PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



ML Scott Baker, Jr. 

 joins the Wilmington team as a 

 fisheries specialist. He comes 

 with nine years of experience 

 with marine fisheries along the 

 Gulf of Mexico coast, where 

 he has participated in an array 

 of federal, state and univer- 

 sity monitoring and research 

 projects. 



Baker is making the 

 transition from research to 

 outreach, learning the players 



— and the issues. 



"I want to find a place 

 where my background can best 

 match what needs to be done," 

 he says. 



For openers, he has ap- 

 plied for a position on the N.C. 

 Division of Marine Fisheries 

 Commission Shrimp Advisory 

 Panel. The state will rely on 

 the committee of scientists, 

 commercial and recreational 

 fishers, and environmental 

 advocates to help develop 

 a management plan for the 

 important fishery. 



In North Carolina, as in Louisiana, shrimp- 

 ers are facing economic hardships from uncertain 

 stock assessments as well as low market prices 

 driven by global competition. 



Baker's background also is well-suited for 

 other North Carolina fisheries concerns. 



As a research associate at Louisiana State 

 University, he studied the age, growth and repro- 

 duction of adult marine fishes, including spotted 

 seatrout, red drum, snapper and gag grouper 



— important commercial fisheries in the South 

 Atlantic as well as the Gulf. 



Baker spent time as an onboard observer of 

 the red snapper commercial fishery to determine 

 the number and fate of regulatory discards. Some 

 commercial fishers would like to see minimum 

 size limits lifted because of high catch-and-re- 

 lease mortality of deepwater fish, he says. 



His prior work experience includes two 



ABOVE: Scott Baker, second from left, learns about an oyster 

 research project beingconducted by TroyAlphin, second from 

 right, and students Josh Vinson and Joe Sonnier from the 

 University of North Carolina at Wilmington. RIGHT: M. Scott 

 Baker Jr. joins the Wilmington team. 



years with National Marine Fisher- 

 ies Service's Panama City Labora- 

 tory, where he was responsible 

 for at-sea and dockside sampling 

 of recreational and commercially 

 caught reef fish as part of an ongo- 

 ing life history study. 



The size-age correlation is 

 important to developing and imple- 

 menting any fishery management 

 plan. Success relies on educating 

 constituents, and Baker plans to develop infor- 

 mational one-pagers that can deliver quick facts 

 to commercial and recreational anglers alike. 



In Louisiana Baker earned a reputation 

 for his ability to disseminate scientific results 

 to the fishing community through publications, 

 presentations and one-on-one discussions. 



A native of Washington, N.C, Baker 



earned his bachelor's degree in biology, with a 

 minor in marine science at the University of North 

 Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned a master's in 

 oceanography and coastal sciences, with a minor 

 in statistics, from Louisiana State University. 



To reach Sara Mirabilio or Terri Kirby Ha- 

 thaway in Manteo, call 252/475-3663. To reach 

 Scott Baker in Wilmington, call 910/962-2492. □ 



22 WINTER 2004 



