Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 15

Biographical Summary of Report Writer

Jean Robitaille has worked in the field of ecology for 30 years. After completing graduate studies, he taught biology at the National University of Rwanda, in Central Africa. On returning to Quebec, he worked as a biologist for the provincial and federal governments and the private sector. In 1988, he founded the Bureau d’écologie appliquée, a cooperative of environmental consultants, where he still works today.

His professional activities and achievements are primarily in the areas of aquatic ecosystems and fisheries. He conducted a study of the salmon population of the Koksoak River in Nunavik. This population is characterized by the existence of a group of estuarine salmon that do not migrate to the sea. These estuarine salmon can be distinguished, in several ways, from typical salmon living in the same river that migrate to the ocean.

He has conducted several studies on the St. Lawrence River, its aquatic habitats and its fish populations. He has worked on the conservation of several species at risk in Quebec, including the American shad, striped bass, American eel, rainbow smelt and muskellunge. He is the author of a historical analysis of eel catches in the 20th century, which presented the first evidence that overfishing affects eel recruitment. Through a review of reported commercial catches along the St. Lawrence from 1945 to 1984 as well as habitat changes that occurred during that same period, he demonstrated the major impact of navigation developments on migratory fish in the estuary. Since 1989, he has written several reports on the striped bass of the St. Lawrence and is frequently consulted on this subject. He was a member of the scientific committee on the reintroduction of striped bass and made a substantial contribution to the reintroduction plan. He re-analyzed the biological data gathered between 1944 and 1962 on the St. Lawrence striped bass population, which enabled him to shed light on the circumstances leading to its disappearance.

He has long been interested in species at risk and, in 1979, he and his colleagues formed the first Quebec working group on species at risk, called the Comité pour la sauvegarde des espèces menacées au Québec (COSEMEQ). He is also a founding member and director of the Fondation Carcajou. He has been an advisor on the impact of projects on aquatic resources and, in recent years, has often served on expert panels or worked for various organizations as a scientific writer, analyst or communicator in his field of expertise and in other related fields.

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