2019 UFA Pacific Marine Expo Scheduled Guests

UFA is pleased to announce a new activity at our Pacific Marine Expo Booth.  This year, we are fortunate to have special guests chosen by UFA board members to spend time in our booth as an opportunity for expo participants to have facetime with these individuals.  Stop by our booth #4125 during our guests scheduled time slots to grab a cup of coffee and ask them questions and share ideas with them.  

2019 UFA Pacific Marine Expo Scheduled Guests

Thursday, November 21

10-12:00: Nicole Kimball, NPFMC Board Member
2-5:00: Representative Sarah Vance, Alaska State House Representative District 31 & member of House Fisheries Committee
2-4:00: Louise Fode, Warning Coordination Meteorologist National Weather Service & Jason Ahsenmacher, General Forecaster National Weather Service
3-5:00: Dr. Daniel Schindler, University of Washington
3-5:00: Farewell to Glenn Reed and welcome PSPA new President Chris Barrows

Friday, November 22

All day:
• Representative Louise Stutes, Alaska State House Representative District 32 & House Fisheries Committee Chair
• Representative Bryce Edgmon, Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives; representing District 37 in the Alaska State Legislature

10-12:00: Louise Fode, Warning Coordination Meteorologist National Weather Service & Jason Ahsenmacher, General Forecaster National Weather Service
10-12:00: Andy Mezirow, NPFMC Board Member
10-12:00: Rachel Lord, Executive Secretary Alaska Association of Harbormasters & Port Administrators
12-2:00: Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, Alaska Department of Fish and Game
2-5:00: John Jensen, Alaska Board of Fisheries and NPFMC Board Member

Saturday, November 23

10-11:30: Jess Hathaway, Editor in Chief, National Fishermen, North Pacific Focus, Pilothouse Guide
10-1:00: Rachel Lord, Executive Secretary Alaska Association of Harbormasters & Port Administrators


Representative Bryce Edgman, Speaker of the House:  An Alaska state legislator since 2007, Representative Bryce Edgmon is currently serving his second term as Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, leading a majority coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. He is the first Alaska Native House Speaker in the history of the state.

Prior to the 31st Legislature, Speaker Edgmon was seated on the House Finance Committee, chairing the Departments of Public Safety and Corrections Budget Subcommittees. Speaker Edgmon also previously served as Co-Chair of the House Energy Committee and Chairman of the House Special Committee on Fisheries. Additionally, he has served on the Resources and Education Standing Committees, and the ADF&G, Revenue, Commerce, and Transportation Budget Subcommittees. Speaker Edgmon currently serves as Vice-Chair of the House Tribal Affairs Committee and sits on the Fisheries and Legislative Council Committees. 

A graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Speaker Edgmon was born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska, where he fished commercially for salmon and herring for more than twenty years and where he was a longtime chairman of the board of Choggiung Ltd., the Alaska Native village corporation for Dillingham, Ekuk, and Portage Creek. He currently lives in Dillingham with his wife Melody and their son Evan and daughter Emma.


Representative Louise Stutes is serving her third term in Alaska’s State House, representing the fishing communities of Kodiak, Cordova, Yakutat, and Seldovia. She is the Chair of the Fisheries Committee, a post she has held for 6 years. She has been married for 26 years to a lifelong commercial fisherman from Anchor Point, Alaska.  Rep. Stutes is well known for her advocacy of the commercial fishing industry, fisheries management and research dollars, as well as rural and coastal issues. She is also the Chair of the House Transportation Committee, the House Majority Whip, and the Vice-Chair of Legislative Council.


Representative Vance was raised in Alaska and currently resides in Homer with her husband and four children. She is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives and sits on several committees including State Affairs, Tribal Affairs, and Fisheries. Representative Vance is a strong advocate for responsible management of the fish resource, representing all facets of the industry in her constituency. In her spare time she enjoys conversing over a cup of black coffee, kitting supplies often within reach. 


Doug Vincent-Lang is the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  He holds a BS degree in Population Dynamics/Biology from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay (GO PACK) and a MS degree in Biological Oceanography from the University of Alaska – Fairbanks.   He has over 35 years of experience in fisheries and wildlife management in Alaska.  In addition to his duties as Commissioner, he serves as a Commissioner on the Pacific Salmon Commission and serves on various other international and national boards and commissions.


Chris Barrows is the current President, Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA), joining PSPA in August of 2019.  PSPA is a nonprofit trade association representing nine seafood processing companies located in Alaska and around the United States.  PSPA’s members produce or purchase seafood from fishermen in nearly all of Alaska’s sustainable fisheries, including salmon, pollock, crab, cod, halibut, and others, processing and facilitating market access for Alaska seafood products in the U.S. and around the world while operating several at-sea processing vessels and dozens of seafood processing facilities in coastal communities throughout Alaska.  Prior to joining PSPA, Chris served for 29 years in the U.S. Coast Guard that included operations in the waters off of Alaska and in the North Pacific Ocean to ensure compliance with domestic and international fisheries and marine protected species laws and regulations.


