Eric Smith is a retired resource manager. He was born in 1949 and grew up in Hartford, Connecticut. He liked building things in his childhood. He liked model train sets. He also enjoyed running in his early life. He was a cross country and track runner. Originally, he wanted to be a geologist. He enrolled at University of Rhode Island with the thought of getting a pathway to oceanography through geology. But it did not work that way. He then evolved into resource development and got a degree in it. He went to University of Connecticut for his masters and did his thesis on lobster behavior. This experience of knowing how to handle lobsters got him a contract job. This job involved working with lobstermen, going out on their boats, and measuring the catch. Afterwards the job turned into a different role, and he stayed with them for his whole career. He thinks that over his career there were a diversity of challenges. He acknowledges that trying to satisfy the interest of users and conserving resources at the same time are significant challenges in this profession. According to him, technological changes are the biggest change in the profession since he started. He was the assistant director of marine fisheries division at the time of the lobster die off in Long Island Sound. He was involved in the lobster monitoring program and fishery statistics. He also acknowledges that communication challenges among the fishermen was a management barrier. He cherishes the goodwill he had with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.