Sad news ...he was instrumental in the start of the Kasilof second-run king study. You know, those magnificent kings of sometimes upwards of 70+ pounds that have no escpaement goal and barely even were recognized as even in existence by much of ADF&G.

A lot of WA bios could take some lessons from this fella ... door was always open, took our crticisms well, and was in frequent contact with those of us on the water on a regular basis for a straight scoop on what we were seeing as the most frequently afield.

Pappas leaving sport fish post


By JOSEPH ROBERTIA
Peninsula Clarion

The Soldotna office of Alaska Department of Fish and Game is looking to net a new area management biologist for its Sport Fish Division as George Pappas, who has held the position for the past three years, will soon be leaving.

“I beat the average by a year,” Pappas joked about being the third person to fill the position in the past seven years.

As sport fish area manager, Pappas was responsible for managing one of the most heavily used fisheries in the world, which may explain the high turnover rate for the position.

“Two years has been the average, but I wanted to stay for at least six. I would like to stay longer, but this opportunity came open now,” he said.

Pappas is taking a new Anchorage-based position as the federal subsistence liaison staff person to Fish and Game’s federal subsistence team in which he will represent the sport fish and commercial fisheries divisions on the team.

“It’ll be one of my most challenging positions to date, but challenges keep me going. Plus, it’s a statewide position so I’ll learn about fisheries statewide. It’ll be an incredible experience and a good opportunity to advance down the road,” he said.

Pappas will leave some big waders to fill since he has nearly 14 years of service with Fish and Game in both fishery divisions and in a number of locations, including Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, Chignik and Soldotna. He said he was hoping there would be some overlap with whomever succeeds him, so he can share his experience working with area and regional staffs.

“It would be great to make the new person’s transition a smooth one,” he said.

Even if the two don’t overlap, Pappas added that the new area management biologist will have the advantage of working with “one of the better staffs in the world.”

He said leaving such loyal and devoted co-workers was one of the hardest parts of accepting the new position.

“I’ll miss the staff. They’re a lot of long-term biologist that are very passionate and really want to be there doing the work. They’re top shelf. It’ll be tough to leave them,” he said.

Pappas is tentatively scheduled to begin his new position in Anchorage in early April.

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.