The Florida Chapter of the American Fisheries Society extends an invitation to join us in Jacksonville, Florida's River City, 22 to 25 February 2001 for the Southern Division American Fisheries Society's 9th Midyear Meeting. We are convening the Midyear Meeting at the downtown Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront on the St. Johns River.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS (Index)

The Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront is located on the South Bank of the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville. The Riverwalk, a 1.3-mile boardwalk along the St. Johns River, leads to several restaurants along the South Bank. Jacksonville Landing is a short walk across the Main Street Bridge or quick ride on one of the water taxis.

You can make hotel reservations by calling the Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront at (904) 398-8800 or (800) 445-8667 and request the group rate for the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. Conference rates are $82/night single through quad. You should make reservations before 15 January 2001 to ensure the conference rate and availability.

STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS (Index)

Student aid will be available for the SDAFS Midyear Meeting. The SDAFS Student Affairs Committee will have a block of rooms available for students. If you are interested in a free room, contact Bill Ensign, Dept. of Biological and Physical Sciences, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, (770) 499-3505, bensign@kennesaw.edu

STUDENT VOLUNTEERS (Index)

Registration waivers will be available for students working at the meeting, e.g. running a projector for a session or helping at the registration/information booth. Students interested in working at the meeting should contact Tom Glancy, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, The University of Florida, 7922 NW 71st Street, Gainesville, FL 32653 (352) 392-9617 ex 236, tglancy@ufl.edu.

TRANSPORTATION (Index)

Jacksonville is easily accessible by vehicle from the North or South via Interstate Highway I-95 and from the West via Interstate Highway I-10. You can find directions to the Hilton on the Southern Division (www.sdafs.org) or Florida Chapter (http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~fafs/) web sites.

The Jacksonville International Airport is located approximately 20 minutes North of downtown. Shuttle service is available from the airport to the downtown Jacksonville hotels for $18 round trip. You can purchase a ticket at the Super Shuttle booth. Please indicate your flight schedule when you purchase the ticket so the shuttle company can plan for the return trips.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car will offer meeting attendees a 10% discount on their current rates. The appropriate discount code and details on how to reserve a vehicle will be available on the Southern Division or Florida Chapter web sites.

WORKSHOPS (Index)

The Florida Chapter and Southern Division are presenting six workshops on Thursday 22 February and Friday 23 February. These workshops should be of particular interest to Certified Fisheries Scientists since they count for Professional Quality Development Points (PQDP). More detailed agendas are on the Southern Division or Florida Chapter web sites.

1. National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Region Economic and Social Impact Assessment: Theo Brainerd, John Ward, and Peter Fricke will conduct a workshop on the revised "Guidelines for Economic Analysis of Fishery Management Actions" recently approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service. They will discuss the requirements of Executive Order 12866, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, and other applicable law relevant to fishery management actions. Participants will have opportunity to discuss end products, analytical techniques, completion schedules, and regional issues relating to regulatory actions for fishery management. The workshop will review the current process for analyzing framework measures and discuss the recommended changes. National Marine Fisheries Service, Regional Fishery Management Council, and other state or federal agency economists, biologists, sociologists, and anthropologists involved with economic analyses of regulatory actions for fishery management would benefit the most from this workshop. This workshop is worth 4 PQDP.
2. Development of Instream Flow Programs in Southeast States: The Instream Flow Council has sponsored a project that reviewed current state approaches and has recommended a broader river system approach. This workshop, featuring Chuck Coomer, Gerrit Jobsis, Nina Burkardt, Clair Stalnaker, Kevin Mayes, John Kauffman, Don Orth, and Mary Freeman, will discuss recommended policies for a successful instream flow program and acceptable methodologies for determining instream flow requirements. Professionals need to consider items such as riparian maintenance, stream channel maintenance, and flood plain needs, and this workshop will provide guidance on how to do so. This workshop is worth 2 PQDP.
3. Artificial Reef Evaluation: Criteria and Methods for Documenting Performance in Southern Seas: The use of human-made reefs for a growing number of fishery and environment-related purposes is increasing in coastal waters. Professionally trained managers and scientist, citizens, and private interests use and study this technology making it somewhat unique among fishery science practices. William Seaman, Stephen Bortone, William Lindberg, Margaret Miller, J. Walter Milon, Kenneth Portier, and Peter Sheng developed this program to address reef program coordinators, agency scientists and managers, private consultants, academic faculty, and certain lay-level interests in fishing and conservation, all of whom face one central question: How effective are artificial reefs? The workshop is intended to educate attendees on interdisciplinary methods to document performance of artificial reefs in coastal and oceanic waters. Topics include (1) global reef development purposes and practices; (2) design of reef studies; (3) data analysis; (4) the toolbox of engineering, ecological and socio-economic methods; and (5) practical examples of reef evaluation in five fishery and habitat management situations. The book, Artificial Reef Evaluation, with Application to Natural Marine Habitats, W. Seaman, ed., (2000), CRC Press, ISBN 0849390613, will be used in the workshop. Participants may purchase a copy of the book at the meeting for $84.95. Be sure to indicate if you need a copy on your registration form. This workshop is worth 2 PQDP.
4. The Use of Histological Methods in Studies of Fish Reproduction: Study Design, Interpretation of Sections, and Data Analysis: Luiz Barbieri, Alan Collins, Harry Grier, Sue Lowerre?Barbieri, Bill Roumillat, Ron Taylor, Bruce Thompson, and David Wyanski are conducting a workshop for biologists along the South Atlantic and Gulf coasts who are working on fish reproduction primarily for fish stock assessments. The workshop will provide a venue for biologists to evaluate histological methods, and discuss difficulties encountered in conducting studies of fish reproduction. Topics to be discussed include: objectives and design of histological studies; postovulatory follicle (POF) degeneration; histological artifacts due to decay or freezing; histological features for distinguishing immature and resting gonads; identification of sex transition in protogynous hermaphrodites; oocyte atresia; and ovary/testis maturity stages. Results from a long-term snapper/grouper study in the northern Gulf of Mexico will be also presented and discussed in light of the topics listed above. This workshop is worth 2 PQDP.
5. Conflict Resolution in Fishery Management: The Warmwater Streams Committee is sponsoring a workshop, instructed by Lee Lamb, covering information on the proper methods to resolve conflicts concerning multiple uses of natural resources. The workshop will include practical examples from such areas as hydropower, fish management, and endangered species. This workshop is worth 2 PQDP.
6. Urban Fishing Program Techniques: The Small Impoundments Committee is sponsoring a workshop of urban fishing program development and evaluation. Dr. Tony Fedler will discuss information on Urban fishing program goals, objectives, and issues, identification of program markets and market research methods, program design and evaluation methods, and methods for building and expanding programs. This workshop is worth 2 PQDP and has been approved by the American Council on Education for 0.3 continuing education units (CEUs) as AFS course #0086. The necessary forms to register for CEUs will be available at the meeting.

