Linking Successful Careers to Successful Fisheries

 The continuing degradation of fish populations and associated habitat in streams and rivers, despite the efforts of competent and dedicated individuals, suggests that a different approach might be helpful to training our future leaders. The objective of our talk is to suggest a new goal for success in the fisheries profession and describe the role of graduate education and mentoring in this model. Sustaining and restoring fish populations require an understanding of holistic problem solving that should be incorporated into a student’s graduate education. Students need to understand the importance of partnering with people from other disciplines and establishing ecologically-relevant objectives, which in turn fosters accountability. Partnering will allow real advances to be made relative to complex and interdisciplinary problems whereas accountability will focus success on biological-based outcomes. If mentoring encourages partnering and accountability, more progress will be made in improving our fisheries. Attacking complex environmental problems using this framework will result in leaders whose professional success is synonymous with quality fisheries.