Government

A former congressional aide may spend as much as ten months in prison for a fishing violation while was a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Arne Fuglvog submitted his resignation Sunday as fisheries aide to Senator Lisa Murkowski. In a statement, Murkowski thanked Fuglvog for his years of service and said he has cooperated fully with the authorities, taken responsibility for his actions and accepted the consequences.

On Monday, federal prosecutors filed a single charge of violating the Lacey Act against Fuglvog and announced a plea deal that had been in the works since last April.

Prosecutors say Fuglvog falsely reported locations of his sablefish catches between 2001 and 2006. From 2003 until he was hired by Senator Murkowski in 2006, Fuglvog also served on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the panel that’s responsible for managing sablefish and other species in federal waters off Alaska.

Prosecutors single out the 2005 season in which Fuglvog allegedly caught twice his quota of sablefish in the Western Yakutat area. He allegedly covered up his illegal fishing by falsely claiming that the other half of the catch, about thirty-thousand pounds, was caught in the Central Gulf. The violations occurred when Fuglvog was owner and operator of the fishing vessel Kamilar.

Fuglvog was charged with violating the Lacey Act because the fish was valued at about $100,000 and transported as part of interstate commerce.

He’s expected to plead guilty during arraignment scheduled for August 9th in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. He declined to comment on Tuesday. Prosecutors have declined to comment until after next Tuesday’s court hearing.

As outlined in the plea agreement, the possible sentence includes a $50,000 fine in addition to ten months in prison. He must also pay $100,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for enhancing fish habitat along the Gulf of Alaska coast. He must also have an announcement acknowledging his wrongdoing published in National Fisherman Magazine.

Fuglvog grew up fishing in Petersburg and was named Highliner of the year by National Fisherman’s Magazine in 2003. He also worked as president of the Petersburg Vessel Owners Association and served on the North Pacific Council’s advisory panel for nine years before his appointment as a full member. He was also a candidate to head up the National Marine Fisheries Service, but he withdrew from consideration in 2009.

Energy consumption was down 13 percent in Juneau between 2007 and 2010, leading to a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. But the city’s Commission on Sustainability has a more ambitious goal – to reduce the 2007 emissions level 25 percent in the next 20 years.

To get there the commission working on a Climate Action Plan that it hopes will be adopted by the CBJ Assembly later this year. Zoe Morrison is with Sheinberg Associates, one of two consulting firms helping the Sustainability Commission write the plan. She says the 25 percent goal is in line with other communities, as well as state and federal targets and international agreements aimed at reducing emissions.

“And it’s also a level of reduction that we think is achievable for Juneau,” said Morrison. “So, it’s something that makes sense and that over the next 20 years we can get to.”

The plan outlines more than a hundred actions the city, its residents, and businesses can take to reduce energy consumption. It also sets emissions reduction targets for things like vehicles and buildings. Morrison says the plan uses software developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency for calculating emissions with adjustments made for Juneau.

“So for transportation there’s a series of goals and for each goal we’ve done an estimate of what the reduction potential is for each goal,” Morrison said.

Morrison and Amy Skilbred from Skilbred Consulting presented the draft plan to the CBJ Assembly Committee of the Whole last night. Deputy Mayor Merrill Sanford said he’d like to more detail on how much some of the actions would cost in the final version.

“Some of these things are going to be very costly to either an individual or to business or to us as government,” Sanford said. “So somehow I would like to see some of those costs.”

But Karen Crane – the assembly’s liaison to the Sustainability Commission – said it’s important for the report to list as many action items as possible and let future assemblies decide which ones to pursue.

“Some of the recommendations may be some things in here that individual members want to do and others don’t. But to get to that 25 percent it’s really going to be a decision by decision basis, you know, as we go forward, is this economical? Does it make sense for the community?” said Crane.

The Sustainability Commission plans to hold a public meeting on the Climate Action Plan this fall. The goal is to bring it back to the assembly in December for adoption.

In 2007, the assembly passed a resolution joining the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, or ICLEI. Adopting a Climate Action Plan is part of becoming an ICLEI member. The greenhouse gas emissions inventories conducted in 2007 and 2010 were also part of that effort.

CBJ Assembly Meeting
June 6, 2011
Agenda

CBJ Assembly Meeting
May 23, 2011
Agenda

CBJ Assembly Meeting
May 2, 2011
Agenda

CBJ Assembly Meeting
April 11, 2011
Agenda