anybody a fisheries biologist?

[basspimple]

i thank everyone dearly for all the info. as for colleges university of kentucky(a land grant college) has a wonderful agricultural department, and conservational studies as a subsidary. ive found an undergraduate program in environmental conservation and management. im really looking into that. i dont know what to do as far as getting my masters, but i am extremely entitled to wanting to go for it. thanks for all the insight.ive soaked as much of it in as i possibly can, im just now starting to peice together what i want to do. careful planning and research really do pay off. thanks again! if i have questions, i will pm those who i would like some more info from.

-j

[Marc]

My insight to fisheries biology jobs is like many of the previous posts.  I wanted to be a fisheries biologist all of my life.  Went to college to be one, but managed to find myself in a military career for 23 years.  Even in the military I did some fisheries biology work, and continued my studies, but my fisheries biology career was mainly on hold until I retired from the Army.  Then I started my fisheries biologist career and promptly took a pay cut that amounted to one-third the amount I was making as a military officer.  The work was great, and a lot of fun, but it is not fairly compensated if you work for the government.  The most financial reward is in working for private industry.  Although I loved being a fisheries biologist, I decided tomove on to a third career at triple the pay so I could send my own kids to college, and do my fisheries work now as a volunteer and for my own personal satisfaction.  

Look closely into the future job opportunities to make sure you know what you are getting into, and you can't go wrong with whatever you decide.

ciao,

Marc

[DaRy03621]

Hey kybasser91, I also am pursing the same field that your interested in.  I just graduated from WVU, with a BS in Wildlife and Fisheries Science (with an emphasis on fisheries of course! ).  I am currently at Purdue working on my MS.  As these guys previously mentioned, a MS is the way to go if you want to get a good job in this field-it seems that a PhD may take you into the realm of educating, which is fine, but I am interested in management so I feel a MS is the way to go if your interested in management.  This is a good thread, covers alot of aspects, but I'll throw in a couple more hints/suggestions for ya....

-Biology/Identification:  Of course a biology background is a must.  I'm sure your familiar with game fishes since your a fisherman, but there are even more fish that are not caught on hook and line.  Being familiar with non-game fishes is crucial, and could potentially give you a leg up on any competition out there.  There are other aquatic inhabitants (invertebrates, mussels, etc.) too, being familiar with these guys also helps out.  

-Networking: Know anybody and everybody.  Not only is it a good idea to know people in the fisheries field for jobs/knowledge, but knowing who your trying to manage for-the angler! .  Of course this isn't always the case, as in some of the non-game and conservation aspects.  Check fisheries.org (the American Fisheries Society website) for an idea of what is going on in the field.  This is where I do most of my job and internship/educational searching.

-Moving:  You'll be doing alot of this.  I haven't even started a job and I've lived in multiple states for internships/schooling.  Somebody has already mentioned this, but I just wanted to emphasize this.

-Being open:  When I first entered this field, I thought I would be working with game fish.  As it turns out, there is already a ton of work that has been done with game fish.  This field lacks information on the non-game fish field/things that effect fish (for instance, invertebrates or water quality.  My MS research pertains to Diporeia, something many people had no idea existed until their populations started declining.  To get an idea, type Diporeia into google.)  However, if your a fisherman like I am, you'll understand all the aspects that effect game fish (which helps with bass fishing!).  To summarize, don't be stuck on trying one thing, it probably with hinder more than it will help.

Well, hope this helps.  If you have any quesitons, send me a PM.