Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2014 - 36

photo-Brian McHail

Division of Environmental Services Fisheries Biologist
Heather Smiles examining aquatic macroinvertebrates.

photo-Steve Kepler

The Pennsylvania
Fish & Boat Commission's

Fisheries Biologists:
Who are they and what do they do?
Bureau of Hatcheries' Fisheries Biologist Coja Yamashita (bottom)
and Fisheries Technician Pat Weiss (top) in the Pathology Lab at
the Benner Spring Fish Research Station.

According to Webster, biology is defined as "the study of
living things and their vital processes." As there are many
living things in this world, the field of biology is very broad.
For example, those who study biology (biologists) can work
in many specialized areas. Botanists are biologists who
study plants, zoologists study animals, entomologists study
insects, malacologists study mussels, herpetologists study
reptiles and amphibians, and ichthyologists study fish. Within
these categories, biologists can be even more specialized by
studying perhaps one or two types or species of organisms,
such as coldwater or warmwater fish, or various biological
processes such as genetics (the study of heredity and genes).
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PFBC) employs a staff
of approximately 40 fisheries biologists. Our staff have varied
biological backgrounds and levels of training that can include
ichthyology, entomology, physiology (study of the mechanical,
physical and biochemical processes of living organisms),
genetics, anatomy (study of the structure of living things such
as skeletal, muscle and nerve systems), fisheries management,
fish culture, chemistry, mathematics and statistics.
Besides the university training of PFBC fisheries biologists
(typically involving either a bachelor's or master's degree),

36

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * January/February 2014

by Leroy M. Young Jr.

Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission
Director, Bureau of Fisheries
many PFBC biologists have many years of on the job training,
working in the field and in the laboratory. This training is
important when one considers the roles our biologists play in
protecting, conserving and enhancing the aquatic resources
of our great state. And, protection of our aquatic resources
is typically not just a job for staff but a passion, born out
of a lifelong interest in living resources, including fishing
and boating as a way of experiencing them. In other words,
our fisheries biologists are hard at work protecting the very
resources that they recreate in themselves. This not only
benefits them personally but also their clientele of more than
1 million anglers who fish in Pennsylvania.
So, what is the specific role of our biologists? Generally, this
can be broken down into the following categories: fisheries
managers, habitat managers, environmental protection
specialists and those who specialize in various aspects of
culturing fish.
Our fisheries managers are at the forefront of understanding
and managing the fisheries of Pennsylvania. They monitor the
water quality and physical habitat of our lakes and streams,
determine the condition of the fisheries and develop plans to
manage these fisheries. Possible management options include
PFBC Facebook: PaFishandBoat
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - January/February 2014

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