- Division of Marine Fisheries
In June, the Division of Marine Fisheries and the Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission bestowed the 2024 Belding Award on DMF’s Dr. Michael P. Armstrong. This award honors individuals whose work does the most to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the Commonwealth’s marine resources. Mike has achieved this status across his 30-plus years as a marine biologist and fisheries manager at DMF, were above-all he has fought the good fight for data-driven conservation and sound management.
This award was created in 1989 by Dr. David L. Belding's descendants in his memory. Over for the first half of the 20th century, Dr. Belding conducted two distinguished careers simultaneously—in human medicine and as the Commonwealth’s lead marine biologist. His wide array of research including dozens of papers on marine biology, and particularly local river herring and shellfish populations and their respective fisheries, remains continually referenced today.
Like Belding, Mike possesses incredible knowledge of vertebrate anatomy and physiology which makes him such an effective fish biology expert. As a very talented and knowledgeable fish biologist, he has overseen many Division programs: in fish biology, recreational and diadromous fisheries, and stock assessment and surveys. Mike’s passion for applied research to address fisheries management questions is evident in a long list of publications in fisheries science (both his own and his staff’s) and his endless initiatives to tackle knowledge gaps. In recent years under Mike’s leadership, DMF has worked on cod stock structure and site fidelity, assessed striped bass hook-and-release release mortality, studied black sea bass spawning behavior, and researched winter flounder spawning and habitat use. Mike has also focused attention on improving the quality of recreational data collection and catch estimation, and shaped the Division’s use of recreational permit fees to address critical recreational fisheries needs and give back to anglers with public access improvements. Mike was personally responsible for the creation of the DMF Age & Growth Lab located at DMF’s field office in Gloucester that provides fish and shellfish ageing results critical to stock assessments and which has been a major contributor to standardizing and advancing aging techniques across states. More recently, it was his vision to have in the DMF portfolio a functional marine lab with running sea water and saltwater impoundment that motivated DMF to re-acquire the Cat Cove Marine Laboratory in Salem to advance fisheries science and education and outreach to visiting scholars and the public. Mike has helped attract and develop some of the best talent in fisheries science at the Division and created partnerships with numerous institutions to increase the Division’s productivity and reach. He has served as mentor to many inside and outside of DMF, and continues to lecture university classes to produce the next wave of fact-driven fisheries scientists and managers.
Mike was also the recipient of two additional awards this spring. First, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission bestowed upon Mike the 2024 David H. Hart Award for his many notable scientific and management contributions to the betterment of the fisheries of the Atlantic coast. The Commission instituted the Hart Award in 1991, named for one of the Commission’s longest serving members, to recognize individuals who have made outstanding efforts to improve Atlantic coast marine fisheries. Second, the American Saltwater Guides Association named Mike the first-ever recipient of its new annual award to recognize individuals that embody their conservation ethos.
