One of the final actions of this year's state Legislature was to reject Gov. Sarah Palin's appointment of Clam Gulch setnetter Brent Johnson to the Board of Fisheries after a coordinated assault by sport fishing interests.

Half- and full-page ads in papers across the state and mass mailings by sport fishing groups such as the Kenai River Sportfishing Association (KRSA) criticizing the choice, as well as intensive lobbying efforts in Juneau, undoubtedly helped sway some legislators, which shot down Johnson's appointment by 42 to 16.

Johnson, a life-long Alaskan, has a long history of public service, including serving on the Kenai-Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee, Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association, Kenai Peninsula Fisherman's Association, Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Commission and Kenai Peninsula and Kasilof Regional Historical Societies.

Johnson's occupation as a commercial salmon fisherman in Cook Inlet, one of the most hotly contested areas of allocation battles that the Board of Fisheries takes up, was seen by many as a reason to reject his nomination, although an alternative argument, that Johnson's appointment would deny Interior and Bush Alaska representation, was one that was regularly put forth by sportfishing groups. Commercial fishing groups say it was a thinly veiled attempt to further sportfishing interests.

Ricky Gease, executive director of KRSA, told an Anchorage TV station, "If this appointment goes through, the Interior is lacking any representation whatsoever. And next year, the AYK (Alaska Yukon/Kuskokwim) meeting comes up, with very important issues on the Yukon, involving chinook salmon and other subsistence, personal use and commercial fisheries there."

Debate in front of the Legislature was lively, reminiscent of Board of Fisheries meetings themselves. Hours of testimony over the course of three confirmation hearings came from teleconference participants and those who attended in person, and the arguments for or against did not vary significantly between participants. No one directly criticized Johnson or his qualifications, something he told the Anchorage Daily News he was grateful for.

"I never heard anybody say anything against my character, and I'm proud of that," he said. "If I didn't fit into the grand scheme of things, that's the way it goes. Hopefully the governor will find another person that's good and will do a good job on the Board of Fish."

Diversity on the board was brought up frequently, saying the board currently has a balance of three commercial interests and three sportfishing interests, and this choice would upset that balance. Johnson would have replaced Bonnie Williams, who was said to be a "neutral swing vote," although she listed sportfishing as a life-long interest in her biography and had no commercial background. She was, however, from Fairbanks, an area currently without representation.

It was unclear what impact Johnson's appointment would have had on Cook Inlet allocation issues, since he would have been required to recuse himself from votes that would benefit him as a commercial fisherman, but his history as an advocate for that fishery at past Board of Fisheries meetings made some opponents doubt his ability to be impartial.

Gov. Palin expressed her disappointment on the vote, saying "Brent Johnson was both qualified and willing to serve on this high-profile board and would have been the first Cook Inlet setnetter appointed since Dannie Garroutte was appointed by Governor Jay Hammond in 1975. While it's discouraging to see politics undercut Brent's opportunity for service, I recognize the legislature's statutory authority not to confirm an appointment. I remain proud of the many individual Alaskans who spoke up in support of Brent Johnson, and thank the presiding officers for their efforts to keep the process fair."

Palin's other appointment, former judge Karl Johnstone, was easily confirmed by a 50 to 8 vote.

United Fishermen of Alaska honored former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens with a lifetime achievement award at a ceremony during last week's Comfish tradeshow in Kodiak, when it also inducted 19 other individuals into its inaugural Alaska Seafood Hall of Fame.

Sen. Stevens was presented with the award for his work for sustainable fisheries spanning Alaska's first 50 years of statehood, including establishing the 200 mile limit, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, establishment of regional fishery management councils, ban on high seas driftnets and his continuing work to bring a stop to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fisheries worldwide.

UFA President Joe Childers said, "Alaska's fisheries were a focal point in the impetus behind the statehood movement, and through statehood, Alaska was able to influence national fisheries and ocean policy. Alaska's founding fathers and fishing leaders took many very difficult steps to bring the necessary protections to rebuild and sustain fishing communities. Without the work of these 20 individuals, and especially Senator Stevens, we can only guess what would now remain of our fisheries stocks and fishing communities."

Not everyone was thrilled with the choice of Stevens for the award. One commercial fisherman wrote a letter to the editor of the Kodiak Daily Mirror citing Stevens' role in creating "foreign and outside domination of Alaska's fisheries, unreasonably low ex-vessel fish prices, and crashing crab crew settlement incomes."

The letter, from Stephen Taufen, referred to Stevens' single-handed creation of processor quotas, and called him "the man who largely ushered in the massive privatization of the nation's public commons causing those harms."

Other inaugural inductees, some living and some deceased, were: Bob Alverson, U.S. Sen. Bob Bartlett, Bob Blake, The Brindle Family, Chuck Bundrant, Al Burch, Phil Daniel, Oscar Dyson, state Sen. Dick Eliason, Gov. Ernest Gruening, Gov. Jay Hammond, Gordon Jensen, Knute Johnson, Armin F. Koernig, Jerry McCune, state Rep. Drew Scalzi, state Sen. Clem Tillion, Tommy Thompson and Bob Thorstenson Sr.