Tag Archives: Bill Walker
Regardless of party or office, Alaska candidates are targeting trawling
Republicans, Democrats and independents seeking a variety of elected offices across Alaska appear united by a desire to restrict deep-sea trawling. In candidate questionnaires submitted to the Alaska Beacon, candidates for statewide and legislative races, regardless of party, say the restrictions are the best way to improve salmon returns on the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers. “I support efforts to reduce the wasteful bycatch of Alaska’s seafood by Seattle-based high seas fishing corporations,” said Mary Peltola, the Democratic candidate for Alaska’s U.S. House seat. “Science provides the best guide. However, I think most Alaskans agree it is past time to get high seas trawler bycatch under control,” said Tuckerman Babcock, a Republican candidate for an Alaska Senate district on the Kenai Peninsula. >click to read< 19:46
House Bill 56: Cap raised to $400,000 on Alaska Commercial Fishing Loan Fund
New legislation boosts to $400,000 the cap on money that may be borrowed through the Alaska Commercial Fishing Loan Fund to purchase limited entry permits, individual fishing quotas and gear. House Bill 56, sponsored by Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, was signed into law on Aug. 31 by Alaska Gov. Bill Walker in a ceremony at Fisherman’s Hall in Kodiak. Ortiz said the bill addresses the problem of too many Alaskans are priced out of commercial fishing because they can’t afford a permit, quota or gear. >click to read<13:31
Alaska’s 2018 commercial salmon harvest 30 percent below forecast, yet some fisheries have boomed
The statewide commercial salmon harvest is about 31 percent below the preseason forecast, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in a statement Thursday. The 2018 season, it said, “has been unusual.” Preliminary numbers show a statewide commercial salmon harvest of about 103 million fish so far. That’s subject to change, because the fishing season isn’t completely over yet. Fish and Game’s forecast in March projected a total statewide harvest of 147 million fish. >click to read<08:03
Alaska Department of Public Safety reaches out to fishermen in effort to combat opioid abuse
Earlier this year, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker issued a disaster declaration to combat opioid abuse in the state. Since then, more time and resources have been dedicated to the issue. This summer, some of those efforts are aimed at getting the attention of the fishing community. “We haven’t had something of this magnitude before,” said Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, “It’s not just about fishermen, it’s about lumberjacks, it’s about concrete pourers and everyone else out there,” Though the letter was sent specifically to fishermen, the commissioners said its part of a wider effort, and they’re not singling out one industry. click here to read the story 22:38
Bill Walker, the former director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is now a convicted felon.
Walker pleaded guilty to one court of conspiracy involving the use of federal money he controlled at the DMR. It was a brief hearing, lasting only 35 minutes. But during those 35 minutes, a clear picture of corruption at the DMR was painted by federal prosecutors, corruption that began and ended with Bill Walker. Read more here wlox.com 18:58
