Ricks E Savage Award Recipient Dr. Mark Terceiro
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council has named Dr. Mark Terceiro, long-time fisheries scientist with NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), as the recipient of the Council’s Ricks E Savage award. The award was established in 2006 and is given each year to an individual who has added value to the Council process and management goals through significant scientific, legislative, enforcement, or management activities.
The Council selected Dr. Terceiro for the award in recognition of his significant scientific contributions in his role as lead assessment biologist for several Council-managed species. The award was presented to Dr. Terceiro during the August 2023 Council Meeting held in Annapolis, Maryland.
Dr. Terceiro joined the NEFSC’s Population Dynamics Branch in 1986 after receiving his B.S. degree in zoology and Ph.D. in biological oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. For nearly his entire career, he has served as the lead assessment biologist for summer flounder, a species that supports economically and socially important commercial and recreational fisheries throughout the region. He also served as the lead assessment biologist for bluefish early in his career and as the lead assessment biologist for scup since the early 2000s.
“Mark has patiently, consistently, and effectively explained complex assessment results to Council members and the public,” said Mike Luisi, former Council Chair. “He has worked tirelessly to improve the science that supports the management process, and the Council has benefitted from his long tenure with the Science Center.”
Dr. Terceiro has been a member of the Council’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Monitoring Committee for much of his career. He captured his vast institutional knowledge of the history of science, management, and politics of this fishery in “The Summer Flounder Chronicles,” a three-part series published in the journal Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.
NEFSC leadership also expressed appreciation for Dr. Terceiro’s scientific contributions. “Mark has been steadfast in his stock assessment duties, and his knowledge of Mid-Atlantic stock assessments is without equal,” said Jon Hare, NEFSC Science and Research Director. “This award is well-deserved.”