The Kenai River Sportfishing Association has picked Soldotna’s Shannon Martin to be its next director.
Martin has been working at the Soldotna-based based sportfishing advocacy group as its office and events manager since 2019.
She was born in Soldotna and has been fishing the Kenai River since she was a kid.
“And I think like many people who grew up in Soldotna, it’s in your blood," she said. "So I think at a very early age, my dad and I would fish the Kenai.”
Martin later moved to Anchorage. But she said as an adult, she would come down to the Kenai most weekends with her family to fish. About a decade ago, they moved back to Soldotna.
Before KRSA, Martin worked for a commercial radio station in Anchorage and as a pharmaceutical technician. She also worked for Mountain Mama Originals, a Soldotna clothing store.
She said as KRSA’s office and events manager, she mainly supervised the association’s fundraisers and day-to-day operations. She’s interested in diving into the advocacy side of things, engaging anglers in the regulatory public process. KRSA is currently spearheading a letter-writing campaign in opposition to a Board of Fisheries proposalto loosen restrictions on Cook Inlet set-netters, which KRSA says would hurt Kenai kings.
Martin said she’s also a fan of the organized Kenai River cleanups the association sponsors.
"One aspect of KRSA’s mission that I really just dive into is habitat," she said. "It’s important to take care of the river, since it gives back so much.”
The executive director position has been open since October, when Ben Mohr stepped down. Mohr, who left the organization after about three years, still lives in Soldotna but now works as a lobbyist with Mulder Company in Juneau.
