Fisheries Management Section

2012 Fisheries Management Section Annual Business Meeting

Download a print version of the minutes here

August 19^th, St. Paul, MN

The joint meeting with the Fisheries Administration Section (FAS) began at 2:45 PM, with Doug Nygren (President FAS) and President Dirk Miller (FMS) presiding.  AFS President Bill Fisher provided remarks, first about the Fisheries Professional Salary Survey conducted by Responsive Management this past year.  Prior to its release, a small committee made up of members from FAS, FMS, AFS Membership Concerns Committee and the AFS Excom worked to craft the survey to make sure the questions were clear and responses were appropriate to the different categories of professionals employed.   Responses from state agencies has been very good, a little less from the federal agencies, but also included for the first time non-governmental entities as well.  The second topic was the policy statement on lead in sport fishing tackle.  It has had several drafts and reviews to date, with the latest version published in Fisheries with a 60 day comment period.  This statement has now been revised and approved by the Governing Board to go before the membership.  The final topic is the transition to a new AFS Executive Director; Gus has been with us for 13 years and has done a wonderful job of righting our financial ship.  A search committee headed by incoming AFS President John Boreman is already active, and hopes to have the final slate of candidates at the mid-year Governing Board meeting, with a selection in place by next year’s annual meeting in Little Rock.   Bill then thanked the host committee for all their efforts in pulling off a great meeting in light of the many challenges faced with staffing and federal travel restrictions. Dirk Miller asked about the Governing Board retreat entitled “Re-imagining AFS”.  The changing face of professional societies was discussed to determine how AFS can stay relevant to our members, which resulted in some deep discussions and soul searching on how we can better serve our members now and in the future.

Jim Gregory, Vice-Chair of the Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM) addressed the group about our exchange program with FAS and FMS, and the current activities of IFM.  Jim first reiterated the importance and benefits to IFM of the exchange and thanked our members for their support of the program.  IFM is also primarily a volunteer driven organization with about 5,000 members in the UK and Ireland that work towards the modern sustainable management of recreational and commercial fisheries.   At this year’s annual meeting in Oxford, they established a conservation network and held workshops and training coursed for their members. Doug Nygren reiterated the warm reception he received during his visit and encouraged others to engage Jim during his visit.  Dirk concurred that the IFM are very gracious hosts.

Ron Essig provided an update on Thursdays Symposium celebrating the 75^th anniversary of the Pittman-Robertson Act which was the genesis of the Federal Aid Programs for Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration.  A full day of presentations with opening talks focusing on the history behind the founding act and the Wallop-Breaux legislation, state agency project presentations, and winding up with a perspective from the industry.  Ron thanked both sections for sponsoring the symposium and Doug Nygren and Bob Curry for co-organizing the presentation.

Scott Stuewe addressed the group with an update on HAMAR (formerly known as PFIRM 2) which stands for “Hatcheries and Management of Aquatic Resources”, an effort jointly supported by FAS and FMS. At their last organizational meeting the steering group decided that changing the name was appropriate in an effort to instill the value of hatcheries and their importance to management efforts.  Still trying to decide when and where to hold a symposium, but Little Rock with a special issue in an AFS Journal resulting from the meeting is likely.  Don MacKinley and Jesse Trushenski will be co-chairs organizing the meeting.  In preparation, a survey is being prepared to determine the issues that should be addressed at the symposium. Gary Whelan added that two symposia is still a possibility, and that the AFS Management Committee has also committed $5,000 in seed money.

Mike Allen gave a quick update on the progress of the upcoming publication “Foundations of Fisheries Science”.  He and Greg Sass are the organizers, and have reviewed the results of the 120 survey responses they received, have selected which papers are to be included in the publication, are writing the preface and are now getting copyright permissions for the selected publications.  Mike once again thanked the sections for their support of the project.

The joint meeting was concluded.

Call to Order

President Dirk Miller called the annual business meeting of the Fisheries Management Section to order at 3:19 PM (68 signed the attendance sheet).  Dirk recognized Jim Gregory from IFM and AFS President Bill Fisher, both had addressed the group during the joint session so we saved some time by not asking them to present again.  FMS Past Presidents in attendance were Steve Filipek, Jeff Boxrucker, Dave Willis and Ron Essig, AFS Past President Carl Burger was also recognized and thanked for their leadership roles.   Dirk then thanked the membership for his opportunity to serve, and challenged everyone to get involved in one facet or another.  A question from the membership asked about Dirk’s take on the Governing Board Retreat, and Dirk responded that the consultant challenged them through several brainstorming sessions to take a hard look at the governance structure, strategic plan and technology to make sure the Society is keeping itself relevant to its membership.  The consultant noted that a good association has a competency based board of 5 people, while AFS has 35+ on its Governing Board.  The discussion of what determining factors could be used for the competency based portion was the most controversial.  No immediate large scale changes were predicted by Dirk. 

