B.A.S.S. partner honored for fisheries service

Jim Martin, the conservation director for the Berkley Conservation Institute, has been selected as one of four Alumni Association Fellows at Oregon State University.

Jim Martin, the conservation director for the Berkley Conservation Institute, has been selected as one of four Alumni Association Fellows at Oregon State University. He will be honored in a formal ceremony Nov. 4.

“Jim Martin very much deserves this distinction and honor from his alma mater,” said Noreen Clough, national conservation director for B.A.S.S. “He has done so much throughout his distinguished career to keep sportfishing top of mind in encouraging sound fisheries management. Anglers across this country are in his debt.”

Martin was nominated by Dr. Dan Edge from the school’s Fisheries & Wildlife department. “Jim is an international leader in fish conservation and is well-deserving of this award,” said Edge in his nomination letter.

As Berkley’s conservation director, Martin assists state and federal agencies around the country in developing conservation programs. He also serves as an inspirational speaker for state and federal agency employees throughout the country.

Martin retired in 1999 after 30 years with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), according to the Ole-Tilakum, an ODFW newsletter. During his career with ODFW, he spent six years as chief of fisheries and three years as salmon adviser to Gov. John Kitzhaber. Martin led the team that developed the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, which is still the national standard for citizen-based conservation efforts and continues to guide salmon and watershed conservation in Oregon 12 years later.

Martin was most recently chairman of the board of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a national coalition of hunting, fishing and conservation organizations dedicated to the stewardship of America’s landscape. He is also the science and policy adviser for the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.

Other honors for Martin include Distinguished Graduate of the OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and Distinguished Service Award from the American Fisheries Society. He has also been inducted into the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences Hall of Fame and the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

Martin holds a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and a master’s degree in fisheries from Oregon State University.