Edward Kilma

Location of Interview
Collection Name

Voices from the Science Centers

Description

Voices from the Science Centers is an oral history initiative dedicated to documenting the institutional knowledge of fisheries scientists and administrators in the labs of NOAA’s Fisheries Science Centers.

Collection doi
10.VSC/1234567890
Interviewer
Date of Interview
08-17-2016
Audio
Transcript
Biographical Sketch

Dr. Edward Klima was born on July 30, 1934, in Catskill, New York. He began working for the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in 1962 as a shrimp biologist. He spent time in the Panama City Lab working on gear research before moving to the Pascagoula Lab. He spent 4 years in Washington D.C. where he worked on the drafting the legislation for the 200 mile limit which became the Magnuson Stevens Act. He returned to the Galveston Lab as the Lab Director in 1977 until his retirement in 1992.

Interview contains discussion of: Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, electricity in fishing, extended jurisdiction, foreign fleets, state vs federal waters, Magnuson Stevens Act, Endangered Species Act, sea turtles, Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles, Turtle Exclusion Device, Texas Closure, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, estuarine ecology, satellite tracking, oil platforms, turtle observers, impact of government on science pre and post Magnuson Stevens Act, impact of technology on fishery science, relationship between Fishery Science Centers and Fishery Management Councils, United States Mexico fishery cooperation.

In this interview, Dr. Edward Klima gives a detailed description of his time working at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center, going into particular detail about his hand in creating the Magnuson Stevens Act, his work with sea turtles, and how the role of a 2 government scientist has changed. As of this interview in 2016, Dr. Klima was living in Stuart, Florida.


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