Candidates for the sole U.S. House of Representatives seat up for election in Alaska were able to make their positions on the state’s struggling seafood industry heard during the 2024 Alaska Fisheries Debate, hosted by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce.
Incumbent U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) touted her record on providing support to the state’s commercial fishing sector while pointing to the bills she has sponsored as a path forward for the industry.
“The work on fisheries that my team, both our senators, and I have done over the last two years is extensive and robust, and it will never be enough; it will always be my priority,” Peltola said.
Peltola replaced long-serving U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) in an August 2022 special election, which was called following Young’s unexpected death in March 2022. Peltola won her second congressional race later that year in the November regular election, securing 55 percent of the vote.
Joining Peltola at the 2024 Alaska Fisheries Debate were Republican Nick Begich III, who ran against Peltola in the 2022 race, and third party candidate John Wayne Howe of the Alaska Independence Party.
Peltola began the debate by recounting the Alaska congressional delegation’s accomplishments in recent years, including securing fishery disasters funding, increasing U.S. Department of Agriculture purchases of seafood, and the closing of a loophole that allowed Russian seafood to enter the U.S. via third-country processors.
“The only way you can succeed in Congress is by forging relationships,” Peltola said. “No one is ever going to help you if they can’t stand you or if you’ve double crossed them, and I have a long, successful history of being very easy to work with and getting things done.”
Begich agreed that bipartisanship is key to improving domestic fisheries.
“Fish is not a Democrat or Republican issue,” Begich said. “This is one of the few issues at the moment we should be able to work in a bipartisan fashion in Washington, D.C.”
One area of difference between the two major party candidates was an emphasis on who should be managing U.S. fisheries.
In June, Peltola was one of a handful of lawmakers who introduced the Sustaining America’s Fisheries for the Future Act, a bill that would reauthorize the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). Although the lawmakers behind the bill were cautious about the bill’s likelihood of passing into law in the current Congress, they argued that the MSA – which was last reauthorized 18 years ago – was in desperate need of an update.
A complicating factor is the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling ending the Chevron deference and limiting fisheries regulators’ authority to interpret congressional directives. The fallout from that ruling could see federal lawmakers taking a more direct role in fisheries management than it typically has, Peltola said.
“After the Supreme Court's recent decision on the Chevron case, which was actually brought about by East Coast fishermen regarding observers on their boats, I think Congress is going to be much more involved in a lot of the work that NOAA does,” Peltola said. “There are some things that excite me about that, and there are some things that make me very nervous about that.”
Begich advocated more local input on fisheries management, emphasizing the role of regional councils in making regulatory decisions.
“I think that it's important for everyone in Alaska that's involved in fisheries to recognize that you really don't want Congress coming in and starting to set policy,” Begich said. “If you think that the council process is slow, try Congress; it’s a process that's going to be a lot slower and a lot less responsive to the needs of the fisheries.”
Begich called for more ...
