Antonio Silva was appointed to fill a vacancy on Wrangell’s Port Commission in February 2025, then elected that fall to a one-year term. He is now seeking election to a three-year term, running against Mechel Meek in the Oct. 6 municipal election.

Silva says he’s running for the port commission because he wants to stay involved in planning for the downtown harbor rebuild. He also says he wants to continue speaking up for all fishermen who depend on the town’s harbors and marine services.

Silva says he wants to support sport and subsistence fishermen in addition to commercial harbor users. Here he is from his fishing vessel via WhatsApp.

My goal is to continue to encourage the ports to not forget about the little guys.

Now in his 13th year as a commercial fisherman,  the 40-year-old participates in multiple fisheries. They include halibut, pot shrimp and Dungeness crab, and trolling and gillnetting for salmon.

This is his first full year on his 46-foot gillnetter, the Danegeld. It’s his fifth boat; Silva started out with a 30-foot wooden troller “and then slowly moved up.”

When he joined the commission, Silva says he learned that it is an advisory council to the borough assembly. The commissioners make suggestions on actions they think the borough should take, although he says he feels that their suggestions are taken seriously.

Silva says he wants to stay involved in the borough’s plans to dredge and rebuild the Inner Harbor and other downtown floats, some of the other big port-related projects coming up in Wrangell.

I think Wrangell is on a great trajectory right now, making some fantastic decisions … with JAG coming in and the 6-Mile property getting put to use there, I think all of that is just fantastic.

He also supports the ongoing effort to push boat owners to ensure their vessels are operational, and to remove derelict vessels to make room for more boats.

He says that his time on the port commission has given him a better understanding of the cost of maintaining Wrangell’s port and harbors.

It’s interesting to see the budget and understand where money is coming and going.

Much of the Port and Harbors’ facilities were built with grant money and will eventually need work. He says any heavy maintenance or replacement could be costly and the borough needs to have sufficient reserve funds built up to cover the costs.

Adapted from original article by Larry Persily for the Wrangell Sentinel