Susan Nickerson, the executive director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, announced yesterday that she will leave that group to become executive director of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association. ...Nickerson said it was the right time to leave the alliance, which formed in opposition to Cape Wind's proposal to install more than 100 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. She said that the bulk of the alliance's environmental work related to the impact of the wind farm was done.

Susan Nickerson, the executive director of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, announced yesterday that she will leave that group to become executive director of the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen's Association.

"The hook association is very attuned to environmental issues on Cape Cod. They are leading the way in regaining the productivity of the fishery as well as trying to bring back this traditional livelihood," Nickerson said yesterday.

The hook association was founded in 1991. It has around 1,400 members and reported $1.35 million annual operating expenses in 2007. Nickerson will replace executive director Paul Parker, who will be directing the Cape Cod Fisheries Trust, a new association program attempting to keep commercial fishing permits affordable.

Nickerson said it was the right time to leave the alliance, which formed in opposition to Cape Wind's proposal to install more than 100 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound. She said that the bulk of the alliance's environmental work related to the impact of the wind farm was done.

"I know the alliance will remain very much engaged, but for me, this is a very logical time to move," Nickerson said yesterday. She served five years as executive director of the alliance.

Glenn Whatley, alliance president and chief executive officer, said Nickerson's "contributions have been invaluable."

"We view her as a colleague going forward," he said. With the organization's opposition to Cape Wind headed for litigation, Whatley said it was a "reasonably good juncture to make the transition."

Nickerson hoped that her connections with the Cape and state environmental community through her time with the alliance, and 12 years as executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, would help broaden the hook association's support base, especially given the challenges of fundraising in the economic downturn.

Cape fishermen, and all New England fishermen, face tremendous obstacles in the $1 billion regional fishery. Fishery regulations to restore fish stocks from historically low populations in the mid-1990s have dramatically cut fishing days to less than 50 for most fishermen. More cuts are expected, and the hook association is at the forefront of innovative programs to bring back stocks but not drive them out of business.

"Sue Nickerson is an extremely smart, capable leader. That's why we need her at the helm," Parker said. "I have every faith she'll come up to speed quickly. The work she's done on APCC and with (the alliance) were great preparation."

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