The Pacific Council has 14 voting members and 5 non-voting members; noting that the voting National Marine Fisheries Service seat rotates between representatives of the Northwest and Southwest Sections of the West Coast Region on an issue-dependent basis. Below you will find biographies, contact information, and if applicable, statements of financial interest.
Chuck Bonham
State of California Principal Official
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, CA
Charlton “Chuck” Bonham is the director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. He was originally appointed on September 6, 2011, making him one of the longest-serving directors in the department’s 152-year history.
The department’s mission is to manage California’s diverse fish, wildlife, plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and their use and enjoyment by the public. As one of the oldest and largest state fish and wildlife agencies in the country, with approximately 3,000 employees and a $860 million budget, the department is the primary agency charged with managing California’s unequaled habitat and wildlife biodiversity.
Prior to his appointment, Chuck served in several roles for Trout Unlimited for over ten years, including as the organization’s California director and as a senior attorney. He was responsible for developing, managing, and implementing Trout Unlimited’s programs in California, including the California Water Project, Sportsmen’s Conservation Project, and various other restoration and watershed projects.
Chuck has also served as a gubernatorial appointee on the board of directors of the Delta Conservancy, whose mission is to conserve, sustain and enhance the cultural, agricultural, recreational, wildlife, and natural habitat resources of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta region, as well as develop and promote sustainable protection, management, and stewardship programs through research and education.
Chuck received his J.D. and Environmental and Natural Resources Law Certificate from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He was also a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, West Africa.
Bonham’s designees are Marci Yaremko (primary), John Ugoretz, Briana Brady, Caroline McKnight, and Dr. Craig Shuman.
Debbie Colbert
State of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Principal Official
Dr. Debbie Colbert is the Director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). Mr. John North, Mr. Mike Harrington, Mr. Justin Ainsworth, Ms. Lynn Mattes, and Mr. Troy Buell serve as ODFW’s designees.
Rear Admiral Charles Fosse
U.S. Coast Guard Official (Non-Voting)
Rear Admiral Fosse serves as the Commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District headquartered in Seattle. He is responsible for all Coast Guard operations throughout the Pacific Northwest which encompasses the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana and includes more than 4,400 miles of coastline, 600 miles of inland waterways, and a 125 nautical mile international border with Canada.
Rear Admiral Fosse’ designees on the Council are LCDR Brett Ettinger, LT Karrie Jeffries, LT Skye-Marie Williamsz, and Mr. Chris German.
Jim Fredericks
State of Idaho Principal Official
Jim Fredericks is the Director of Idaho Fish and Game. Virgil Moore serves as Jim Fredericks’ primary designee. Sharon Kiefer is also a designee.
Marc Gorelnik
At-Large Appointment
Marc Gorelnik’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Gorelnik is an appointed at-large member from California. He is currently serving his third term which will expire August 10, 2025. Gorelnik has fished recreationally in California since he was a kid in Southern California. He now fishes offshore of the San Francisco Bay area for salmon, tuna, groundfish and Dungeness crab. Gorelnik serves on the board of directors of the Coastside Fishing Club, Golden Gate Salmon Association, and the California chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. With the Coastside Fishing Club, Gorelnik began a salmon acclimation program at Pillar Point Harbor that has improved salmon harvests by commercial and recreational fishermen in California and Oregon. Gorelnik is a member of the State Bar of California. He practices trademark, unfair competition and copyright law, and is admitted to practice before the Federal and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal and the district courts of California. Prior to attending law school at the University of California, Davis, Gorelnik was a project manager and member of the technical staff at Hughes Aircraft Company’s Santa Barbara Research Center. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and a Master of Science degree in Scientific Instrumentation from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Gorelnik has served on California’s Dungeness Crab Task Force and worked with the California Fish and Game Commission to improve regulations governing the recreational harvest of salmon and Dungeness crab. Prior to his Council appointment, Gorelnik served on the Council’s Salmon Advisory Subpanel.
Pete Hassemer (Vice-Chair)
Idaho Obligatory Appointment
Pete Hassemer’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Pete Hassemer is serving his second term representing the Idaho Obligatory seat; his term will expire August 10, 2025. Hassemer holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Fisheries Resources from the University of Idaho. During his 28 years at Idaho Fish and Game working in the research and management arenas, he has served on many Columbia River basin and west coast technical and management bodies including the Pacific Salmon Treaty Chinook Technical Committee, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical and Habitat committees, U.S. v. Oregon Columbia River Fish Management Plan committees, and NOAA’s Interior Columbia River Basin Technical Recovery Team. Prior to joining the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Hassemer spent 7 ½ years teaching in the fisheries and marine biology programs at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska.
Rebecca Lent, Ph.D.
