Science Supporting Alaska Seafood Industry Threatened by Federal Firings, Biologists and Fishermen Say
March 12, 2025 | 1 min to read
Rebecca Howard, a marine biologist who earned her doctorate at Oregon State University, was recently hired by the NOAA for critical fishery surveys in Alaska. However, after ten months on probation, she was abruptly terminated due to a mismatch in skills with the agency’s needs. Howard expressed her deep disappointment, stating, “This is what I wanted to do," highlighting the emotional impact of losing her dream job.
Rebecca Howard is a marine biologist who spent six years in graduate school — largely funded by federal scholarship dollars — to earn a doctorate at Oregon State University. Last April, she was hired by the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries branch to join in annual surveys off Alaska that gather data vital to the management of the nation’s biggest seafood harvests.
This year, the Seattle-based Howard was scheduled to spend three weeks aboard a chartered fishing boat sampling Gulf of Alaska marine life, and another three weeks on a Bering Sea survey. But on Feb. 27, more than 10 months into a yearlong probation, she received an email from a NOAA vice admiral informing her that she was being terminated. Her ability, knowledge “and/or skills” no longer fit the agency’s needs.
“This is what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay at this job,” Howard said in an interview from Seattle, where she worked at the main branch of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “It was a huge disappointment.”
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Alaska Beacon