Dr. Dayton Lee Alverson
It is with regret that we note the passing of Dayton Lee Alverson, a pioneering fisheries scientist who has frequently been mentioned on these pages.
Dr. Alverson was born in San Diego, California in 1924 and joined the U.S. Navy in 1942, where he served until 1946. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Washington’s School of Fisheries in 1966. His marine science career extended over six decades, working for state, federal and international agencies. He has published more than 150 scientific, technical papers and several books.
Of great interest to us has been his autobiography, Race to the Sea, written for his family and published in 2012.
We’ve been most interested in his early work with the Washington Department of Fisheries, during the early 1950s, when he was assigned to otter trawl investigations. He was later director of the Exploratory Fishing and Gear Research program at the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. One of the scientists who carried on his work is Bob Hitz, who has been blogging about this work.
If any of our readers have stories about Dr. Alverson and his work, we encourage you to email us.
Here are some links to our pages on Dr. Alverson:
https://carmelfinley.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1357&action=edit
http://carmelfinley.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/another-voice-from-astoria-in-1949/
http://carmelfinley.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/the-day-fishing-changed-for-american-fishermen/
It would be difficult to overstate Lee’s leadership and influence on the marine fisheries science of the Northwest. He will be missed.
A correction: The Exploratory Fishing and Gear Research Program was part of the federal Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, not the Washington State Deparment of Fisheries