Who We Are
We care deeply about Southeast fishing communities.
Communities
We represent the communities of Kasaan, AK, and Yakutat, AK through the Community Quota Entity Program.
Kasaan, AK
Yakutat, AK
Board of Directors
Joe Nelson (Kaaxúxgu), President – Joe is a Brown Bear (Teikweidí) from Yakutat who grew up commercial fishing and subsistence living in Yakutat. As a Board Member for Sealaska, Joe works with the board, management, and partners to further Sealaska’s strategic plan and fulfill their purpose of strengthening our people, our culture and our homelands.
Alana Peterson (Gah Kith Tin), Treasurer – Alana is Luknahadi from Diginaa Hit. She grew up and currently lives in Sitka, Alaska. After graduating from college she joined the Peace Corps where she served as a Small Business Development volunteer for two years on the southern coast of Peru. She obtained her Masters in Business Administration and continues to work in community and economic development in her current role as Executive Director at Spruce Root.
Nang K'adangáas (Eric Hamar), Kasaan Director – Eric is a member of the SGalans clan of Kasaan, where he currently resides. He comes from a long line of fishermen, as well as three generations of commercial fishing. As an artist and father of two, his dedication to community is found at the intersection of fishing, art, and culture, and the hope that our villages can thrive from within.
Linda Behnken, Vice President, Secretary – Linda is the Executive Director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association and the Board President of the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust. She came to Sitka with a strong love of wilderness and a vague idea about fishing to earn college money. After one season she was hooked— on fishing, Sitka, and Alaska's wild coast. After finishing college, Linda earned a Masters in Environmental Science from Yale University. Linda has served on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and as a U.S. Commissioner to the International Pacific Halibut Commission. Linda lives in Sitka and still fishes commercially every summer for halibut, sablefish and salmon.
Jesse Pavlik, Yakutat Director – Jesse is a lifelong commercial fisherman who has lived in Yakutat his entire life. He is proud to be raising his family there and is deeply invested in the future of his community and fisheries. He is motivated to provide an important opportunity for young local fishermen to gain access to quota ownership and build long-term careers in the industry.
Consultants
Lauren Howard – Lauren is a commercial fisherman based in Sitka who is passionate about helping others enter the fisheries. After working on boats around the world, she moved to Southeast Alaska and fell in love with commercial fishing. Seeing how small boat fishermen were getting squeezed out, she became a member of the Advisory Panel of the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council representing the interests of small boat and rural fishermen. In her role as Policy Coordinator for Alaska Sustainable Fisheries Trust, she keeps close relationships with these constituents and ensures they are connected to programming, resources, and advocacy opportunities. As a staff member of the Collective, she brings her policy expertise and ability to connect with fishers to the development of the Regional CQE. The ability to uplift and support communities like her own brings her deep meaning.
Angela Jones, Kasaan Community Coordinator – Angela is a wife of a commercial fisherman, mother of two grown men and a city clerk. She enjoys being involved in her community and participating in local events and activities that bring people together. Angela is passionate about serving her community while balancing family life, public service and Alaska fishing industry.
Brittany Foster – Brittany's work is driven by a deep belief that when small-scale fishers have secure rights to their coasts, they build resilient coastal communities. She began her career as a marine biologist, but as she got to know commercial fishermen, she realized that ecological data alone wouldn’t drive the change communities needed. In a pivot to the social side of fisheries, she pursued a Master’s where she studied marine tenure rights around the globe. Seeing that self-governance was indeed possible, she set out to empower fishing communities. Now as the Director of People & Power at Catch Together, Brittany brings her global insight to develop innovative solutions in U.S. fisheries. Helping communities align around a shared vision through the SVFC is the most meaningful part of her work.
brittany@catchtogether.org
Jonathan Pavlik, Yakutat Community Coordinator – Jonathan started fishing as a kid and has committed his life to commercial salmon setnetting and halibut longlining. He is a co-founder of the Yakutat Regional Aquaculture Association and a lifelong member of the Yakutat Fish and Game Advisory Committee. His goal as community coordinator is to continue to lead and strengthen Yakutat's commercial fishing culture while advocating for the next fisherman.
Partners and Funders
