July 25, 2016 — A Juneau Superior Court judge has sided with the state, dismissing a lawsuit that challenged Gov. Bill Walker’s administrative order to reorganize the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Commission, an autonomous state agency that’s been under fire the past few years.
“… the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over the matter. At this current time, any alleged conflict between the (administrative order) and the CFEC is purely hypothetical,” Judge Louis Menendez wrote in a decision Thursday and sent to attorneys representing the plaintiffs and the state Friday.
Administrative Order 279, issued in February, would transfer functions of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. CFEC was established in 1973 by the Alaska Legislature to limit how many people can participate in the state’s commercial fisheries.
Commercial fisherman and lobbyist Robert Thorstenson Jr. and commercial fishing trade organization United Fishermen of Alaska filed a lawsuit against Walker and the state calling the administrative order invalid.
The plaintiffs claimed the order “unconstitutionally takes authority from the Alaska Legislature to amend statutes and policies related to the operation and management of the Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission.”