Jessica Hathaway is the editor in chief of National Fisherman, the monthly trade publication for the U.S. commercial fishing industry, as well as its associated West Coast and Alaska quarterly, annual Pilothouse Guide, website, newsletter and social media presence. National Fisherman is owned by Diversified Communications, which produces Pacific Marine. Ms. Hathaway coordinates with show producers to develop the Expo conference program and the show’s program, Expo News. She has been covering the fishing industry as a writer and editor since 2006 and the maritime industry since 2001. She also serves on the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Communications Committee and is a board member of the National Fisheries Conservation Center.


John Jensen is a life-long Alaskan, commercial fisherman and owner of Jensen’s Boat Rentals, a company specializing in self-guided, recreational boating adventures, in Petersburg, Alaska.  His commercial fishing career began in 1966, long-lining for halibut in the Gulf of Alaska, salmon in

Southeast Alaska and red king crab in the Bering Sea. Throughout his time at sea, he has participated as the vessel and permit owner, and crew, in numerous individual fisheries species and gear types, covering all coastal regions of Alaska.  John has always been interested in fisheries regulation and sustainable fishing and is dedicated to preserving the resource for future generations. He was appointed to the Alaska Board of Fish in 2001 and has been a member of the board for 17 years; serving as Chairman of the Board for three years. He is an advisory member to the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission. Most recently he was appointed to the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, a federal regulatory body which manages fisheries in the exclusive economic zone. Locally, he has served on the city Council, Planning & Zoning Commission, and is a current board member of the Southeast Alaska Power Authority, which manages multiple hydroelectric projects, supplying Southeast communities.

Life in the off season is quickly filled with many interests hunting, canning, smoking, & pickling the harvest in the “Norske” tradition, and great times are spent with the grandkids.


Ms. Kimball has 20 years’ experience in Alaska fisheries management and policy and currently works for the Pacific Seafood Processors Association, a non-profit trade association comprised of motherships and shorebased seafood processors across Alaska. Prior to this, she served as Federal Fisheries Coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, where she represented the state in regional, national, and international fisheries venues, and served as the alternate to the Commissioner on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (2012-2016). Before this Nicole worked as a fisheries analyst for the Council for 12 years. Nicole received a BS in natural resource management at the University of Maine, and a master’s in environmental policy and renewable resource management from Tufts University. Nicole currently serves on the board of the Alaska Sea Life Center, the Maritime Works Leadership Council, the Alaska Sea Grant Advisory Committee, and as Vice-Chair of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute’s Communications Committee. Born in Ketchikan, she currently lives in Anchorage with her husband and daughter. 


Rachel Lord is the Executive Secretary of the Alaska Association of Harbormasters and Port Administrators. AAHPA represents ports and harbors across Alaska, with over 40 municipal ports and harbors represented as well as over 50 companies that provide industry support for the infrastructure, operations and maintenance along Alaska’s public working waterfronts. From 2014 to 2016 Rachel facilitated the statewide ad-hoc Derelict Vessel Task Force and worked with stakeholders to help develop and pass SB92, the Derelict Vessel Act. She lives in Homer with her husband and two children, and in addition to working for the AAHPA she is on the Homer City Council, and has a cut flower farm and works in floral design for weddings and events. 


Andy Mezirow begins his fifth year serving on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and second year as the Chairman of the North Pacific Research Board. For the last 24 years Andy has owned and operated a popular salmon sportfishing charter fishing boat in Seward and fishes his halibut IFQ  from that boat as well. He has advocated for small boat fishermen, Alaskan coastal communities, and common sense regulations that solve problems. 


Daniel Schindler is a Professor in SAFS and a principal investigator of the University of Washington’s Alaska Salmon Program (ASP). His research is focused on freshwater ecosystems and their watersheds, addressing questions ranging from understanding basic ecological and evolutionary processes, to the effects of climate change, watershed development, and fisheries on ecological dynamics. Most of his research focuses on the rivers and lakes of western Alaska. He received a BSc from the University of British Columbia, and a MS and PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a previous recipient of the Frank Rigler Award from the Society of Canadian Limnologists, the Carl R. Sullivan Fishery Conservation Award  to the ASP from the American Fisheries Society, and was elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2018.


Glenn Reed was born in Seward, Alaska and grew up in the Southcentral and Southwest areas of the state. He fished commercially in salmon fisheries for several years beginning in his early teens through his late 20’s, but he wasn’t very good at it. Glenn moved to Seattle in 1995 and enjoys spending time traveling, hiking, reading, and intensely researching the subtle nuances of malt whisky.”


Louise Fode has been with the National Weather Service for over 13 years, and a forecaster in Alaska for over 17. As the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the Anchorage Forecast Office, she enjoys working with customers, including the marine community, to make sure NWS forecast services meet their needs. She loves gardening, hiking, and cross-country skiing, and her favorite cloud is the Kelvin-Helmholtz wave cloud.