Preliminary Meeting Schedule (Index)

Thursday 22 February
08:00 - 17:00 Largemouth bass viral disease workshop sponsored by BASS
08:00 - 17:00 NMFS Economics Training Workshop
08:00 - 17:00 Instream Flow Committee
08:00 - 17:00 Pollution Committee
08:00 - 17:00 Reservoir Committee
08:00 - 17:00 Warmwater Streams Committee
13:00 - 17:00 Aquaculture Committee
13:00 - 17:00 Nongame Aquatics
13:00 - 17:00 Small Impoundments
13:00 - 17:00 Striped Bass Committee

Friday 23 February
08:00 - 12:00 SDAFS Executive Committee
08:00 - 17:00 Histology/Reproduction Workshop
08:00 - 12:00 Artificial Reef Workshop
08:00 - 12:00 Conflict Resolution Workshop
13:00 - 17:00 Instream Flow Workshop
13:00 - 17:00 Urban Fishing Program Workshop
13:00 - 17:00 Student Workshop
13:00 - 17:00 AFS Leadership Training
13:00 - 17:00 Socioeconomic Section Meeting
17:00 - 18:30 Florida Chapter AFS Meeting
17:00 - 18:30 Fish Management Section Meeting
19:00 - 21:00 Student Mixer Social

Saturday 24 February
08:00 - 09:15 General Session/Business Meeting
09:40 - 17:00 Poster Session
09:40 - 17:00 Fish Attracting Devices (FADS): Science and Management Issues
09:40 - 12:00 Contributed Paper Sessions
09:40 - 12:00 Dam Removal Issues in the Southeast
13:00 - 17:00 Contributed Paper Sessions
13:00 - 17:00 Fisheries Management: Socioeconomic Considerations
13:00 - 17:00 Setting the Limits: Bag and Size Regulations in Coastal Marine Fisheries
19:00 - 21:00 Social

Sunday 25 February
07:00 - 09:00 Fellowship of Christian Conservationists
08:00 - 12:00 Poster Session
08:00 - 12:00 Contributed Paper Sessions

AFS Leadership Training (Index)

Leadership training is critically important to achieving success as a leader in AFS. Our members expect AFS leaders to respond to their concerns and needs. This workshop will show you shortcuts in meeting those challenges. Moreover, effective leadership is crucial to the professional development of all members, to our stature and visibility as reliable sources of science-based conservation and management information, and to our success as stewards of sustainable aquatic resources. This session will give each of you a unique opportunity to meet, connect with, and share ideas with other Society leaders. The workshop=s goal is to enhance your leadership skills and to give you, the member or unit officer, some of the tools you will need to be an effective leader, both inside and outside of AFS. The potential speakers include Carl Burger, Larry Olmstead, Lisa Deener, Mick Porter, and, one you will not want to miss, Pure Fishing's Jim Martin. This workshop is worth 2 PQDP.

Student Workshop (Index)

The Southern Division Student Affairs Committee and the Florida Chapter will organize a workshop oriented toward student concerns. The consensus among the students involved with this workshop is to cover job related information. Currently they are planning to invite representatives from state and federal agencies, universities, and the private sector to discuss what job skills they are looking for, what to expect from a career in their sector, and other information for students looking to turn their degrees into employment.

Car Rental (Index)

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has extended a 10% discount off their normal rates for those desiring a rental car. The discount is good for all Northeast Florida locations. You can get the discounted rate by identifying yourself as a Corporate Account member and give the Enterprise representative our ID number, N43898.

You can reserve a vehicle by calling (800) RENT-A-CAR (736-8222) and select option 2. Then press (904) 741-4326 for the Jacksonville International Airport location and give them the customer ID number (N43898) to reserve a vehicle at the discounted rates.