Unalaska, AK – U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has confirmed Governor Sarah Palin's appointment of Robert "Ed" Dersham to the open seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Dersham has been a Lower Cook Inlet charter boat operator for more than two decades, and he was previously the chair of the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

"He has a lot of expertise in some of the interactions between state and federal fisheries management, which is always an issue with the council, so we thought that would be helpful," Cora Crome, Palin's fisheries policy advisor, said. "But mostly we were looking for somebody we felt could do a good job of representing that recreational viewpoint, and also just work for the best interests of the state of Alaska."

Dersham replaces Ed Rasmuson, who resigned earlier this month.