William Seaman, Jr

William Seaman, Jr.

Professor Emeritus

Ph.D., Zoology, 1972, University of Florida

M.S., Zoology, 1968, University of Florida

B.S., Vertebrate Zoology, 1966, Cornell University

Bill Seaman is Professor Emeritus and a founding member of the Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences department. Dr. Seaman’s research and technology transfer emphasis has been on coastal fishes, habitats and fisheries. He has contributed to developing the scientific basis for design of artificial reefs, their responsible use in fisheries and ecosystem management, and multi-disciplinary evaluation of their performance, in Florida and internationally. He established and taught for 10 years the Department’s first fishery science course. Seaman was an invited organizer and lecturer for the European Union-sponsored short course “Design and Management of Artificial Reefs for Fisheries,” attended by 28 professionals from 13 countries, in Zaragoza, Spain (May 2007), the first such program in the world. He is an invited speaker at the 2008 World Fisheries Congress.

Dr. Seaman is a Certified Fisheries Scientist of the American Fisheries Society (AFS), a former president of the Florida Chapter of AFS, and an elected Fellow of the American Institute of Fisheries Research Biologists. He has held sabbatical research appointments at the University of Hawaii and the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. As an undergraduate, his inspiration to work with fishes came from Edward Raney, the colorful and legendary mentor for a generation of U.S. ichthyologists. His graduate major professor was the renowned Carter Gilbert.

Additional service to the University of Florida included associate directorship of the Florida Sea Grant College Program (until 2006), with responsibility for extensive grantsmaking and managing statewide research, education and extension aimed at sustainable conservation and use of coastal and ocean resources; see website www.flseagrant.org . He founded the Florida Marine Biotechnology Summit series, the only forum of its kind in the nation, and chaired the first five events. He has served on review panels for the National Science Foundation and is a former editor of the North American Journal of Fisheries Management.

E-mail: seaman@ufl.edu

Curriculum Vitae Includes all publications (as of October, 2007)

Selected Publications

Seaman, W., and W. J. Lindberg. In press. Artificial Reefs. in: Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, Elsevier.

Seaman, W. 2007. Artificial habitats and the restoration of degraded marine ecosystems and fisheries. Hydrobiologia 580: 143-155. PDF.

Seaman, W. 2004. Florida coastal county artificial reef program habitat assessment practices. Florida Sea Grant Extension Bulletin SGEB-58. PDF.

Pitcher, T.J., and W. Seaman, Jr. 2000. Petrarch's Principle: how protected human-made reefs can help the reconstruction of fisheries and marine ecosystems. Fish and Fisheries 1: 73-81. PDF

Seaman, W., Jr., editor. 2000. Artificial reef evaluation -- with application to natural marine habitats. CRC Press, Boca Raton. xi+ 246 pp. PDF -front and back covers only

Humphreys, J., S. Franz and B. Seaman. 1993. Florida's estuaries: A citizen's guide to coastal living and conservation. Florida Sea Grant Extension Bulletin 23. (Color Bulletin. PDF files in 5 parts - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.)

Seaman, W., Jr., editor. 1985. Florida aquatic habitat and fishery resources. Florida Chapter of the American Fisheries Society. Kissimmee, Florida. 542 pp.

	European Union-sponsored short course "Design and Management of Artificial Reefs for Fisheries," attended by 28 professionals from 13 countries, in Zaragoza, Spain (May 2007)
	Rod-and-reel sampling should be part of every fish scientist's tool box of methods. This spotted seatrout was the sole catch in a graduate student-guided trip to Cedar Key.
	In recent years, a growing number of obsolete offshore oil and gas production platforms have been redeployed as artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico - resulting in new opportunities for scientific study. A FAS departmental team field study, conducted off south Florida, resulted in the collection of much quantitative information about how fish species utilize these structures. Nesting sites for damselfish, shelter for spiny lobster, attachment surface for bivalves, and behavioral reference points for pelagic species are ways these reefs are being put to use by a myriad of marine species.
	One of FAS' most active international networks concerns artificial reefs and related benthic marine habitats, with ongoing leadership to organize conferences and collaboration with colleagues in other world centers of research and education. Shown here are UF's Dr. Bill Seaman and Dr. Hiroshi Kakimoto who collaborated on an unprecedented Japan /US reef science symposium, held in Japan (1991).

Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 7922 NW 71st St., Gainesville, FL 32653
UF PO: 110600 Phone: 352/392-9617 Fax: 352/392-3672

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Updated October 9, 2007