Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott speaks to the NPFMC on Wednesday in Sitka. Mallott told council members to “try to find ways to reach common ground — or water.” (State of Alaska photo/Barbara Blake)
Lt. Governor Byron Mallott urged participants to pursue the common good on behalf of Alaska, at one of the most polarized meetings of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in recent memory.
Mallott listened from the audience for the better part of the day on Wednesday (6-3-15), as council members read reports on issues surrounding federal fishing policy.
When he was invited forward to speak, however, the lt. governor chose to put a face on the debate.
“The mother of a child on St. Paul Island cares as much about her child as that of the woman who lives in Kodiak. They should have a powerful and compelling desire to work together.”
The most significant rancor at the council’s Sitka meeting has been over bycatch issues: How much halibut and salmon should the large-vessel trawl fleet be permitted to waste at the expense of the small-boat hook-and-line fisheries?
Lt. Gov. Mallott strongly recommended a holistic solution. This was his only direct reference to trawling in his 18-minute speech.
“We should not let the North Pacific Ocean be a place where so many different views are taken such that we are separated in our public policy decision-making, but to do it in a way that brings us together. And the trawler impacted by salmon ultimately affects the lives of folks on the Yukon River and even into Canada. That affects ultimately the biosphere in which we all live, which should be viewed as common. So that person on the Yukon who is as concerned about the king salmon as is a pollock trawler of the resource that he or she seeks, should find ways to come together.”
Lt. Gov. Mallott’s pitch for unity in federal fishery policy was delivered without the slightest hint of irony, even though state government has remained deadlocked for two months, and is poised to shut down on July 1.
His final suggestion to the council — to consider the interests of the public and move forward — might have been just as well-served to the legislature.
“If we do not do that, it ultimately becomes win-or-lose. And the worst kind of society that we can build in Alaska is one that is built along those lines.”
In addition to his role as lt. governor, Byron Mallott is Gov. Walker’s lead advisor on fisheries policy. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets through next Tuesday in Sitka.
