Council

The Council is comprised of fifteen members, seven representatives each from the state’s commercial and recreational fishing industries and the Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, (formerly the Marine Sciences Research Center, MSRC) of Stony Brook University, or his/her designee, as chairperson. Appointments to the council are made by the DEC Commissioner. For eight of these appointments, the Commissioner acts on nominations from the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate and the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. The remaining six councilors are appointed directly by the Commissioner. Dr. Michael Frisk of SoMAS serves as chairman. The current membership of the Council is listed below.

Michael Frisk

Chair

Recreational Fishery Representatives

Robert Danielson

Robert Danielson

Senate nominee

Robert Danielson has been a Senatorial appointed council member since 1996, representing the recreational fishing sector.

Bob is a very active member of the fishing community.  He has been a member of the NY Sport Fishing Federation Board of Directors since 1993 where he currently serves as Vice President. He is a member of the Farragut Striper Club and the Long Island Beach Buggy Association.

Bob’s earliest fishing recollection is fishing with his parents when he was five years old and his love for fishing has not waned since.

Melissa Dearborn

Melissa Dearborn

Commissioner appointee

​Melissa Dearborn has been a Commissioner appointed Councilor for 15+ years and she represents the recreational fishing sector.

Melissa is Vice President of Regal Marine Products, Inc., a family operated wholesale fishing bait and tackle distributor based in Huntington that has been in business since 1986. She has also been involved with the New York Fishing Tackle Trade Association as a Director for close to 20 years.  On a daily basis, she is communicating the members of the recreational fishing community in, not just NY, but the Tri-State area.  The bait and tackle shops play an important role, providing a wealth of knowledge on our fisheries and fishermen as well as trends in fishing effort and the overall economic health of the recreational industry.

Melissa also Chairs the Marine and Coastal District of New York Conservation Education and Research Board, a small grants program supporting local projects.  Their mission is to “promote sport fishing, increase participation in recreational angling, increase public awareness and appreciation of aquatic natural resources, encourage conservation of fisheries resources, or promote research relating to the marine and coastal district of New York” (NYS ECL13-0501).

Vincent Finalborgo

Vincent Finalborgo

Commissioner appointee

Vincent Finalborgo has been a Commissioner appointed Council member since 2017 where he represents the recreational fishing sector.

Vince was born and raised in Southampton, NY on the East End of Long Island. He loved boating and fishing from an early age and has been a recreational angler all his life. A retired special education teacher, he is a third-generation owner/operator of Catena’s meat and seafood market on Main Street in Southampton Village. His love of the water led him to join the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, where he has attained the rank of Cockswain. He has been a licensed charter boat captain for many years. He especially enjoys taking his three grandchildren fishing and is committed to protecting the area’s natural resources for future generations.

Joseph Paradiso

Joseph Paradiso

Commissioner appointee

Joseph Paradiso has been a Commissioner appointed Council member since 2011 where he represents the recreational fishing sector.

Joe is a charter boat captain out of Greenport, NY where he owns and operates Eastern Long Island Sportfishing Charters, “Nautic Lady”, which he has run for almost 20 years. He, himself, is an avid angler, both surf and boat for nearly 35 years.  He currently serves as President of the NY Sport Fishing Federation and is a member of the North Fork Captain’s Association.

Joe is a champion fighting for the rights of all fishermen on both State and Federal levels and is proud to be part of a strong and dedicated group of licensed captains with a strong tradition of professionalism and community.

Christopher Squeri

Christopher Squeri

Assembly nominee

Christopher Squeri is a recreational councilor for almost 20 years.

He is a lifelong inshore and offshore recreational fisherman. Fishing out of both Jones Inlet and Montauk, Chris enjoys spending time on the water with his son.

Chris owns and operates 2 marinas, Atlantic Yacht Haven and Travelers Yacht Haven, in Freeport. Chris has represented marine businesses for 20 years, serving as Executive Director of the NY Marine Trades Association. He has served on many councils and task forces, including the South Shore Estuary Reserve Council, NYS DEC Eel Grass Task Force, NYS Parks & Recreation Boating Advisory Council, National Marine Trades Council and Empire State Marine Trades Association. Chris is a longtime member of the Freeport Tuna Club and served as President in 2001.

Chris continues to advocate for the best interests of recreational anglers throughout the entire marine district.

