Virginia Tech’s Fisheries Training Center Vital for the Nation’s Marine Agencies
The U.S. Departments of Commerce and Education recently released a report to Congress on America’s pending shortage of fisheries scientists, specifically those who focus on stock assessment. Jim Berkson, associate professor of fisheries and wildlife sciences and a unit leader for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Fisheries Service, was one of three agency representatives who spoke at a press conference about the report.
Jim Berkson leads the Population
Dynamics Recruiting Program.
Stock assessment scientists conduct scientific research to determine the current status and future trends of marine species populations and provide key advice to policymakers. “The need for these scientists, whose work is critical to the conservation and management of the nation’s marine resources, is increasing due to workload increases and agency retirements,” explained Berkson, a major contributor to the report. “Unfortunately, universities are not producing the number of scientists needed to meet the demand.” To address the anticipated shortage of fisheries scientists, Virginia Tech, home to one of the oldest and most respected fisheries programs in the United States, has partnered with the NOAA Fisheries Service to create a first-of-its-kind program designed to identify, train, and mentor promising undergraduates from across the nation. Led by Berkson, the Population Dynamics Recruiting Program (PDRP) is increasing the quality and quantity of incoming graduate students in the field. It also conducts important stock assessment research in support of the NOAA Fisheries Service’s mission in a unique collaboration of undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral associates, university faculty, and agency scientists. The NOAA Fisheries Service has provided financial support to the recruiting program, which is serving as a model for a new generation of cooperative research programs nationwide.
Students attending a PDRP workshop in
Key West, Fla.,learn sampling techniques
to determine the age of a fish.
Evaluations indicate that between one-quarter and one-third of all PRDP workshop participants have entered graduate school in the discipline. “The program is finding top students from around the country who knew little to nothing about this unique discipline,” observed Berkson. “The PDRP workshops are educating and exciting the students, and as a result, many are now entering the discipline. This is being viewed as a great success by both the university and the agency.”
2/19/09