Frank J. Mather papers

Frank J. Mather, III began his employment at the Institution as a Research Associate to work for Maurice Ewing in assisting Mr. Arthur Klebba as a field man in the development of a shore recording pressure wave recorder in 1945. In the late 40’s, worked as acting second mate on R/V Atlantis and on cruises on the R/V Balanus assisting Dr. Von Arx in testing the G.E.K. Frank participated in the 1948 Atlantis cruise to the Mediterranean and also in 1948 began an association with Bill Schroeder on experimental fishing cruises aboard Caryn . In 1950, Frank’s own cruiser “Black Prince” was used with Frank as Captain and Chief Scientist in an expedition to study the local fishes in connection with an archaeological expedition off the coasts of Honduras, Guatemala, and British Honduras. In September 1950, Frank was promoted to Research Associate in Engineering, in September 1951 to Research Associate in Oceanography, and in March 1964 to the scientific staff as an Associate Scientist. His research in biology includes the study of large pelagic fishes – migrations, distribution, environment, general ecology, life history and taxonomy. He is the author and co-author of more than 30 scientific publications on large pelagic fishes. In 1976, he was honored by the Sport Fishing Institute, the International Game Fish Association, and the National Coalition for Marine Conservation with an international banquet in recognition of his contributions to pelagic fish research. He has served as a scientific advisor to the United States in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas ever since its inception and is generally recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the Atlantic bluefish tuna.

[Biographical information taken from memoriam written by Charlie Innis.]