November 2, 2015 — ST. AUGUSTINE, Fl. — The following was released by the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program:
Today, Program partners of the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program’s (ACCSP) Coordinating Council (the ACCSP’s governing body), acknowledged the many accomplishments of outgoing Chair, Cheri Patterson of New Hampshire and elected Robert H. Boyles, Jr. as its new Chair.
In assuming the chairmanship, Mr. Boyles spoke eagerly about his new position, “It is with much honor that I accept the position of Chair of the Coordinating Council. To be elected by my fellow colleagues is humbling and I pledge to continue to advance the ACCSP as the principle source of dependable fisheries data on the Atlantic coast. In order to achieve this goal, I plan on guiding ACCSP through a successful governance review process to ensure that the ultimate decision is in the best interest of the Program. I also commit to working with ACCSP staff and Council members committees to upgrade ACCSP applications to the standards that our partners deserve.”
“My predecessor, Cheri Patterson, has paved a smooth path for me as I take on Chairmanship through what I know was countless hours of dedication to this Program. In two short years, Cheri has guided ACCSP through 67 recommendations that were a result of an Independent Review of the Program, ensuring that all recommendations were addressed for implementation through seven different vehicles. Additionally, Cheri oversaw a historic meeting at our last annual meeting in Mystic, Connecticut where the ACCSP’s Coordinating Council met jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Interstate Fisheries Management Program Policy Board to decide on whether both groups, working with the Atlantic states, should move forward on conducting the Access Point Angler Intercept Survey (APAIS) portion of the Marine Recreational Information Program. The result was a unanimous vote to allow for state conduct of the APAIS beginning in 2016.
Mr. Boyles currently is the Deputy Director for Marine Resources with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. In this position, Mr. Boyles oversees the State of South Carolina’s marine resources research, management, and education operations. Mr. Boyles received his B.S. in Mathematical Economics from Wake Forest University and his M.S. in Marine Policy from the University of Delaware. In 1993, Robert was a Dean John A. Knauss Sea Grant Marine Policy Fellow, where he worked for the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program.
The Coordinating Council also elected Lynn Fegley from Maryland as its Vice-Chair. Ms. Fegley is the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service Deputy Director.