UFA Loss – Phil Daniel

By John Garner

The Alaska seafood community was sorry to learn of the passing of Philip (Phil)
Allen Daniel in late December, 2019, at the age of 82. Phil is survived by his wife
Kirsten, brothers Hugh and Sam, and numerous nieces and nephews. Phil was a
long time hi-line fisherman in Southeast, Cook Inlet and Bristol Bay, Alaska.

Phil was instrumental in the revival of the Alaska salmon fisheries in the 1970’s. He
and a core group of fellow fishermen formed the United Fishermen of Alaska, and
he became its Executive Director during its early years. He lead the group in
achieving enactment of the Alaska Limited Entry legislation; controversial and a
first fishery limitation system in the nation, it took Phil’s unique talents to convince
both the legislature and the voters of Alaska of the need to provide this measure
for the economic stability of Alaska’s fisheries. Phil also championed a system of
non-profit enhancement and rehabilitation projects. His first draft legislation to
establish this system through the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was only
one paragraph long, but it quickly led to a Division within the Department to focus
on Fishery Rehabilitation and Enhancement. 50 years later the fruition of this effort
has provided enormous economic benefits for all salmon users in Alaska.

Phil’s articulate, calm and intelligent leadership were critical in building UFA into
the statewide voice for fishermen in Alaska. He always maintained that UFA could
be the most powerful political voice in Alaska as long as fishermen stayed united in
their efforts.

Every Alaska fisherman who holds a limited entry permit, or catches the salmon
produced through enhancement or rehabilitation production, owes a debt of thanks
to Phil for his vision and efforts to achieve what we have today. We will miss you
Phil, but your legacy will live on for many more generations of Alaska fishermen.

UFA is in the process of working with Representative Louise Stutes on

presenting Phil's family with a Legislative Citation for his work in Alaska
Fisheries. We will have more details at a later date.

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