Charles Witek

Charles Witek

Commissioner appointee

Charles Witek has been a Councilor for 15+ years and he represents the recreational fishing sector.

Charles is a lifelong recreational angler, who lives on the South Shore of Long Island, New York.  Although he most frequently fishes his local waters, he has fished on every coast of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as in the Caribbean.

He has served as a bluefin tuna technical advisor to the U.S. ICCAT delegation, and has held a seat on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, and has testified before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, with respect to federal fisheries law.  In addition to serving on New York’s Marine Resources Advisory Council, he represents New York’s anglers on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Winter Flounder and Coastal Sharks Advisory Panels.

Charles is also a freelance outdoor writer, who currently serves as President of the New York State Outdoor Writers’ Association, and an attorney who provides advice on salt water fisheries conservation policy, politics, legislation and related matters.

Steven Witthuhn

Assembly appointee

Steven Witthuhn has been a Commissioner appointed Council member since 2016 where he represents the recreational fishing sector.

Steve began fishing at local docks with his Dad (or anyone who would take him) when he was just a very young boy.  Fishing became a passion of his and in 1997 he obtained his Captain’s license.  He now operates his own vessel which is The Top Hook out of Montauk, NY.  Since he began, he has seen many changes in the fisheries and not all are positive.  He has always advocated that fishers should only take what they need, “the rules say we can keep a certain amount, but that doesn’t mean we have to.”

Steve is not only a Councilor for MRAC, he has also been appointed to the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission as well as the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council.  He is involved both recreationally and commercially; he is also a frequent speaker at various clubs and shows on Long Island.

Catch up with Steve on Instagram @tophookmtk to see the rewards of his passion.

Commercial Fishery Representatives

Sean Barrett

Sean Barrett

Assembly nominee

Sean Barrett is a Commissioner appointed Councilor since 2016 and represents the commercial fishing sector.

Sean is a cofounder of the Dock to Dish® organization in Montauk which operates the Community Supported Fishery program of New York State. He is an original founding member of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA), as well as LocalCatch.org, and the Amagansett Food Institute (AFI); and he serves on the executive board of ‪GreenWave.org where his team is pioneering the creation of restorative 3D ocean farms to mitigate climate change and serve as natural storm and ocean barriers for New York City and Long Island. This project was recently featured on CBS 60 Minutes.

Sean is a lifelong veteran of both the restaurant and commercial fishing industries of New York and has been named Person of the Year by the United Restaurant and Tavern Owners (URTO) Association of New York State. His work in fisheries has recently been featured in TIME Magazine, NY Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal, VICE, Washington Post, the Associated Press, LA Times and on TEDx, PBS, ABC and Netflix as well as in numerous books including American CatchThe Fight for Local Seafood, by NY Times best-selling author Paul Greenberg. In the past five years Sean has been ranked among the 25 Most Intrepid Individuals by Vanity Fair magazine; named to Grist’s list of the Foremost 50 People Fighting for a More Sustainable Future; listed as one of Sonima’s top 50 Innovators Shaping the Future of Wellness; identified as one of the Top 7 Leaders of the Future of Food by Bon Appetit magazine; and designated as New York State’s ambassador to the “United States of Healthy” by editors of Cooking Light magazine. 

A feature-length documentary on Sean’s work is scheduled to debut in numerous film festivals in 2020, a preview trailer can be viewed here:  https://vimeo.com/163211634

For more information about Dock to Dish please visit www.docktodish.com 

John Davi

John Davi

Senate nominee

Thomas Jordan

Commissioner appointee

Hank Lackner

Hank Lackner

Assembly nominee

Hank Lackner has been an Assembly appointed Council member since 2016 where he represents the commercial fishing sector.

His fishing career began as a party boat mate but he eventually earned his 100 ton masters license.  He captained the Viking party boats for approximately 5 years.  In 1992, he moved onto commercial fishing, specifically, squid trawling.  He currently owns a trawler vessel which is based out of Montauk, NY.

Most recently, he has been very active as an advisor to both the New England and Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Councils along with participating in the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel.

While his occupation is commercial, his true passion runs to rod and reeling which gives him the ability to see the regulatory process from both sides and gives him a unique perspective.

Dean Yaxa

Senate nominee

Vacant

Assembly nominee

Vacant

Assembly nominee