Professor Pingguo He to Serve 3 Year Term as Chair of Working Group Focused on Scientific and Commercial Fishing Operations & Fish Behavior
UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) Professor Pingguo He has been appointed to serve as Chair of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behavior (WGFTFB).
"Congratulations to Professor He on his leadership appointment to WGFTFB," offered SMAST Dean Steven E. Lohrenz. "SMAST and ICES have a shared mission in assuring the best available science is accessible to researchers, the fishing industry, policymakers, and other stakeholders to make informed choices on the sustainable use of the marine environment and ecosystems."
ICES is a global organization, with a network of more than 4000 scientists, from almost 300 institutes. As an intergovernmental organization with twenty member countries across the North Atlantic, its main objective is to increase the scientific knowledge of the marine environment and its living resources and to use this knowledge to advance science and education for ocean sustainability.
ICES sciences are carried out by Expert Groups, covering all topics related to ocean and marine sciences. WGFTFB is the expert group that focuses on all measurements and observations pertaining to both scientific and commercial fishing gears, design and statistical methods and operations, and the behavior of fish in relation to fishing operations. WGFTFB provides advice to aquatic ecologists, biologists, and the fishery industry.
WGFTFB was formally created in 1983. The co-sponsorship of ICES and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) extends the reach of this expert group globally. This year the annual meeting of WGFTFB (and its sister group WGFAST -- Working Group on Fisheries Acoustic Sciences and Technology) will take place in New Bedford, May 5-9, 2014, hosted by NOAA Fisheries, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and SMAST.
As chair of the working group, Professor He will organize annual meetings, compose annual reports, facilitate discussions among its membership of around 150 and other interested parties, and participate in ICES Annual Science Symposia and business meetings. The chair also assembles small groups in an ad hoc basis in response to requests from ICES or its member countries.
The focus at SMAST is on interdisciplinary basic-to-applied marine sciences and the development of related innovative technologies. In addition to the scholarly marine science and technology communities, the SMAST mission also emphasizes interaction with regional industry, and government and non-governmental agencies on compelling regional marine-related issues and technological development.