In his new role (effective Jan. 22, 2018, see news story below) as Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Fisheries Office, Mike will head the agency’s regional office, which has responsibility for managing approximately 100,000 square miles of the Northwest Atlantic, the large marine ecosystem from Maine to Cape Hatteras and the Great Lakes.
Prior to his new appointment Michael Pentony served as the Assistant Regional Administrator for Sustainable Fisheries at the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office in Gloucester, Mass. In that capacity, Mike managed a staff of fisheries professionals who support the work of the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Mike’s staff prepare and implement regulations established under fourteen fishery management plans by the two Council and the Commission. Prior to 2014, Mike served for 12 years as a team supervisor in the Sustainable Fisheries Division and oversaw the development and implementation of actions supporting the Monkfish, Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass, Atlantic Bluefish, Spiny Dogfish, Golden Tilefish, Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog, Deep-Sea Red Crab, Small-Mesh Multispecies, Skates, Atlantic Salmon, and Atlantic Lobster FMPs.
Before joining the National Marine Fisheries Service, Mike worked for four years as a policy analyst for the New England Fishery Management Council, primarily on issues related to habitat, marine protected areas, and the deep-sea red crab fishery.
Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a Master’s of Environmental Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Between college and graduate school (and after a year skiing in Aspen, Colorado), Mike served for 6 years as an officer in the United State Air Force.