Council members

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.

• Full Membership Roster

Phil Anderson
At-Large Appointment

Phil Anderson’s statement of financial interest, 2023

Phil Anderson is serving his third term as the at-large representative which expires August 10, 2024. Anderson retired from a 20-year career at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife where he held several positions including Special Assistant to the Director overseeing intergovernmental issues associated with both fish and wildlife, serving as Deputy Director of the agency from 2007-2008, and finally serving as the agency Director from 2009 – January of 2015.

Prior to his career with the State of Washington, Anderson owned and operated a charter fishing boat business from 1970 – 1994, fishing out of the ports of Westport and Neah Bay. He held an obligatory seat serving as a member of the Pacific Fishery Management Council from 1987 – 1994 and he has also been a longtime participant within the Pacific States Marine Commission.

Anderson is currently serving as a Commissioner on the Pacific Salmon Commission, a body that is responsible for implementing the U.S. / Canada Salmon Treaty. He also represents the interests of the Pacific Fishery Management Council on the Joint Management Committee established to implement the U.S./Canada Whiting treaty.

Anderson and his wife, Chris, live in Westport and have two sons. Anderson once again operates a charter business on a part-time basis and pursues his passion for hunting and fishing.

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.

Robert E. Dooley
California Obligatory Appointment

Bob Dooley’s statement of financial interest, 2023

Robert Dooley is an appointed at-large member from California.  He is serving his second term which will expire August 10, 2024. Bob started his commercial fishing career at the age of 11, fishing for salmon out of Half Moon Bay, CA. where he continues to reside. He has owned and operated salmon, trawl and crab vessels on the West Coast and in Alaska for over 40 years. Bob helped to pioneer the West Coast whiting fishery as well as the Alaskan pollock fishery in the early 1980s. His work includes formation of co-op structures in both the West Coast whiting fishery and the Bering Sea pollock fishery, bycatch reduction programs in both fisheries, and work on gear innovations to avoid bycatch.

Bob is a founding member of Seafood Harvesters of America, a principal in the Marine Resource Education Program for the West Coast (MREPWest), and a current board member of the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust. He was also a charter board member of United Catcher Boats Association and served as President from 2009 through 2013. In this capacity, He has advocated for managing the West Coast trawl fishery with catch shares for years and has testified before Congress in support of the trawl catch share program and for reauthorization of the Magnuson/ Stevens Fisheries Act. Bob was named 2017 National Fisherman “Highliner” of the year for his lifetime of work in support of and giving back to the fishing industry, both locally and globally.

Bob and his wife, Sharon, have been married for over 36 years and have two children.

Marc Gorelnik (Chair)
At-Large Appointment

Marc Gorelnik’s statement of financial interest, 2023

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, 2023

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.

Curt Melcher
State of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Principal Official

Curt Melcher is the Director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). He holds a B.S. in biology from the University of Oregon. He has served at ODFW for over 30 years, including the position of Deputy Director from September 2007 until September 2014. Mr. Melcher has also served on many regional management forums, including the Council’s Salmon Technical Team, the Klamath Fishery Management Council, and the Pacific Salmon Commission Southern Panel. Mr. John North, Ms. Lynn Mattes and Mr. Troy Buell serve as ODFW’s designees.

Joseph Y. Oatman
Tribal Appointment

Joseph Oatman’s statement of financial interest, 2023

Oatman is Deputy Program Manager for the Nez Perce Tribe Fisheries Department. He is serving his third term which will expire August 10, 2024.

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 (Vice-Chair)
At-Large Appointment

Brad Pettinger’s statement of financial interest, 2023

Brad Pettinger is serving his second term as the at-large appointment from Oregon; his term will expire August 10, 2023.

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, 2023

Corey is serving her first term as an appointed obligatory member from California. Her term will expire August, 2024. 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.

Ed Schriever
State of Idaho Principal Official

Ed Schriever is the Director of Idaho Fish and Game. Virgil Moore serves as Ed Schriever’s primary designee.

Aldrich J. “Butch” Smith
Washington Obligatory Appointment

Butch Smith’s statement of financial interest, 2023

Butch Smith is serving his first term as the obligatory member from Washington; his term will expire August 10, 2023.

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, 2023

Christa M. Svensson is an appointed obligatory member from Oregon. She is serving her second term which expires August 10, 2024. Svensson joined Jessie’s Ilwaco Fish Company/Alber Seafoods in 2017 as the Fleet Manager. In additional to working with fishermen, she serves as the Vice President of the Albacore Fisherman’s Research Foundation, and on the Board of the REALOregon, Resource Education and Agricultural Leadership Program. She is a 2006 graduate of the National Fisheries Institute’s Future Leader program and a 2016 IntraFish media Top 40 under 40.

Prior to working at IFCO/Alber Seafood, Christa worked for twelve years at Bornstein Seafoods in International Sales, Sustainability and Marketing. Christa worked for eighteen months for National Seafood Educators where she researched recipe ideas, taught cooking classes nationally, and sold thousands of seafood cookbooks. She 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 Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology. In 2003, she earned a Masters of Arts in Museology from the University of Washington with a focus on fundraising and development.

Robyn Thorson
USFWS Official (Non-Voting)

Robyn Thorson 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 Ms. Thorson’s designees.

Rear Admiral Melvin Bouboulis
U.S. Coast Guard Official (Non-Voting)

Rear Admiral Bouboulis 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 Bouboulis’ previous Flag Assignment was as the Director of Operational Logistics, in which he was responsible for the delivery of mission support logistics for Coast Guard steady state and contingency response operations and for planned events of national significance. Prior to that, he served as the Assistant Commandant for Engineering and Logistics (CG-4) as the Coast Guard’s “Chief Engineer.”

Previous assignments include: Chief of Staff, Eighth Coast Guard District; Chief, Office of Aeronautical Engineering; Commanding Officer, Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico; Logistics Department Head, Air Station Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of Enlisted Personnel for Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi, TX; Aeronautical Engineer at the Aviation Training Center, Mobile, AL; HC-130 Hercules Product Line Manager at Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center, Elizabeth City, NC; Assistant Engineering Officer, Coast Guard Air Station North Bend, OR; Communications and Law Enforcement Officer, Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, LA; Flight Training, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, FL; and Operations and Deck Watch Officer, USCGC CONIFER, Long Beach, CA.

Rear Admiral Bouboulis flew as an operational pilot at all of his aviation field assignments and participated in the historic Hurricane Katrina response. He has qualified in the MH-65 Dolphin (A, B, and C models), MH-60 Jayhawk, and HC-130 Hercules aircraft, accruing over 4,000 total flight hours.

Rear Admiral Bouboulis graduated from the Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1987. He earned a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 2000, maintains a Department of Homeland Security Acquisition Program Manager Level II Certification, and holds private, commercial airplane, helicopter, and airline transport pilot licenses.

Rear Admiral Bouboulis is the longest serving Coast Guard Aviator, earning him the distinction as the Service’s 26th Ancient Albatross.

Rear Admiral Bouboulis is married to the former Mimi Mayeux. They have one son, Scott.

Rear Admiral Bouboulis’ designees on the Council are LCDR Brett Ettinger, LT Devon Zych, and Chris German.

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. Lyle Enriquez 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.