Alaska Ocean Leadership Awards.

• Author: Pounds, Nancy
• Position: INSIDE ALASKA BUSINESS - Geographic overview

The Alaska Ocean Leadership Awards were presented earlier this year at the annual Alaska Marine Gala in Anchorage. Kurt Byers and the Alaska Sea Grant Education Services staff received the award for Ocean Literacy. Byers has led the national award-winning Alaska Sea Grant Education Services team since 1988.

Deborah Mercy received the Ocean Media Award for excellence in journalism that has raised public awareness of Alaska's oceans. Jan Straley, an associate professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, received the Marine Research Award. Straley has studied the behavior of large whales of the North Pacific Ocean for more than 30 years.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council earned the Ocean Stewardship and Sustainability Award. The group was honored for its leadership supervising Alaska's federally managed...