Author
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Mitchell, Andrew |
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Submitted to: Fish Health Newsletter
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2008 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: This article was written to acquaint the readers with a remarkable person in field of fish health. Dr. Stanislaus F. Snieszko, commonly referred to as “Doc”, was the Director (1946-1972) of the world renowned Eastern Fish Disease Laboratory, Leetown, West Virginia. He died in 1984, therefore few that are presently in the field of fish health appreciate his contributions and still fewer have had the opportunity to personally meet this amazing man. Dr. Snieszko’s career extended from the early1930s to 1984 and he is credited with bringing fish health in America into the modern era of medicine. “Doc’s” work expanded the scope and understanding of fish diseases beyond that held in the mid-1940s, and the predominate parasitological view of that day was permanently shifted to encompass other etiological agents and environmental factors. He was one of the first to use antibiotics on fish and to promote an understanding of how the environment impacts the health of fish. He was not only a great scientist but also a tremendous teacher and communicator. “Doc”, along with his very capable staff, trained and mentored fish biologists of the USFWS who later established the Hatchery Biologist System. That system served as a model for fish disease diagnostic and certification programs of today. He trained the people who formed the Fish Health Section of the American Fisheries Society. Dr. Snieszko was a people-person who also loved animals and music. He was a highly respected and recognized fish health authority who gave as much of himself to one as he did to a group of a hundred. His close friends knew him as the “consummate gentleman” and always referred to him as “Doc”. |
