September 16, 2016

IFW News -- Dave Boucher, Fisheries Biologist, Awarded Department?s Highest Honor Posthumously

AUGUSTA, Maine ? David Boucher, fisheries biologist, author and division supervisor, was posthumously awarded the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Kenneth Anderson Award. IFW Commissioner Chandler Woodcock presented the award to Dave?s wife Christa earlier today in Augusta.

?The Anderson Award is presented to a member of the Department who has made exemplary contributions towards the enhancement of the states? fish and wildlife resources,? said Chandler Woodcock. ?Over a career that spanned 30 years, Dave made a lasting impact on the state?s trout and salmon, and numerous individuals.?

Dave began his career as a student research assistant for IFW while he was at the University of Maine in the early 1980s. After short stints at IFW?s Palermo Fish Hatchery and the Department of Environmental Protection, Dave was hired as an assistant regional fisheries biologist in the Belgrade Lakes Region in 1988, where he worked until he transferred to the Rangeley Lakes region in 1995.

In his 17 years in the Rangeley Lakes region, Dave became well known for protecting and enhancing the area?s trout and salmon fisheries. In 2006, he coauthored ?Maine Landlocked Salmon: Life History, Ecology and Management.? During that time, Dave also directed the fisheries dive team, and was the Department?s lead researcher on landlocked salmon.

In 2012, Dave was promoted to Fisheries Management Supervisor in Augusta where he oversaw fisheries management for the seven regions of the state, assisted regional biologists in the field, and helped craft fisheries policy.

?I have long known Dave?s work from living and fishing in the western Maine area. His professionalism and commitment made a substantial, enduring effect on the state?s fisheries resources, the people he worked with, and the public,? said Woodcock. ?He is well-deserving of the Department?s highest honor, and we are very pleased to be able to recognize Dave for his outstanding work.?

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