Longtime New Jersey governor’s appointee to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) Tom Fote has been officially replaced by commercial fishing lobbyist Jeffrey Kaelin.
The action took place during the June 30 fiscal budget debate in Trenton as the New Jersey Senate held a Judiciary Committee hearing, clearing Governor Phil Murphy’s personal appointment of Kaelin that same day. “None of the groups I am involved with were notified that this would happen on the last day of the Senate session,” Fote said. In a follow-up email titled “My Retirement from ASMFC,” Fote had the following message to share.
“I need to reflect on my years representing the Governor or the Legislator from 1990 until 2023. There was a two-year gap but otherwise my service was continuous. When I started ASMFC was a ‘good old boys club’ and the Legislators and Governors Appointees had no vote on any board. There was no Habitat Committee.
Jack Donegan took over as Executive Director in the early 90’s and I worked with him and other appointees to changing the Commission to a more open organization. The Atlantic Coast Conservation Act was introduced to change the way the Commission functioned. Jerry Schill, from the North Carolina Fishermen’s Association, Larry Simms, from the Maryland Waterman’s Association, and I made our support for this Act contingent on ASMFC making significant changes. Some of those changes were appointing Advisory Committees for every species board, increasing the role of the Governor’s and Legislative appointees, and developing a more open process. We got what we asked for. Change takes time and hard work but the appointees and many of the state directors worked together to make this happen.
When Jack Donegan became the Director, Al Goetz and I worked with him and Phil Coates to develop the Habitat Committee. I served as the original chairman until I became the Legislative Proxy but I remained a member of the committee until 2003. The original makeup of this committee was Governor’s and Legislative appointees and State Directors. Now the committee is made up of habitat people from each state and some other NGOs. This is one of the things I am proudest of from my time at ASMFC.”
Kaelin will join New Jersey legislative proxy Adam Nowalsky and a staffer from New Jersey’s Division of Fish & Wildlife for the ASMFC 2023 Summer Meeting from August 1-3 at the Westin Crystal City in Arlington, VA. For details go to ASMFC.org.
