Episode 94: Dr. Ross Boucek – The Mad Fish Scientist

It’s all Tom McGuane’s fault… He’s the culprit who gave Robert Redford the book! Redford loved it, and his film, “A River Runs Through It” indelibly changed everything about fly fishing. Most offensive has been the amount of people around the world we’re now seeing on every body of water. Good for them, actually. Fishing is one of the most important, life changing things we could ever allocate a great amount of our lives to. The down side is the pressure on the fishery, whether it be saltwater speedsters or critters in the fresh.
On today’s podcast, we visit with Bonefish Tarpon Trust’s scientist, Dr. Ross Boucek who is the Florida Keys Initiative Manager studying the spectrum of elements that constitute a healthy resource. Ross is a second-generation South Floridian. He grew up fishing for tarpon and snook out of Everglades City. Ross earned his Masters and Doctoral degrees at Florida International University, studying how weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, and extreme cold events, impact sport-fishes in Florida Bay and Everglades National Park. After his schooling, he worked for Florida Fish and Wild Conservation Commission, researching fish movements and migrations, and applying that information to conservation actions. Now based in Marathon, Ross spends most of his time in the Keys, either conducting BTT science, or working with anglers, and management agencies to turn BTT science into meaningful management and regulatory changes that improve our Keys fishery.
When you listen to Ross, he defines all the issues and concerns with incredible knowledge, insight and clarity.