Ron Essig

Are We Preparing the Next Generation of Fisheries Professionals to Succeed in their Careers?: A Survey of AFS Members

Natural resource professionals have frequently criticized universities for poorly preparing graduates to succeed in their jobs. We surveyed members of the American Fisheries Society to determine which job skills and knowledge of academic topics employers, students, and university faculty members deemed most important to early-career success of fisheries professionals. Respondents also rated proficiency of recently hired, entry-level professionals (employers) on how well their programs prepared them for career success (students and faculty) in those same job skills and academic topics. Critical thinking and written and oral communication skills topped the list of important skills and academic topics. Employers perceived recent entry-level hires to be less well-prepared to succeed in their careers than either university faculty or students. Entry-level hires with post-graduate degrees rated higher in proficiency for highly important skills and knowledge than those with bachelors degrees. We conclude that a...

Fisheries Down Under

3 were on a more ad hoc basis with individuals electing to attend for personal interest reasons. The ASFB (asfb.org.au) was founded in 1971 and currently has about 325 members including 93 students. As of this writing, there are 34 AFS members from Australia, with most also belonging to ASFB. Administrative work like membership, meeting arrangements, website, and newsletter that were formerly done by volunteers is mostly now done for ASFB under contract. There are two elected representatives from each of the seven Australian states and territories, two from New Zealand, and two more representing the student membership. The ASFB has active Threatened Fishes and Alien Fishes committees, plus several committees that have been active in the past including Stock Assessment, Fish Passageway, and Recreational Fishing. Similar to AFS, all that is needed for such groups to thrive are 1-2 champions to lead them and make them work. Fisheries Down Under

One Fish, Two Fish

111 Maderia Rockfish Scorpaena maderensis. Dr. Seuss’ red fish could be an Ocean Perch Sebastes alutus in New England or a Red Drum Sciaenops ocellatus in the Gulf of Mexico. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS; itis.gov) includes common names for fishes within a total of about 700,000 animal, plant, fungi, and microbe species. My master’s work was on Alewife Alosa pseudoharengus, which ITIS also lists as Bigeye

The Power of a Motion

We have remote controls, cell phones, computers and we can practically do everything from our sofa by clicking buttons. Drive-throughs for fast food, pharmacies and banks are supposed to make life ‘easier’ and save us time, allowing us to stay in our cars and not move one step. Most jobs in modern society require many hours of sitting each day and most public schools have had to cut down on Physical Education and recess; the only times that children can move their bodies during their long school days.