NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — October 22, 2012 — Accolades are piling up for UMass Dartmouth professor and renowned marine scientist Brian Rothschild. This month, National Fisherman magazine announced it was giving Rothschild, 78, its Highliner Achievement Award for a lifetime of service to the fishing industry.
Rothschild is one of four honorees from around the nation to be recognized the by the magazine of record for the commercial fishing industry.
"These are the people who bring hope to their fishing communities," National Fisherman editor Jessica Hathaway wrote in the November issue. "Their work sheds light on the way things can and should be done in the fishing industry."
The announcement from National Fisherman comes at the same time that New Bedford's Prince Henry Society selected the professor for its Man of the Year award, presented to an individual whose work has benefited the Portuguese community. Many of boats in the New Bedford fleet are owned and crewed by Portuguese fishermen.
At UMass Dartmouth's School of Marine Science and Technology, Rothschild and Dr. Kevin Stokesbury developed an innovative video survey for counting sea scallops in 1996 that is credited with preventing the collapse of what has become the most valuable fishery in the U.S.
Rothschild was the founding dean of SMAST in 1995 and is known around the world for his work in population dynamics, biological oceanography and fisheries management. He has worked in fishery science for more than 50 years and has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and reports.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times