At-Large Appointment
Rebecca Lent’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Dr Rebecca Lent is a Consultant in Marine Economics and Policy, with over four decades of experience working in the U.S. government, international fora, and academia. Most recently, Dr Lent was the Executive Director of the International Whaling Commission in the United Kingdom (2018 – 2023), following her leadership as Executive Director of the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission (2013-2017) in Washington, D.C. Dr Lent had previously worked in domestic and international fishery policy at NOAA for 20 years, and in academia in Quebec. Rebecca received her PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Oregon State University and conducted post-doctoral research in France.
Mr. Chris Oliver
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission Appointment (Non-Voting)
Mr. Chris Oliver is the primary designee for Barry Thom, representing the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) based in Portland, Oregon. He serves as the Council Liaison between the PSMFC and the Council.
Brad Pettinger (Chair)
At-Large Appointment
Brad Pettinger’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Brad Pettinger is serving his second term as the at-large appointment from Oregon; his term will expire August 10, 2026.
Pettinger has participated in the West Coast commercial fishing industry for more than 50 years as a crewman, skipper and a vessel owner. During that time he has trolled for salmon and albacore tuna, trapped Dungeness crab and trawled for pink shrimp and groundfish off the three West Coast states.
He has served on numerous fishing industry committees and commissions during his career and worked 15 years as the director of the Oregon Trawl Commission (OTC), departing that position in June 2018. In his time at the OTC, Pettinger worked collaboratively in the Pacific Fishery Management Council process to improve the management of West Coast groundfish fisheries. Under his leadership at the OTC, all three of Oregon trawl fisheries were certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as well-managed and sustainable fisheries.
Pettinger currently owns a vessel that participates in the West Coast trawl groundfish catch share program off the coast of northern California and southern Oregon.
He attended Oregon State University, earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration in 1981. He and his wife of 32 years, Tami, live in Brookings, Ore., and they have four children.
Corey Ridings
California Obligatory Appointment
Corey Riding’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Corey is serving her second term as an appointed obligatory member from California. Her term will expire August, 2027. With over 20 years of experience in public health and natural resource management, Corey’s work straddles environmental and community sustainability. She has worked for Ocean Conservancy since 2013 on efforts related to climate change, West Coast fish conservation, and ecosystem-based management. She was a Knauss Sea Grant Fellow for the House Committee on Natural Resources and worked for the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. She previously observed in the North Pacific groundfish fleet on trawl and longline vessels targeting pollock, pacific cod, and sablefish. She served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines where she supported local fishery projects, and was the minority health epidemiologist for the state of Michigan. Corey is on the advisory board of California Sea Grant and prior to her Council appointment served as co-chair of the Council’s Ecosystem Advisory Subpanel.
Corey holds a BA in biology from Occidental College and a Master of Public Health from Yale. She is currently working toward her PhD at the University of Washington School of Environmental and Forest Sciences under Dr. Phillip Levin. Corey lives in Santa Cruz, California with her husband Mark, where she recreationally fishes from her surfboard.
Aldrich J. “Butch” Smith
Washington Obligatory Appointment
Butch Smith’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Butch Smith is serving his first term as the obligatory member from Washington; his term will expire August 10, 2026.
David Sones
Tribal Appointment
David Sones’ statement of financial interest, 2024
Dave Sones is in his first term as a PFMC Tribal representative.
Sones has been involved in the Treaty fishing industry for 40 years as a small boat owner fishing Salmon, Halibut, Sable fish. 2006 fished in the Treaty Pacific hake fishery and currently fishes in the Bottom and mid water Trawl fishery owning and operating a trawl vessel.
Sones has served on the Makah Tribal Council as Vice Chair, Pacific Salmon Commission as a Southern Panel Representative, U.S delegate to the International Whaling Commission, Olympic Nati-onal Marine Sanctuary Advisory Panel, alternate to the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commissioner and 2006 to 2015 as the Tribal Seat on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council.
Sones was employed by the Makah Tribe as the Director of Natural Resources that over saw the Makah’s Fisheries, Forestry and Realty Department. Participated in negotiation of Washington Department of Natural Resources Timber Harvest Policy and regulation and Washington water quality regulations. Negotiated Salmon, Ground fish, Halibut in National and International Forums.
Kelly Susewind
State of Washington Principal Official
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, WA
Kelly Susewind is the Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). He joined WDFW in August 2018 after serving 28 years at the Washington Department of Ecology. He has a Bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from Washington State University and spent several years working in the private sector in Alaska and Seattle before his career at Ecology, which began in 1990. Corey Niles, Kyle Adicks, and Heather Hall serve as WDFW’s designees.
