June 26, 2012 — Statement from Dr. Richard Merrick, Chief Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries
Today, I am pleased to announce that William (Bill) Karp, Ph.D., has been named the new Science and Research Director for NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Dr. Karp will plan, develop, and manage a multidisciplinary program of basic and applied research on the living marine resources of the Northeast Continental Shelf Ecosystem from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, NC. He will lead NOAA Fisheries’ six northeastern labs and field stations located from Maine to Washington, D.C. The Northeast Center’s laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is the birthplace of marine science in the United States and the site of the first federal conservation agency devoted to the protection, study, management, and restoration of fish.
His scientific expertise includes fisheries acoustics, survey design and innovation, bycatch assessment and management, and fishery-dependent data collection and interpretation. This broad background in research and management will help him guide the Northeast Science Center staff as they work to maintain the rigorous scientific approaches in place now and to develop innovative new approaches and technologies we will need in the future.
During his recent tenure as Acting Science and Research Director at the Northeast Center and before that at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Dr. Karp has shown that he is adept at working with the academic community, resource managers, the regional fishery management council, fishermen, the industry, and other stakeholders to find solutions for the challenges we face in understanding, conserving, and managing our nation’s marine ecosystems. Dr. Karp will continue to build on these valuable partnerships in one of the most dynamic scientific communities in the United States.