Reports

Secretary/Treasurer Mark Porath asked for comments on last year’s Business Meeting Minutes that were posted on the FMS webpage last January.  With no comments, the minutes were approved by acclamation.  Mark then presented a financial summary of FMS transactions since last year’s meeting.  A slight increase was realized due to the timing of receiving AFS book royalty checks.  Jeff Boxrucker provided a recap of a similar situation in previous years when the fund balance rose to $20,000, they worked hard to spend it down to $10,000.  He recommended worthy projects be found and apply our current healthy balance to them.  Dirk commented that while no grant applications were received this year, it still falls on the leadership to find worthy projects and so Jeff’s comments are duly noted.  An audience member asked if monies could be provided towards next year’s meeting in Little Rock, and Dirk responded that any and all applications received through the webpage would be considered.

Newsletter Editor Quinton Phelps displayed the FMS t-shirts created last year and announced that a wide variety of sizes were still available for sale. 

Webmaster Travis Neebling was unable to attend, but Dirk shared that he had spoken with Travis who was excited to begin reworking the webpage content and welcomed any thoughts, ideas and content from the membership.  

Urban and Community Fisheries Management Committee Co-chair Tom Lang moved that the committee be dissolved.  With no discussion a voice vote approved the dissolution of this special committee.

Awards

President Elect Brian Graeb presented a Conservation Achievement Award to Musky’s Inc. and Musky’s Canada.  Sean Landsman and Steven Cooke had worked with both organizations recently and nominated them for the award.  Sean reported that these organizations are very similar with nearly identical mission statements.  Musky’s Canada has raised over $100,000 to restore natural populations and works extensively with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.  Musky’s Inc. works to raise money to support propagation efforts with state hatcheries (purchase of feed, tagging, brood stock collection).  Both work extensively to benefit their communities through habitat improvement projects and sponsorship of youth and veteran fishing events.   Steven mentioned that these two groups work together quite frequently and therefore a joint nomination and award seemed fitting.   Jay Zahn accepted on behalf of Musky’s Inc, and Ian Young on behalf of Musky’s Canada.

President Elect Brian Graeb then presented the Award of Excellence to Dr. Dave Welch for his career in advancing fisheries management of aquatic resources in our world’s oceans.  His innovations in pacific salmon and electronic tagging of migratory fish, led to the widespread use of large scale telemetry arrays which are now being used extensively to track salmon populations in the Pacific Ocean shelf tracking project. Due to his efforts we now have a much better understanding of mortality rates and spatial ecology of many populations of wild fish from Australia to the Artic. Dr. Welch could not attend but Steven Cooke accepted on his behalf.  Steve began by sharing that Dr. Welch was a frustrated research scientist with DFO and quit his position to start his own company to focus on the development of large scale arrays to answer management questions, realizing that telemetry would be a key tool in unlocking the answers.  Somewhat ironically, the products he developed are now routinely used by his former employer.  Steve read a portion of Dr. Welch’s thank you note “I’m deeply honored and very grateful for this award.  I hope that the decision to award it to someone who has straddled the quantitative stock assessment and the climate/environmental change divide for several decades, will now lend both moral force and professional support of my peers and my personal conviction, that effective fisheries management in the face in what is likely going to be a very severe climate change.  Is going to require new tools and new ways of thinking.  Classical fisheries management has been likened to driving down the highway while looking in the rear view mirror to measure where we have been and using those measurements of the past to forecast the road ahead.  Increasing climate change is going to make for even sharper curves in that road, and I believe it is imperative that we develop new quantitative tools to better measure and understand how the survival of fish stocks is determined and what is the cause.  This is not just an academic endeavor, millions of dollars of economic input to the GDP of both the US and Canada may depend on our science and management of getting it right.” “…to conclude, your decision to give the Award of Excellence in fisheries management means a great deal to me personally, and gives me a renewed confidence that my world view has broader support and that the work required to design and develop these new systems is worthwhile.  Again, truly, truly grateful.”  Steve then encouraged the membership to provide nominations for these worthy awards, stating the procedure is not onerous and there are many desiring individuals out there, many in this room.

