Several Canadian Fisheries Research Network (CFRN) associates including Ph.D. candidates, thesis advisors, graduates, project leaders, board members and collaborators attended the recent American Fisheries Society (AFS) Annual Meeting held from August 17-21, 2014 in Québec City.  

Rob McLaughlin and David Gislason at AFS (No name tag, Rob?!)

University of Guelph professor and member of CFRN Project 1.4 (known as the “Guelph Node” within the CFRN) Rob McLaughlin gave a presentation on “Controversy over Connectivity: Resolving Tensions between Restoration of Migratory Native Fishes and Control of Invasive Fishes”.

Another Project 1.4 member, Dan Duplisea of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), co-organized a well-attended symposium on Spatial Ecology of Open Systems. Fellow Project 1.4 collaborator Brian Locke of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) presented on “The Evolution of Cooperative Fisheries Management on Lake Erie through Stakeholder Engagement, Increased Transparency, and Structured Decision Analysis”.

Kevin Reid presenting in the symposium on The Next Generation of Stock Assessments

 

 

Project 1.4 and Ontario Commercial Fisheries' Association (OCFA)-sponsored Ph.D. candidate David Gislason presented some of his thesis work on the effects of harvesting on life history traits in Lake Erie Yellow perch. OCFA-sponsored Ph.D. candidate Kevin Reid gave a talk about his thesis chapter on fisheries risk assessment and communication and the value of information.

CFRN Project 3.2 (Marine Mammals) Ph.D. candidate Rachel Neuenhoff gave a presentation on “The use of Bayesian decision networks to quantify alternative management strategies for gray seals and Atlantic cod in the Gulf of St. Lawrence”. A symposium entitled Are We Still Fishing Down the Food Web? began at 08:20 with a morning keynote talk by CFRN Scientific Committee member Dr. Villy “Rock Star” Christensen on “Fishing Down through the Food Web”. In spite of the early hour, the decent-sized room for Villy’s talk was completely packed to the extent that it was a fire hazard and people were still trying to cram themselves into the room 15 minutes into his talk.

L-R: Megan Atcheson (MSC), Jay Lugar (MSC), Kevin Reid (OCFA) and Brian Locke (OMNRF) discuss MSC certification

The trade show was massive and highly varied. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) had a booth at the trade show and Brian Locke and Kevin Reid took advantage of the opportunity to discuss the MSC certification process for Lake Erie gill net Walleye and Yellow perch with MSC’s Jay Lugar and Megan Atcheson.

The entire AFS Annual Meeting was really well organized and, as the photos attest, the networking events were good opportunities to connect with new and familiar colleagues. We ran into CFRN board chair Jean-Jacques Maguire and we also encountered two of our ECOKNOWS colleagues – Martin Cryer of the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries Management and Alexei Orlov of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography based in Moscow. It really is a small world after all.

L-R: Brian Locke, Dan Duplisea and Kevin Reid at one of the AFS “Networking Events”

 

 

CFRN should take great pride in the role played by Scientific Committee member and Project 1.2 (Lobster Node) collaborator Dr. Bernard Sainte-Marie of DFO. Bernard and his co-chair, Dr. Martin Castonguay, did a superb job organizing the program and symposia.

Our apologies go to any CFRN members who we may have inadvertently omitted from this account.  Gislason and Reid extend our thanks to the Guelph Node (Project 1.4) and the OCFA for supporting our attendance at the AFS Annual Meeting.