Alaska’s fishing interests will still be well represented in Washington, D.C., despite a recent shuffling of the legislative deck after former Sen. Mark Begich lost his reelection bid and his chairmanship of a key Senate subcommittee.
Though Begich is gone, longtime Alaska U.S. Rep. Don Young will take the lead for the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act in the 114th Congress and continue on the House Natural Resources Committee.
Begich was chair of the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, and as one of his final acts introduced a reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, or MSA, the law governing federal fisheries.
The House Committee on Natural Resources will be restructured in the 114th Congress; all ocean-related issues will be heard in the Water and Power Subcommittee and redubbed the Water, Power, and Oceans Subcommittee, whose membership will be finalized in January. House members can chair only on subcommittee, and Young will retain his chairmanship of Indian and Alaska Native Affairs.
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