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Standing on the chilly deck of a fishing boat off the coast of Alaska, lifelong angler Kamran Walsh saw firsthand how entire coastal communities rely on healthy fisheries.  

Today, more than three thousand miles away in New Bedford, MA, the nation’s top commercial fishing port, Walsh is a PhD student at ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ’s School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST).  Originally from Portland, Oregon, Walsh joined SMAST in 2023 after earning his BS and MS from the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Now working in Dr. Gavin Fay’s lab, Walsh leverages fishing industry experience and advanced computational tools to improve recreational fisheries management.  

Turning a passion for fishing into a career in marine science 

"I have always been an avid fisherman and used to work in the fishing industry in Alaska," Walsh said. "The town I worked in was very small, and nearly all of its residents were connected in some way to commercial, recreational, or subsistence fisheries. Seeing the importance of healthy fisheries and sound management to real people solidified my interest in pursuing fisheries research."

Walsh turned his attention to recreational fisheries and found SMAST to be the perfect fit for his research interests. "I wanted to pursue a PhD to gain the skills needed to contribute to meaningful fisheries and ecosystem management, and ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ’s SMAST’s focus on applied fisheries research really stood out to me." 

Rod, reel, and supercomputer: The surprising science behind your weekend catch 

"A lot of people think that recreational fishing has minimal impacts on marine fish populations compared to commercial fishing, but for many species recreational fishing accounts for large contributions to overall catch that sometimes even exceed those from commercial fishing. Recreational fishing is also economically important for coastal towns and communities, including many throughout southern New England.  

"Most of the work that I’ve done since joining SMAST has focused on a management strategy evaluation (MSE) for the recreational summer flounder fishery, one of the Northeast’s most economically important recreational fisheries. An MSE is a modeling framework that simulates all components of the fishery and fishery management process, allowing scientists and managers to assess how different management strategies are expected to perform before implementing them in the real world.  

"I’ve been using the MSE to test the outcomes of different fishing regulations on the biological and socioeconomic performance of the fishery. I’ve also been analyzing how these outcomes change depending on how healthy the flounder population is when the regulations are first implemented, and building a simpler, faster version of a computer model that helps predict how fishing regulations affect harvest." 

As an SMAST graduate student, Walsh has also had access to advanced research resources like the to run simulations faster and make results more readily available to fisheries managers. 

What do you like most about SMAST?   

"I think it’s important for fisheries scientists to engage with their local communities and be involved with what’s going on in their backyards, and SMAST’s faculty, students, and staff have a long history of contributing to regional fisheries management. 

"In addition to the school’s strong focus on applied research relevant to regional fisheries management needs, I think one of the best things about SMAST is its supportive, close-knit student community. Some graduate programs have a reputation for being competitive or even cutthroat, and I really like that SMAST is the opposite. We achieve more in science when we support one another!" 

When he’s not running simulations, presenting at symposiums, or working on other research projects, Walsh is exactly where he started: on the water, fishing rod in hand.  

"I think one of the best things about SMAST is its supportive, close-knit student community. Some graduate programs have a reputation for being competitive or even cutthroat, and I really like that SMAST is the opposite. We achieve more in science when we support one another!"