Nice work, John–moving up to the bigtime (and to Monterey!)

Today Fish and Game Director Ryan Broddrick also announced the appointment of John Ugoretz as the department’s senior policy advisor to the MLPA (Marine Life Protection Act) Initiative. As a senior marine biologist with the Department of Fish and Game, John was responsible for the planning and management of marine protected areas throughout the state, including acting as the mandate team coordinator for the Marine Life Protection Act and Channel Islands Marine Reserves processes. In his 12 years with DFG, John has been involved in a variety of projects, including monitoring stocks of Pacific herring, SCUBA surveys of marine protected areas and rockfish in Monterey and Big Sur, coordinating the pelagic shark tagging program in Long Beach, and abalone and sea urchin monitoring and management in Santa Barbara. John is a DFG research SCUBA diver, a member of the department’s Diving Safety Board, an avid angler and spear fisherman, and a U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain.

They don’t mention, though, among his qualifications, that he used to want to grow up to be a cowboy, and insisted on being called “Bob,” because it was more of a cowboy name!