JUNEAU — A former Wasilla mayor has been appointed to help regulate participation in Alaska's commercial fisheries.
Verne Rupright was appointed to the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission on Jan. 20, said Grace Jang, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Walker.
The three-member body decides who can participate in limited-entry fisheries and adjudicates appeals. Commission staff also issues permits and licenses for Alaska's commercial fisheries.
Rupright was selected based on his legal background and as someone who could help the commission navigate fiscal challenges, Jang wrote in an email. Messages left for Rupright at the commission office were not immediately returned.
Commissioners serve a four-year term and are paid a little over $100,000 a year plus benefits. The appointment is subject to legislative confirmation.
Rupright replaced Frank Homan. Last November, in the final days of his term, then-Gov. Sean Parnell appointed Homan to the seat.
"Parnell appointed Mr. Homan at the 11th hour of his administration which provides Governor Walker the ability to consider reassignment of that seat," Jang said in her email.
Another commissioner — Benjamin Brown — is set to have his term expire March 1. He has applied to stay on the commission, and Jang said the governor will either reappoint him or appoint someone else by Tuesday.
There was one other applicant this year, Michael Buchanan Laukitis, who applied Jan. 3, according to information from the governor's office. Laukitis, a Homer resident, is a commercial fisherman and former president of the North Pacific Fisheries Association. His application remains valid.
More than 50 other applications for the commission are on file. But some of the applications dated back to the 1990s, and Boards and Commissions Director Karen Gillis said that not all former applicants were contacted to see if they were still interested. About a dozen of the applications were submitted from 2010 to 2013.