Robin DeBruyne

AFS Equal Opportunities Section, President
E-mail: rld87@cornell.edu

Application

Date: April 5, 2012

To:   Bill Fisher, President

American Fisheries Society

From: Jim Bowker, President

Fish Culture Section

American Fisheries Society

Re: Honorary Membership Nomination for Mr. Robert (Bob) G. Piper

On behalf of 100+ active members of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) and the broader fish culture community, I am writing to nominate Mr. Robert (Bob) G. Piper for honorary AFS membership in recognition of his significant and far-reaching contributions to fisheries sciences.  For a career—truly, a life— dedicated to responsible and thoughtful stewardship of fisheries resources, Bob is worthy of many distinctions, including honorary membership in the AFS.  In accordance with our Constitution, signatures from 100+ active AFS members supporting honorary membership for Bob have been obtained and presented to you for the record.

Of those who are lucky enough to find their life’s purpose, there are two kinds—those who come to discover their passion after following a long and winding path, and there are those who are seemingly born to a task.  Bob was born a fish guy, he knew it from an early age, and has spent the last 60 years working to improve fish culture and fisheries.  Anyone who has ever met Bob walks away knowing that he is not only very knowledgeable about the art and science of fish culture, but that he is incredibly passionate about it.  This combination of talent and dedication was and is the cornerstone of his creativity and innovative abilities.  Fish culture has come a long way over the last half century, shifting from quantity production to quality production.  ‘What are we raising fish for, and how can we raise fish that are better able to achieve those goals?’  Bob didn’t ask this question rhetorically.  Bob asked himself and his peers this question with the intent of moving fish culture forward, and as a result, he is rightfully recognized as one of the pioneers of fish culture.  Bob’s cohort is comprised of virtually all the ‘elder statesmen’ of fish culture—to hear him talk about his friends and colleagues is to hear a ‘who’s who’ of fish culturists—and he has remained close with all of them.  This isn’t too surprising once you meet him and find out for yourself that he is one of the most personable and generous individuals to grace our profession.  It’s somewhat awe-inspiring to hear Bob talk about one adventure or another and realize that most of the characters in these stories are authors of articles that we reference today.

Excellence in the fisheries profession is marked by those individuals who strive to improve upon the tools, techniques, and above all, understanding of the aquatic resources that we care for.  Bob is credited with some of the most significant innovations in salmonid culture, most notably in hatchery carrying capacity and the development of techniques that are now synonymous with salmon hatchery operation, the flow index and density index.  Perhaps his most visible accomplishment was serving as Editor-in-chief of the book “Fish Hatchery Management,” which was published in 1982 by the USFWS.  Thirty years later, this book is still ’The Bible’ for fish culturists, and “Piper” remains a household name throughout the fisheries community.  In spite of the fact that there are other fish hatchery management and culture books widely available, bootleg copies of The Bible are still provided to students in fish culture courses offered around the country, and fish culturists still proudly display their ear-marked, water-logged, and duct-taped 1st editions.  Why is this manual so popular?  The answer provides a bit of insight into Bob Piper, the man.  His intent was to develop a book that would have a permanent place on the corner of every fish culturist’s desk and would be used to the point of falling apart.  Every one of us has a book shelf filled with old textbooks that were rarely used, even when they were new.  Bob was adamant that his book would not fall into that category.  He fought tooth and nail—sometimes with the other contributors!—to keep the book practical and useful.  While some argued that  conversion tables, calculations for chemical treatments, fish length-weight tables, and nomagrams of oxygen saturation values at different temperatures and altitudes were best left to computer spreadsheets, Bob knew fish culture and fish culturists and that this kind of information should always be within arm’s reach.  History has proven Bob right, as Fish Hatchery Management itself is always within arm’s reach of most practicing fish culturists and researchers.  This commitment to good science and practical guidance was also evidenced during his tenure as Editor-in-Chief of the AFS journal, The Progressive Fish Culturist (now the North American Journal of Aquaculture).  As editor, Bob’s approach was to publish scientifically-valid, statistically-defensible research based on controlled, replicated studies, as well as articles that described new techniques or procedures, modifications to equipment and other practical tips and tricks.  He always felt that this anecdotal information was, in part, the basis for improvements in fish culture.  Here again Bob fought to maintain the diversity of the PFC to ensure that it was a home to anybody with fish culture information to share.

It’s clear from these accomplishments that Bob is stalwart in his conviction to stay connected to those that get their hands wet on a daily basis. Although there are many, many fish culturists who have been blessed to cross paths with Bob and appreciate what he has done for our profession, the real privilege is taking a fish culture course where he is one of the instructors.  In 1977, he was involved in the design and development of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coldwater Fish Culture Course.  This is a course that has been taught all over the country to many hundreds of budding fish culturists and fish health biologists.  It’s a 2-week course that utilizes numerous instructors and covers virtually every aspect of salmonid culture.  I had the pleasure of taking this course nearly 20 years ago when Bob taught several modules, and I remember perusing the course syllabus and thinking, “One instructor [Bob] is going to lecture us for three straight days?”  Although I had met Bob previously, I was thinking that it was going to be a real challenge for both the instructor and students to stay engaged for the duration.  I couldn’t have been more wrong, and the 3 days spent with Bob were the highlight of the course.  With untempered enthusiasm, he presented pertinent information with the confidence of one who has ‘been there, done that.”  Since then, I’ve seen Bob teach the class to other groups of students, and each time I was left with the impression that he is truly a living legend.  Bob no longer teaches, but I still get the chance to learn from Bob and ‘recharge my batteries’ during our regular lunches.  During one such lunch shortly after I took over as President of the Fish Culture Section, he told me a story of how, years ago, a commemorative FCS belt buckle was designed and manufactured and given to past FCS Presidents and sold to others as a fund-raiser for the Section.  He then pulled out a numbered buckle and gave it to me, with pride and a smile, that another one of ‘his guys’ was stepping up to help our profession.  More recently, lunches have gotten a bit more exciting because he has learned that a group has undertaken the enormous task of updating and reissuing Piper’s Fish Hatchery Management.  The goal of this group is to ensure that the updated version is written in the same spirit of the original – to resonate with the ‘fish squeezer’ in all of us, and guide us with practical information.

Lastly, Bob has been an active member of AFS and various units for many years.  He has been a member of the Society since 1953, a member of the Fish Culture Section since 1974 and President of the Section from 1981-1982, and a member of the Bioengineering Section since 1987.  He’s been an AFS Certified Fisheries Professional since 1968, received the AFS Distinguished Service Award in 1997, and the Bioengineering Section Award of Excellence in 1991.  He was inducted into the Fish Culture Section Hall of Fame in 1990.  The long list of other ‘Piper’ accomplishments and accolades is fully described in letters of support enclosed.

Hopefully, most of us will be able to look back on our careers and point to achievements that have helped to move our individual disciplines forward.  What sets Bob apart is that he is able (though far too humble to do so) to look back on his career and see that his achievements helped move the entire fisheries field into the 21st century.  Like so many in our field, I am honored to know Mr. Robert G. Piper and to have learned much of what I know about fish culture ‘at his knee’, and am equally honored to nominate him for honorary membership in the American Fisheries Society.

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