WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Lisa Murkowski today announced the hiring of Jay Sterne to advise her as she shapes effective federal fisheries policies for the nation – and the hundreds of thousands of square nautical miles off Alaska’s shores that fall under federal jurisdiction.

Sterne, a twenty year veteran of fisheries and Arctic policy discussions, brings strong experience to a key position for a state where the fishing industry and emerging Arctic possibilities represent a growing economic engine.

Senator Murkowski also is hiring Attorney Leila Kimbrell of Anchorage, born in Soldotna and raised on the Kenai Peninsula, to work in Washington, DC on economic policy matters as the nation’s fiscal situation grows more urgent and reforms more necessary.

Matthew Shuckerow – born in Kodiak and raised in Anchorage – is being promoted from Legislative Correspondent to Press Secretary in the Communications Department to fill the opening left by Mike Anderson joining Congressman Don Young’s staff.

Sterne’s hiring will fill the opening created by Stefanie Moreland joining Governor Sean Parnell’s administration, and Kimbrell will fill the vacancy left by Miles Baker bringing his expertise back home to Alaska as Murkowski’s Alaska State Director.