Alaska Regional Office

Overseeing the science-based stewardship of living marine resources and their habitat in the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans off Alaska, including sustainable fisheries, protected species, and healthy ecosystems to support resilient coastal communities.

Our Location

The Alaska Regional Office is located in Alaska’s capital city of Juneau, with field staff in offices in Anchorage, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor.

What We Do

The Alaska Region oversees sustainable fisheries that produce about half the fish caught in U.S. waters, contributing more than $7 billion to the national economy and supporting our nation’s food security.  Our area of responsibility includes nearly 1.5 million square miles (70 percent of the total U.S. continental shelf) of the North Pacific Ocean, including the Arctic Oceans (Chukchi and Beaufort seas), Gulf of Alaska, and the eastern Bering Sea. These waters support some of the most productive and valuable commercial fisheries in the world, and are also home to the largest populations of marine mammals in the nation.

We also work with our counterpart, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, in the science-based stewardship of living marine resources and their habitat in the waters of the North Pacific and Arctic Oceans off Alaska.

Sustainable Fisheries Division 

The Sustainable Fisheries Division works to maximize fishing opportunities while ensuring the sustainability of fisheries and fishing communities in Alaska. We authorize federal fisheries in Alaska waters annually, and implement fishery management programs developed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Act and associated laws. We administer fisheries, collect and manage catch data, and direct a unique Community Development Quota program.

We also coordinate with the State of Alaska on fishery management and data collection programs, and with the International Pacific Halibut Commission on regulations governing the recreational, commercial, and subsistence Pacific halibut fisheries off Alaska. Our work sustains healthy fish stocks important to commercial and recreational fisheries with the goal of deriving the most benefit from our fisheries for food and economic well-being, while conserving ecosystem health and fish stocks for continued productivity to benefit future generations of fishing families and Alaska’s coastal communities.

Protected Resources Division

The Protected Resources Division works to recover and conserve protected species — like whales and seals — while supporting responsible fishing and resource development. We provide management and oversight for the conservation and recovery of marine mammal species in Alaska under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and Fur Seal Act. We provide guidance on the mitigation of fishery-marine mammal interactions and adaptive management measures to reduce impacts from disturbance, harassment, and takes. The division also implements agreements with Alaska Native groups to co-manage the subsistence harvest of nine marine mammal species.

Habitat Conservation Division

The Habitat Conservation Division works in coordination with industries, stakeholder groups, government agencies, and private citizens to avoid, minimize, or offset the adverse effects of human activities on Essential Fish Habitat and living marine resources in Alaska. This work includes conducting and/or reviewing environmental analyses for a large variety of activities ranging from commercial fishing to coastal development to large transportation and energy projects. We identify technically and economically feasible alternatives and offer realistic recommendations for the conservation of valuable living marine resources. We focus on activities in habitats used by federally managed fish species located offshore, nearshore, in estuaries, and in freshwater areas important to anadromous salmon.

Restricted Access Management Division

The Restricted Access Management Program (RAM)  is responsible for managing Alaska Region permit programs, including those that limit access to the Federally-managed fisheries of the North Pacific. RAM responsibilities include: providing program information to the public, determining eligibility and issuing permits, processing transfers, collecting landing fees and related activities. RAM also prepares and distributes reports on landings in the Pacific halibut and sablefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) program and halibut landings in the Community Development Quota (CDQ) program, and on the BSAI Crab Rationalization Program.

Information Services Division

The Information Services Division manages the Region's information technology needs. This includes network services, computers, software installation, print and copy hardware, email and network file storage, meeting and audio/video resources, database programming and management, and records management.

Operations and Management Division

The Operations and Management Division oversees the Region’s budget, external programs, acquisitions, facilities, logistics, and provides a liaison role to NOAA for human resources, grants, and contracts. Division personnel enable the Region’s programs and staff to accomplish the NOAA Fisheries mission in Alaska.

Aquaculture Program

In Alaska, marine aquaculture contributes to restoration efforts, and is increasing economic opportunities for coastal communities through the farming of shellfish and seaweed. To date, commercial aquaculture activities have been relatively small-scale and have involved Pacific oysters, seaweed, blue mussels. Research activities include sea cucumbers, geoducks, and blue and red king crab. Finfish farming is prohibited by law in state waters. Currently, most farming operations are located along the coastline in either Southeast or Southcentral Alaska. 

International Coordination

  • International Whaling Commission: The Alaska Region co-manages bowhead whale harvests with the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, a confederation of 11 indigenous Alaska whaling communities, under International Whaling Commission quotas.
  • North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission: The region represents the United States on this commission, which serves as a forum for international coordination of Pacific salmon and the prohibition of directed fishing for anadromous stocks in international waters.
  • International Pacific Halibut Commission: The region represents the United States on this commission, providing coordination and governance for the conservation and management of Pacific halibut stocks in U.S. and Canadian waters.
  • Pacific Salmon Treaty Commission: The region supports the Northern and Transboundary panels of the commission, responsible for sustainable management of U.S. and Canadian salmon stocks.

More Information

Contact Us

Our Leadership

Jon Kurland smiling in front of seashore

Jon Kurland

Regional Administrator

Jon became Regional Administrator in March 2022. He previously served in three other senior leadership roles in the Alaska Region: Assistant Regional Administrator for Habitat Conservation, Acting Deputy Regional Administrator, and Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources. Before moving to Alaska, Jon was the national Essential Fish Habitat Coordinator based at NOAA Fisheries' headquarters office, and prior to that he worked in the habitat program in NOAA Fisheries' Northeast Region (now called the Greater Atlantic Region).

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Jamal Moss with a boat in the background.

Jamal Moss, Ph.D.

Deputy Regional Administrator

Jamal became the Deputy Regional Administrator in May 2023. He joined NOAA in 2003. He served as the Deputy Division Director for the Auke Bay Laboratories 2022-2023 and as a fisheries research biologist with the Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment Program at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Jamal is a graduate of the NOAA West Leadership Program. He has a degree in biology from Connecticut College and a master’s and doctorate degree from the University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences.

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Management Team

Sustainable Fisheries Division

Gretchen Harrington, M.S.

Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries
    • Fisheries Policy Branch
      Alicia M. Miller, Supervisory Fishery Management Specialist
    • Fisheries Policy Branch
      Doug Duncan, Supervisory Fishery Management Specialist
    • Inseason Management Branch
      Krista Milani, Supervisory Fishery Management Specialist
    • Catch Analysis and Data Quality Branch
      Jennifer Mondragon, M.S., Deputy Assistant Regional Administrator and Supervisory Fishery Management Specialist
    • Monitoring Branch
      Josh Keaton, Supervisory Fishery Management Specialist

Protected Resources Division

Anne Marie Eich​, Ph.D.

Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources

Habitat Conservation Division

Cathy Coon

Assistant Regional Administrator for Habitat Conservation

Operations and Management Division

Kristie Balovich

Assistant Regional Administrator for Operations

Information Services Division

Daniel Rothman

Assistant Regional Administrator for Information Services

Restricted Access Management

Brian Brown

Assistant Regional Administrator for Restricted Access Management

Chief of Staff

Brandee Gerke

Alaska Regional Office Chief of Staff