Charles H. Lyles/Lyles-Simpson Award


Charles H. Lyles
Larry B. Simpson

The Charles H. Lyles Award was awarded from 1984 to 2013 by the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC) to an individual, agency, or organization which has contributed to the betterment of the fisheries of the Gulf of Mexico through significant biological, industrial, legislative, enforcement, or administrative activities. The Commissioners have, since 1984, selected eminently qualified individuals active in marine fisheries whose careers and contributions to Gulf fisheries are worthy to be labeled "fishery giants." Membership in this elite club is composed of Congressmen, scientists, administrators, enforcement, businessmen, and fishermen from both recreational and commercial industries.

Open nominations by the full Commission are made during the annual business meeting, and selection is by secret ballot receiving the highest number of votes. The recipient is honored during the Commission’s Annual Meeting in October.

In 2014 the award was renamed the Lyles-Simpson Award in recognition of Larry B. Simpson, Charlie's successor, who served as Executive Director of the Commission from 1983 until his death in 2013.

Charles H. Lyles Award Recipients
Charles H. Lyles 1984 Theodore B. Ford 1985
J.Y. Christmas 1986 John Breaux 1987
John Ray Nelson 1988 I.B. "Buck" Byrd 1989
Hugh A. Swingle 1990 John A. Mehos 1991
J. Burton Angelle 1992 Louis A. Villanova 1993
Theodore H. Shepard 1994 Edwin A. Joyce, Jr. 1995
Tommy D. Candies 1996 Walter M. Tatum 1997
Thomas L. Heffernan 1998 U.S. Senator Trent Lott 1999
James M. Barkuloo 2000 Walter W. Fondren, III 2001
Jerald K. Waller 2002 Andrew J. Kemmerer 2003
Hal R. Osburn 2004 Leroy Kiffe 2005
Robert P. Jones 2006 Wayne E. Swingle 2007
Ralph Rayburn 2008 William S. "Corky" Perret 2009
Albert L. King, Sr. 2010 Virgina A. Vail 2011
R. Vernon Minton 2012 Larry B. Simpson 2013
Lyles-Simpson Award Recipients
Michael C. Voisin 2014 Ellie F. Roche 2015
Michael S. Ray 2016 Joseph I. Gill 2017
Christopher M. Blankenship 2018 William Borden Wallace 2019
Harriet MacGill Perry 2020 COVID-19 2021
Thomas David McIlwain 2022 Joseph Albert Shepard 2023

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Get in Touch

  • Phone:
    (228) 875 5912
  • Email:
    info@gsmfc.org
  • Address:
    2404 Government Street
    Ocean Springs, MS 39564