By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
Lifelong Sitka fisherman Moses Johnson was honored with the Certificate of Excellence in Service award from the State of Alaska, the State Board of Fisheries, and the State Board of Game Wednesday at the Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Committee meeting at Centennial Hall.
The award is given to advisory committee members who perform a service that is of high value to the AC or board process.
Board president Jon Martin presented the award, noting that the nomination was by two long-serving advisory committee members who said Johnson’s wealth of experience as a highliner in both salmon troll and seine fisheries was invaluable to the committee over the 18 years that Johnson has been a member.
“Quiet, soft-spoken, respectful, Moses carries great weight and perspective with the advisory committee,” Martin read from the citation. “Given his background and thoughtful demeanor Mr. Johnson is influential in the committee and serves as a great example of advisory committee service.”
Martin added, “It has been my honor to serve with Mo.”
Sitka fisherman Moses Johnson, left, recieves a Certificate of Excellence in Service from Sitka Fish and Game Advisory Committee President Jon Martin during Wednesday’s AC meeting at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Johnson has served 18 years on the AC board. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
The presentation was followed by a multitude of comments from the public and through messages read by committee member Eric Jordan.
Jordan read a note from Robbie Kerr, who fished on Johnson’s F/V Cloud Nine for 21 years:
“I saw what it meant to have a true passion for what one did for a living, the pure enthusiasm to catch a fish,” Kerr said in the note. “The excitement in his eyes at the sight of three to four 40-pound halibut in a row reflecting in the March sun, if you’re lucky to have sun in March, or the boiling of the water inside our net from a big chum set at Deep Inlet. I saw a person who could honestly call himself a fisherman by all names of the occupation; a catcher a processor, a businessman, a captain and most importantly, an environmentalist. During the seasons, a lot of what Mo discussed in the tophouse was not about who caught what or how many, but about the weather and what it was doing to the future salmon runs, Mo took mental notes of the environment daily.”
Harold Thompson, founder and former manager of Sitka Sound Seafoods, said in his message:
“Mo Johnson richly deserves this recognition from the fishing community. It was a great honor and pleasure to work with him and his father before him. They set the bar for professionalism, and consequently were highly valued customers that we looked forward to seeing at the Sitka Sound Seafood dock. Mo and the Johnson family have always displayed both personal and business integrity, a strong work ethic, a broad commitment to working to protect our natural resources, and to foster a healthy, prosperous community... our fishing community is better for having Mo in it.”
There was a note of congratulations from state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss Tomkins, and retired NSRAA general manager Pete Esquiro.
Linda Behnken, executive director of Alaska Longliners Association, said she was asked how, in her more than 25 years of battles as an underdog against groups better resourced, she keeps fighting.
“It is not a how for me,” she said. “It’s a who. And it’s Mo, it’s Mo’s family, it’s the people that inspire me in this industry who care deeply about the resource, our community, the industry and about making sure that what we have now is there for the future. That is exactly what Mo epitomizes.”
Crew member Evan Love, who used to seine with Johnson but now only longlines with him, said he made enough money one season to buy his own gillnet boat, and then kept fishing with Mo until he made enough to purchase a gillnet permit. Now he fishes his own boat during the summer months, and he stated his respect for Mo and the Johnson family.
Cal Hayashi spoke about the fishing gear exchanged at Christmas every year and his friendship with Mo. Another crew member, Michael Doggett, provided the cake refreshment for the meeting.
Patty Skannes said that while working as an ADF&G biologist in Sitka, first as a seasonal fishery technician port sampling at local cold storages, Mo stood out as a winter troll fishery highliner. Her house had a view of Sitka Channel.
“Whenever the Cloud Nine would go by,” she said. “I would drop whatever I had been doing and dash down the street to collect data on his catch, knowing he always had a lot of salmon. I eventually became a troll fishery management biologist for the department and saw Mo at our various public meetings. He didn’t say much but when he did, he was knowledgeable and respectful. His vast experience with fisheries and the Sitka area made him a valuable contributor to discussions on a wide range of topics.”
The one constant from all who were quoted was how Mo and his family respected the resource first.
With twin sister Karen seated next to him and his wife Betsy seated in the gallery, Johnson emotionally addressed the committee.
“I didn’t expect all this,” he said. “It is very much appreciated. I think this award, even though it has my name on it, I look at it like a recognition of what the AC has done... There are a lot of people more deserving other than me... I look at it like a Sitka AC award. There are a lot of good things the AC has done over the years that could not have been down without everybody... I have learned a lot on here and continue to learn a lot more... I have learned to keep an open mind, listen to everyone’s point of view and go from there. The main thing I learned from my dad was to put the resource first, make sure it is healthy, and after that I can represent my seine seat.”