President Elect Brian Graeb then presented the final award.  Dr. Phil Bettoli is inducted into the Hall of Excellence (HOE).  Dr. Bettoli could not be present, so Brian read a summary of the language emblazoned on his plaque to hang in the Hall of Excellence housed in the Aksarben Aquarium in Gretna, Nebraska.  Brian read the following; “Phil is currently the assistant unit leader for the Tennessee Cooperative Fisheries Research Unit and has served in that capacity since 1999.  Since 1987 he has been a faculty member of the department of biology at Tennessee Tech University.  And is currently a professor of biology.  He received his B.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Maine in 1977, his M.S. in Biology from Tennessee Tech in 1979, and his PhD in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M in 1987.  Throughout his professional career, Phil has been focused on fisheries management oriented research.  Many of his projects have shaped fisheries management policies of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and the water management strategy of the TVA and the USACE.  He has consistently conveyed his results to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, local angling groups and commercial fisherman, and to the public through numerous interviews on local and national media outlets.  Since 1990, Phil has authored or co-authored over 70 publications with the majority of these being published in AFS journals.  And as part of AFS Phil has served in several capacities, he is past president of the Tennessee Chapter, served as Program Chair for the 2007 SDAFS Meeting and Program Co-chair of the 2009 AFS Annual Meeting.  His professional service and outstanding research have resulted in the Outstanding Achievement Award from the SDAFS in 2007, and he was recognized by the Tennessee Chapter as the Outstanding Fisheries Scientist for 1997.”  Brian mentioned that Phil’s nomination was assembled by his students and this sentence really rang true, “The ultimate product of Phil’s career has been his students, he has mentored over 50 graduate students to date.  These students have been well prepared for the natural resources careers and consistently demonstrate that preparation they received from working with Phil.  The effects of his mentorship will continue to be felt for many years throughout the agencies, universities where his students are employed and continue to advance.”   Jeff Boxrucker commented how important it was to recognize the university professors that have been leaders in fisheries management.  Tom Lang requested that all HOE members present in the audience stand up to be recognized.   The membership then thanked them for their contributions with a round of applause.  President Graeb remarked that this recognition of HOE attendees should continue at future meetings.   

Old Business

Scott Bonar provided a progress report from the Standard Sampling Database Project, giving a .ppt demonstration/presentation on the database mechanics.  A symposium on the topic is scheduled for Thursday, and the model is on display booth at the Trade Show to receive comments on the project.  Scott mentioned the project has spawned some overseas interest in the project, including from Mexico, Scotland, Russia, Mongolia, the British Isles and Europe.   Scott asked for the blessing of the FMS to begin talking with international interests to share the database outputs and project.  Nigel Lester from Canada, Ian Winfield from the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, Norm Mercado from the University of Guadalajara and the University of Arizona, were introduced to speak towards this amount of interest. Interests were rooted in standardization and calibration techniques and validation.   Scott reiterated that individual data sets are still protected, as that is a sensitive issue. Scott then made a motion that “The FMS support investigating opportunities to collaborate with our colleagues overseas on standardization of fisheries sampling techniques, expanding the standardization effort.”  A second was made by Jeff Boxrucker.  A question about the form of collaboration was raised.  Scott suggested that many forms were possible and likely ranging from informal conversations, which are already beginning, to full-fledged conferences.  An additional comment and question on the level of federal agency involvement was raised, suggesting that continued involvement within our own arena should continue as well.  The motion carried.

Brian Bohnsack mentioned that the upcoming ASA Summit intends to focus on data issues and wondered if Scott or FMS should be involved.  The meeting is at Hilton Head, SC this year.

New Business

Dirk handed over the meeting to Brian Graeb, whose first order of new business was to present Dirk with a plaque denoting his service as FMS President and expressed his gratitude for all the work he has done with FMS and especially his mentorship with him.  The membership responded with applause. 

Brian thanked everyone for the opportunity to serve; he was very humbled and honored to take the reins from Dirk.  Brian also noted that during this year’s election cycle, he received a lot of positive feedback about the Section and our activities.  One effort Brian would like to champion during his term is the continued emphasis of our special committee on young professional development.  Quinton will remain heavily involved and the committee will provide a report at next year’s meeting on identifying things we can do to support students and young professionals in professional activities. 

