U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has opted to go against some top nominations for U.S. fishery management councils.
In a 26 June announcement Lutnick announced he selected Forrest Bowers, the second choice for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, instead the Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy's top choice and current Alaska Department of Fish & Game Board Chair Märit Carlson-Van Dort. For the Pacific Fishery Management Council, Lutnick selected second-choice Chad See, director of the Freezer Longline Coalition, over the Washington Governor Bob Ferguson's first pic of Jamie Goen, the executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers trade group.
The decision to switch up choices comes after NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler called for “better council members and better managers” during a listening session hosted by the Southeastern Fisheries Association at Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. in March 2026.
NOAA’s Lead of Public Affairs Rachel Hager told SeafoodSource that it’s not required for the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to choose the first-rank choice by state governors, as the list is “an order of preference,” and the Magnuson-Stevens Act “grants the Secretary independent authority to select any qualified individual from the submitted list.”
“The chosen appointees are experts and leaders in their regions, and we are confident that they are well qualified for these important positions,” Hager said.
Hager said requirements for council member selection are scientific expertise and training through conservation and management practice either by occupation or past experience in that specific geographic area. Additionally, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce is required to "ensure a fair and balanced appointment on a rotating or other basis of the active participants in the commercial and recreational fisheries under the jurisdiction of the Council" per each selection process of fisheries managers.
Bowers grew up in Alaska, currently resides in Juneau, and is the acting director of the division of commercial fisheries at ADF&G – an organization he’s spent three decades with. He first began as a seasonal technician before a promotion brought him to coordinate statewide management of commercial fisheries, promoting sustainable practices in tandem with area management biologists and engaging with fishermen and seafood processors to comply with regulations, according to ADF&G.
See’s career experience includes 13 years in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., first working with U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Washington) and former U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), and then transitioning to global law and lobbying firm K&L Gates LLP. There, he lobbied on behalf of Pacific Northwest-based clients for federal funding and budget-related issues. He’s also been on several boards, including the United Fishermen of Alaska, the Washington Maritime Federation, and the Seattle Marine Business Coalition. He’s also on the Alaska Business Forum’s advisory committee. At FLC, See leads efforts to promote public policy in support of Pacific cod and groundfish species catch with a management mindset.
In March at Seafood Expo North America, Soler called the fisheries appointments “a political process” after listening to attendees call for better selections from the commercial sector.
“You have to give the governor the people from your sector, people from your industry. You have to tell them this is a commercial seat,” Piñeiro Soler said. “But, that’s for you to face. If you give me the right person, I’m going to approve them. You see, that’s how it works. The stakeholders, the fishermen, they have to come up with the right person. My intention is to balance this whole thing.”
