A member of the seven-person board in charge of Alaska’s state fisheries has resigned after only four months on the job, citing personal reasons.
Indy Walton, appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in September, resigned effective Dec. 20, said Glenn Haight, the board’s executive director.
Walton’s resignation was first reported Sunday by the Cordova Times. In a phone call Monday, he said medical issues have left him without the energy to serve on the board while working.
“It’s just really frustrating,” he said.
Under state law, Dunleavy has until Jan. 19 to name a replacement. The governor violated that law last year, waiting until September to name Walton as the replacement for Abe Williams, whose appointment the Alaska Legislature rejected in May.
Walton never participated in a Board of Fisheries meeting, though he did sit during a work session, Haight said.
A fish board meeting scheduled to begin Wednesday in Ketchikan has been postponed, Haight said, though not because of Walton’s resignation.
COVID-19 case counts in Southeast Alaska are high enough that “we were doubtful on being able to pull off this meeting without some sort of outbreak,” he said.
A new date for the meeting has not yet been set.