Christa M. Svensson
Oregon Obligatory Appointment
Christa M. Svensson’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Christa M. Svensson is an appointed obligatory member from Oregon. She is serving her third term which expires August 10, 2027. Through her appointment, she serves as a commissioner to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and as a representative to the US/Canada Albacore Treaty Forum.
Christa is currently the Sustainability Program Manager-Global for Tri Marine, a leading supplier of tuna and tuna products to the global market. Tri Marine is notable for advocating for effective management of fisheries and fair labor practices. Prior to her hire in 2020, Christa worked for Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Company/Alber Seafoods as their fleet manager and prior to that for twelve years at Bornstein Seafoods in international sales, sustainability and marketing. She presently serves as a board member on the Seafood Task Force, as the Secretary of the Albacore Fishermen’s Research Foundation, and on the board of REALOregon, Resource Education and Agricultural Leadership Program. She is a 2006 graduate of the National Fisheries Institute’s Future Leaders Program and a 2016 Intrafish media Top 40 under 40.
Before attaining her processing and management experience, Christa fished professionally for salmon, halibut, and sablefish in Alaska for seven years while paying for undergrad and graduate school. She attended Oregon State University earning an Honors B.A. in Anthropology. In 2003, she earned an MA in Museology from the University of Washington with a focus on fundraising and development. She is also a Certified Global Business Professional and is a member of the National Association of Parliamentarians.
Aja Szumylo
At-Large Appointment
Aja Szumylo’s statement of financial interest, 2025
Aja is serving her first term as an appointed at large member from Washington. Her term will expire August, 2027.
Aja has 15 years of experience with the federal fisheries management process, including experience with four Fishery Management Councils (New England, Mid-Atlantic, Pacific, and North Pacific), and direct management experience with the Atlantic herring, Atlantic mackerel, Northeast Multispecies, Coastal Pelagic Species, and Pacific Coast Groundfish (including Pacific whiting and halibut) fisheries. From 2018 to 2020, participated on the Pacific Fishery Management Council as the voting member on behalf of the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Regional Administrator, with a focus on the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery. In addition to her work in fisheries management, Aja coordinated leadership programs for NOAA staff and is a certified executive leadership coach. In 2024, she became the Executive Director of the Pacific Whiting Conservation Cooperative, a fishery trade association representing three companies that own and operate U.S. catcher/processor vessels that participate in the west coast Pacific whiting fishery. Aja is an alumni and sits on the Board of Trustees for the School for Field Studies, an organization that creates transformative study abroad experiences through field-based learning and research.
Aja holds a BA in biology from Swarthmore College and a Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University. Aja lives in Seattle with her boyfriend, son, daughter, and two cats.
Hugh Morrison
USFWS Official (Non-Voting)
Hugh Morrison represents the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Michael Clark, Dr. Benjamin Cross, Dr. Kyle Hanson, Mr. Roger Root, and Mr. John Netto serve as Mr. Morrison’s designees.
Doug Vincent-Lang
State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game Official (Non-Voting)
Doug Vincent-Lang is the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He is a nonvoting member representing the State of Alaska. Alternate designees are: Rachel Baker, Karla Bush, Bill Templin, and Dani Evenson.
Ryan J Wulff
NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region Official
Ryan Wulff is the designee for Jennifer Quan, West Coast Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries. Ryan is the Assistant Regional Administrator with responsibility for the Sustainable Fisheries Division. The Sustainable Fisheries Division oversees the conservation of marine resources and the management of sustainable commercial, recreational, and tribal fisheries on the West Coast, extending from the vast interior salmon habitat of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California to the high seas of the Pacific Ocean. They collaborate extensively with the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Native American Indian tribes and the four states within the region in the management of albacore, coastal pelagic species, groundfish, salmon, and other marine resources. They also participate in the implementation of numerous international treaties and other agreements designed to conserve while sustaining fisheries for highly migratory fish, particularly tuna, whiting, halibut and salmon.
Ryan is also the United States Deputy Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission and an alternate United States Commissioner to the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. Prior to his current role, Ryan served as the California Delta Policy and Restoration Branch Chief for the West Coast Region and prior to that as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere on domestic and international protected resource and fisheries issues. Wulff has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A.S. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Josh Lindsay is the CPS/Halibut/Ecosystem Branch Chief and represents the agency on matters related to coastal pelagic species and halibut fisheries. Keeley Kent is the Groundfish Branch Chief and represents the agency on matters related to Groundfish. Frank Lockhart represents the agency on matters related to international groundfish and the Fishery Ecosystem Plan. Rachael Wadsworth represents the agency on matters related to Highly Migratory Species. Susan Bishop serves as NOAA Fisheries designee before the Council on salmon matters. Maggie Sommer represents the agency on groundfish fisheries catch share issues.