Aleutian Pribilof Island Community Development Association.
With jurisdiction over the one million square mile Exclusive Economic Zone off the coast of Alaska, the NPFMC has primary responsibility for groundfish management in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Aleutian Islands, including cod, pollock, flatfish, mackerel, sablefish, and rockfish species harvested mainly by trawlers, hook and line longliners, and pot fishermen. Established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act, the council is one of eight regional councils dedicated to the oversight of the nation's fisheries. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act, which was originally signed into law in 1976, empowers the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to choose the final appointees from applicants nominated by governors of coastal states.
SOA press release