Andre Punt

André Eric Punt (born February 1965) is a South African fisheries scientist and mathematician, best known for his work on fisheries stock assessment. He received the K. Radway Allen Award in 1999 for his contributions to fisheries science.

Early years and education André Punt was born in February 1965 in Cape Town, South Africa. He attended the University of Cape Town, where he received a BSc (with Honours) in Computer Science in 1986, an MSc in Applied Mathematics in 1988, and a PhD in Applied Mathematics in 1991. As a PhD student in the late 1980s, Punt and his colleague Doug Butterworth competed in an informal competition against other international research groups to develop computer simulations that could guide quota decisions for whale harvests. Punt and his collaborators went on to produce simulations and formulae that could account for uncertainties in whale abundance data. Punt is known for his international collaborations, particularly his work with the International Whaling Commission and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.