Daniel M. O’Keefe | USGS Science

USGS2026

Beyond technical expertise: The role of mindset, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills in the development of fisheries professionals

Objective Recognized as essential components for success, mindset and inter- and intrapersonal skills (often referred to as soft skills) play a crucial role in the growth and effectiveness of individuals throughout their careers. Individuals with strong inter- and intrapersonal skills and a mindset open to growth can efficiently navigate complex challenges that may involve working with diverse stakeholder groups, managing interdisciplinary teams, or resolving conflicts in ways that allow them to excel beyond their technical skill sets. Although formal education of natural resources professionals (and many other professions) generally prioritizes technical skills, cultivating inter- and intrapersonal skills and a growth mindset is critical to success. Methods Drawing on presentations and discussion from an early-career symposium at the 2023 American Fisheries Society Conference, we summarize skill sets valuable for success in fisheries and natural resources. Results We provide an overview of the roles mindset and inter- and intrapersonal skills have in developing a career, how to use these competencies to navigate natural resources professions, and actions for enhancing personal skills. This paper aims to provide a compendium of information and lessons learned from natural resources professionals with diverse experiences and to emphasize familiar concepts to help formalize their discussion in the fisheries profession. Conclusion Fisheries and other natural resource fields have become increasingly interdisciplinary, necessitating a broad suite of skills to effectively communicate across disciplines, convey multiple data types, and make decisions to address complex problems. Inter- and intrapersonal skill sets are foundational to successfully navigating the fisheries profession. Moreover, personal skills transcend our profession into our everyday lives, thus strengthening personal skills is a worthy endeavor.

Fisheries↗

USGS2023

Updated decision analysis to inform multi-species salmonine management in Lake Michigan

The recreational fishery for salmonine species in Lake Michigan (lake trout, Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead, and brown trout) is largely maintained through stocking. Decisions about how many of each species to stock require an understanding of how to maintain a sustainable balance of predators (salmonine species) to prey (alewife) in the lake. The current models used to make these decisions can estimate the ratio of Chinook salmon to alewife in the lake. However, the Lake Michigan Committee’s new stocking strategy aims to incorporate the other salmonine species into this predator-prey ratio. We used structured decision making to evaluate potential stocking strategies. We worked with fishery stakeholders and members of the Lake Michigan Committee, conducted participatory modeling to forecast outcomes of stocking scenarios using updated information on fish movement and feeding, and evaluated the risk of these stocking strategies. Most of the stocking practices we evaluated resulted in a high risk of large declines in alewife abundance, negatively affecting future salmon fisheries. The forecasts were substantially more pessimistic than those resulting from a similar analysis conducted a decade earlier, apparently due to more recent alewife assessments indicating lower alewife productivity (recruits per spawner). Alewife recruitment dynamics is an area of substantial uncertainty, with apparently large consequences for management; decision makers on Lake Michigan would benefit from greater understanding of alewife recruitment dynamics to reduce this uncertainty when accounting for risks.

Lake Michigan↗