FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 70, NO. 3 



ancillary industries associated with the construc- 

 tion of gear, vessels, processing equipment, and 

 harbors and reservoirs that require personnel 

 with an awareness of fishery problems. Obvi- 

 ously, only part of the occupations in both lists 

 requires a science degree — the topic of this dis- 

 cussion. 



Further, an examination of the publications 

 of any major fishery agency reveals many diverse 

 research topics, each of which could be discussed 

 adequately by an individual only after years of 

 specialized experience in graduate school or on 

 the job. For example, recent issues of the 

 Journal and Bulletin of the Fisheries Research 

 Board of Canada include lengthy articles in each 

 of the following areas of study: (1) biochem- 

 istry of pesticides, heavy metals, etc.; (2) fish 

 and invertebrate physiology; (3) animal be- 

 havior; (4)' -ecology; (5) population dynamics; 



(6) life histories of animals of many phyla; 



(7) ichthyology; (8) genetics; (9) hydraulic 

 engineering; (10) marine biology; (11) lim- 

 nology; (12) oceanography; (13) microbiology; 

 (14) pathology; (15) mathematics; (16) re- 

 source economics; and (17) fishery business 

 administration. 



This list could be expanded considerably but 

 with little reinforcement of the conclusion that 

 specialists on many topics contribute to fishery 

 knowledge and aid in fishery decisions. Obvi- 

 ously, many problems must be studied by teams 

 of experts who can apply their individual skills 

 to a problem in which they share a common in- 

 terest and concern. 



Still further evidence of diversity may be 

 found among employers of fishery scientists. 

 Government fishery agencies are the principal 

 employers, but nonfishery agencies and industry 

 appear to be offering more and more jobs. Out- 

 door recreation agencies; water control and 

 water quality agencies; soil, range, and forest 

 resource agencies; and industries that use water 

 are finding increasingly that they have enough 

 fishery problems to warrant hiring fishery sci- 

 entists. In addition, the fishery agencies are 

 finding that the management of the fishery re- 

 sources requires that they participate frequently 

 in decisions about the use of water and land. 

 It is apparent that many fishery scientists need 



at least to be aware of if not expert in the prob- 

 lems of using other natural resources. 



THE CHOICE OF BACCALAUREATE 

 DEGREE, MASTER, OR DOCTORATE 



Soon after an aspiring fishery scientist has 

 embarked on his education he faces a decision 

 about when to stop and seek a job. He will 

 probably be advised to seek graduate work if his 

 scholarship is adequate and if he can finance it. 

 If he does he will be a part of the one-fifth of 

 the biologists who have recently sought advanced 

 degrees (Terman, 1971). The brilliant student 

 can get a fellowship or assistantship, so his de- 

 cision may depend on whether he wants to spend 

 the extra time; but to other students graduate 

 work may require a major sacrifice. Will the 

 added breadth of knowledge or s'pecialization be 

 worth the time and cost? 



The roles of fishery scientists are not clearly 

 separable according to terminal degree attained 

 by them, but most of those with a baccalaureate 

 are in fishery management and most of those 

 with a doctorate are in teaching or research 

 (Table 1) . Many of those with a baccalaureate, 

 however, are engaged in research or administra- 

 tion. Those with a master are engaged exten- 

 sively in research, management, and administra- 

 tion; but a larger proportion of them than of 

 the other two groups are in research and ad- 

 ministration. 



The divisions among fishery research, man- 

 agement, and administration are blurred, how- 

 ever, in other ways. All three require an ability 

 to investigate problems but research will prob- 

 ably involve the solution of sophisticated sci- 

 entific problems; management, a mixture of 

 scientific, technical, and social problems; and ad- 

 ministration, a mixture of social, economic, and 

 political problems. All three require an under- 

 standing of the general environmental problems 

 of our society, but these will probably be of great- 

 est concern in administration. All three require 

 an ability to communicate, but with different 

 audiences. Additional blurring occurs because 

 most fishery scientists divide their time among 

 research, administration, and management or 

 teaching. 



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