New marine advisory agent arrives in Dillingham
May 22, 2014
907-274-9698
05/21/2014
Gabe Dunham, a new face at the Bristol Bay Campus, opened his office in Dillingham May 15 as the Marine Advisory Program agent for the Bristol Bay region. The Marine Advisory Program is the statewide extension arm of Alaska Sea Grant at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Dunham grew up in Petersburg where commercial fishing is ingrained in the culture of his Southeast Alaska community. He said every member of his family, in one way or another, has been involved in the commercial fishing industry.
At an early age, Dunham became interested in working on automotive, outboard and diesel marine engines. He earned an associate’s degree in mechanics and has spent many years fixing boat engines. Over time, his interests expanded into fisheries economics. He earned his undergraduate degree in business management and economics from the University of Alaska Anchorage and went on to earn a master of science degree in environmental and natural resource economics at the University of Rhode Island. In 2012, he was selected as a Sea Grant Knauss Fellow and spent the following year in Washington, D.C., coordinating focus teams, work groups and meetings around seafood and industry issues in the National Sea Grant Office.
Dunham has worked eight years in the Bristol Bay salmon driftnet fishery and is excited about moving across Alaska to the region.
Drawing on his years of experience with commercial fishing, school and time in Washington, D.C., Dunham hopes to help academics, managers and resource users break down barriers and work together. “The value of a MAP agent is to relay information,” said Dunham. Recognizing the cultural diversity of the region, he said, is critical for allowing people to merge both local and outside ways of thinking for better communication between resource users.
Dunham is excited to begin working with the Bristol Bay community. “I’m looking forward to meeting people and listening to the issues that concern them,” he said. Dunham can be reached at 907-842-8321. His office is located on the University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus, Room 148.
ON THE WEB: http://seagrant.uaf.edu/map/staff/dunham.php