Spencer Fullerton Baird 1823-1887
First Director of the United States Fish Commission and father of modern fish stocking
By David Downes – 100885094
October 6, 2015
BIOL 1010 – Assignment 1
Spencer Fullerton Baird was an important figure in early Biology and Ecology, and by the time of his death in 1887, he had become a renowned naturalist and scientist in Washington D.C.. Born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1823, Baird and his brother William grew up fascinated by nature, an interest fostered by their father and the other great naturalists such as Agassiz and Audubon (Goode, 1897). After attaining bachelors and master’s degrees from Dickinson College and being appointed professor of naturalism, the Smithsonian Institution …show more content…
I was able to see an example of this and other biotechnology at work on the Fraser River in British Columbia this summer. During the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway in 1914, a very large landslide was triggered and filled in a large portion of the river, forcing the water to flow too fast for the pink and sockeye salmon to migrate upstream to their breeding grounds. This caused up to 90% of the native sockeye stocks to be eradicated, and a solution had to be found. Most of the debris was cleared, slowing the current back down. Fish ladders were added at Hell’s Gate, the narrowest part of the river, to ease the salmon upstream in turbulent waters. These srategies were effective in helping the remaining population, but artificial propogation had to be used as well to mitigate natural population growth and return it to the original stock. A century later, the sockeye have made a considerable comeback, but are still not at the same size population as before the landslide. Had we let nature run its course after the landslide, the salmon stocks on the Fraser River would be extremely fragile, if at all …show more content…
Firstly, he was philanthropic visionary that forever changed how we go about fishing in a responsible manner, through the application of biotechnology management of aquatic ecosystems. Wisely, he took action on a modern issue a century before it was of critical global importance. Second, he was a lifelong student who dedicated himself to science and naturalism with integrity, drive, and most importantly passion. His enthusiasm is shown in his thousand-plus publications and adding over two million specimens to the Smithsonian Institution, not to mention walking 2,100 miles in 1842 alone while studying the outdoors in his formative years. Lastly, he made the world a better place through fostering an understanding of human impacts on natural processes, and that fishing requires sustainable population management as much as it needs fishermen. He managed to influence an incredibly broad range of people from the political elite in Washington to the population en masse with his work in educational insitutions like the Smithsonian and the National
First Director of the United States Fish Commission and father of modern fish stocking
By David Downes – 100885094
October 6, 2015
BIOL 1010 – Assignment 1
Spencer Fullerton Baird was an important figure in early Biology and Ecology, and by the time of his death in 1887, he had become a renowned naturalist and scientist in Washington D.C.. Born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1823, Baird and his brother William grew up fascinated by nature, an interest fostered by their father and the other great naturalists such as Agassiz and Audubon (Goode, 1897). After attaining bachelors and master’s degrees from Dickinson College and being appointed professor of naturalism, the Smithsonian Institution …show more content…
I was able to see an example of this and other biotechnology at work on the Fraser River in British Columbia this summer. During the construction of the Canadian Northern Railway in 1914, a very large landslide was triggered and filled in a large portion of the river, forcing the water to flow too fast for the pink and sockeye salmon to migrate upstream to their breeding grounds. This caused up to 90% of the native sockeye stocks to be eradicated, and a solution had to be found. Most of the debris was cleared, slowing the current back down. Fish ladders were added at Hell’s Gate, the narrowest part of the river, to ease the salmon upstream in turbulent waters. These srategies were effective in helping the remaining population, but artificial propogation had to be used as well to mitigate natural population growth and return it to the original stock. A century later, the sockeye have made a considerable comeback, but are still not at the same size population as before the landslide. Had we let nature run its course after the landslide, the salmon stocks on the Fraser River would be extremely fragile, if at all …show more content…
Firstly, he was philanthropic visionary that forever changed how we go about fishing in a responsible manner, through the application of biotechnology management of aquatic ecosystems. Wisely, he took action on a modern issue a century before it was of critical global importance. Second, he was a lifelong student who dedicated himself to science and naturalism with integrity, drive, and most importantly passion. His enthusiasm is shown in his thousand-plus publications and adding over two million specimens to the Smithsonian Institution, not to mention walking 2,100 miles in 1842 alone while studying the outdoors in his formative years. Lastly, he made the world a better place through fostering an understanding of human impacts on natural processes, and that fishing requires sustainable population management as much as it needs fishermen. He managed to influence an incredibly broad range of people from the political elite in Washington to the population en masse with his work in educational insitutions like the Smithsonian and the National