Scott Baker Jr

Bio

Based at the UNCW Center for Marine Science in Wilmington, Scott Baker is a fisheries specialist with North Carolina Sea Grant. Through information sharing, training, and applied research projects, Baker helps members of commercial and recreational fishing communities apply sustainable fishing and best business practices that capitalize on the latest developments in fisheries research, management, and technology.

His longstanding projects include Hook, Line and Science, a weekly science series that features research of interest to saltwater anglers, and Introductory Fisheries Science for Fishers, a six-part, online class each Spring designed to educate the public about the basic concepts behind fisheries science and management.

Baker has served on a wide variety of research projects, including at-sea and dockside fisheries sampling, life history analyses of marine fishes, and testing gear designs to minimize bycatch. He also has evaluated electronic monitoring and reporting technologies in fisheries, seafood marketing, and surveys to understand the behavior and motivations of users and consumers.

Baker, former President of the American Fisheries Society Tidewater Chapter, currently serves as Chair of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Outreach and Information Advisory Panel.

A native of Washington, NC, he holds a bachelor’s in biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s in oceanography and coastal sciences from Louisiana State University. Prior to joining Sea Grant in 2003, he worked as a research associate at Louisiana State University and as a biological science technician for NOAA Fisheries in Panama City, Florida.