Dillingham's Pete Andrew and Kodiak's Mike Friccero will serve on the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association board until June 2016.
KDLG: The Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association has two new board members.
KDLG's Molly Dischner reports...
Dillingham’s Pete Andrew and Kodiak’s Mike Friccero were selected by the board and will serve through June 2016. Andrew will fill seat A, which was previously held by Robert Heyano. Friccero will serve as an ex-officio member.
Acting Board president Fritz Johnson said that as an ex-officio member, Friccero will have the same duties as other board members, but won’t have a vote.
Johnson says both Andrew and Friccero are long-time Bristol Bay fishermen who were interested in serving on the RSDA’s board.
“We were looking for somebody who obviously has experience in the fishery, is conversant with the issues we’re facing today and is enthusiastic about helping out.”
Both Andrew and Friccero fit that bill, Johnson said, so the board found a way to include both.
“It was a hard decision,” Johnson said. “We only had room to appoint one, but we thought that having both their input would be really helpful to the organization.”
He says their experience should serve them well. The next meeting will probably be the annual membership meeting in Dillingham on June 6.
“Preparation for an RSDA meeting is bring your experience and eagerness to serve on the board to the board meetings,” Johnson said. “I’m not going to be teaching Pete or Mike myself too much about the fishing industry. They’re well acquainted with it.”
Johnson says the new members will serve until the end of Heyano’s term next spring, when one or both could decide to run for the permanent seat.
The board is also continuing its search for a new executive director follow Sue Aspelund’s resignation. Johnson said some applications have been received and are being evaluated.