As many of you will already know, the Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association (OCFA) is a founding and active member of the Canadian Fisheries Research Network (CFRN). The OCFA is the only fishing industry in the Network that is co-sponsoring four PhD students. These University of Guelph students are currently engaged in research on Great Lakes fisheries issues under the direction of CFRN Project 1.4 leader Dr. Tom Nudds. Visit the CFRN website for more details on the Network and Project 1.4.

In early June, a delegation from the CFRN travelled to Finland to participate in the final symposium of the ECOKNOWS project and to attend a joint ECOKNOWS/CFRN workshop after the symposium. ECOKNOWS is a European Union sponsored project involving the integration of ecological knowledge, including stakeholder knowledge, into stock assessments and fisheries management. Hosted by the Fisheries and Environmental Management group at the University of Helsinki, the symposium, held in historic Porvoo, Finland, was the final wrap-up meeting for the ECOKNOWS project.

OCFA Assessment Manager Kevin Reid was part of a 10 person delegation from Canada. Other members of the CFRN delegation included Dr. Ashleen Benson (UNB), David Decker (FFAW), Andrew Edwards (DFO), Danielle Edwards (UBC), Mike Hawkshaw (UBC), Dr. Murdoch McAllister (UBC), Jim McIsaac (T. Buck Suzuki), Ben Nelson (UBC) and Dr. Robert Stephenson (CFRN). Kevin presented some of his research on Lake Erie pickerel and Lake Nipigon whitefish and helped out his University of Helsinki colleagues by chairing a couple sessions at the symposium. Ashleen, Andrew, Mike, Murdoch, and Ben also gave presentations on their research and Robert Stephenson provided a keynote presentation that placed the ECOKNOWS project in context by looking at the developments and progress related to the integration of ecological knowledge into risk assessments at the ecosystem level over the past 30 years and by looking forward at outstanding questions and issues.

You can find more information about ECOKNOWS and the symposium, including the abstracts of the research that was presented at ECOKNOWS, at: http://www.ices-ecoknows.eu/.