Election Results

Brian then announced that Mark Porath will be the new President-Elect and Quinton Phelps the new Secretary/Treasurer.  Brian then thanked Geno Adams and Tom Lang for serving as candidates, and emphasized that one of the most common comments he received during the election was about the strength of the candidates.  The membership then applauded Geno and Tom for running.  Regional Representatives will remain, Scott Decker-NED, Mike Hawkins-NCD, Lawrence Dorsey-SD, Cory Sipher-WD.  Travis Neebling will also return as our web guru.

Other Business from the Membership

Don Gabelhouse asked that FMS consider examining alternative locations for the HOE currently housed at Aksarben Aquarium in Gretna, NE.  While he was excited in 1993, when Aksarben was honored with the selection, he is concerned that the HOE is not getting the viewership needed to sustain this important feature.  Don didn’t have any better location specifically in mind, but suggested that we aim for a location where more adult viewers and especially anglers would get an opportunity to see the inductees, as Aksarben primarily hosts groups of children.  Don mentioned that the Fish Culture Section utilizes a hatchery facility, but Fisheries Management is everywhere. The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin, the Freshwater Fisheries Conservation Center in Athens, Texas, the Bass Pro Shops store in Springfield, Missouri were all mentioned as potential locations.   An extensive discussion ensued whereby multiple exhibits or locations could be used, a physical presence could also be replicated with a virtual presence.  The basic plaque information and pictures could be augmented with video interviews of inductees.  Jeff Kopaska with AFS Electronic Services Board recommended that AFS President John Boreman be approached about expanding this virtual presence idea to other arenas, as a way to archive important AFS history, and as a service. Brian will appoint a committee to flesh out the discussion ideas (Tom Lang, Andy Loftus, Jeff Kopaska, Brian Bohnsack, and Mark will Chair) and report back at next year’s annual meeting.   

Jason Vokoun expressed a concern about the growing disconnect between upcoming fisheries students and their knowledge of different fish management techniques used around the world.  Any avenue we can employ such as an expansion of the virtual HOE idea to include more information about important techniques, methods or even history would be very beneficial.  And something that is open access would be the most available and valuable.  Jason didn’t really have any concrete ideas on how to move forward, but wanted to brooch the issue to raise awareness.  Quinton mentioned that this could be a topic to be addressed by the special Young Professionals Development committee. A number of members chimed in that as managers we do encounter a number of unique and diverse fisheries (spearing or rifle harvest of Northern Pike, jug lines, catfish noodling), and providing materials to educate students would also benefit other professionals. 

Steven Cooke announced that the Canadian Aquatic Resources Section (CARS) is putting together a symposium for the Quebec City Meeting in 2014, a series of status reports on inland fisheries in Canada as well as some of the key issues and challenges they face.  Additionally, a number of historical information products will be included.

Brian asked for comments about the success of the new “joint session format” with the FAS.  Members felt it was valuable and the consensus is to continue if possible.

Brian Bohnsack recommended that FMS support the travel for 2-3 people to attend the ASA Sport Fishing Summit meeting in October. Brian explained that ASA is the fishing tackle industries’ major trade group that is an active player in Washington and in the Wallop-Breaux reauthorization efforts.  A motion for expending up to $4,500 to support this travel was moved by Brian, seconded by Andy Loftus.  Discussion revolved around the benefits to FMS for participation; the need to better organize efforts in preparation for participation at the Summit, can FMS somehow get on the agenda yet at this late date, is this participation something more appropriate for AFS as a Parent Society?  Consensus from the membership was to extend some “feelers” but that participation at this late date was probably not likely to be feasible.  As the motion was already on the floor, it needed to be voted on and the motion failed. Brian G. asked that Brian B. and Andy put together information about the value of FMS interaction with ASA for an upcoming newsletter. 

Brian asked for a motion to adjourn, made by Ron Essig, seconded by Dan Shoup.  The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 4:50 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Porath

FMS Secretary/Treasurer

Hello AFS Fisheries Management Section (FMS) Members.  Each year the FMS accepts nominations for induction into the Fisheries Management Hall of Excellence, Conservation Achievement Award, Award of Merit, and Award of Excellence.  There is a description of each award on the FMS web site (http://www.sdafs.org/fmsafs/) including past recipients and nomination criteria.

Please take the time to nominate a mentor or colleague who has made significant contributions in fisheries management.  Most of you know someone who is deserving of one of these awards.  Please consider submitting a nomination by May 18, 2012 in the form of a detailed letter describing the nominee’s qualifications for the specific award.  Electronic versions of nominations are requested to facilitate Awards Committee review.  I look forward to your nominations.  Please feel free to contact me if you need more information.

Thanks,

Brian Graeb
FMS President-elect
Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD 57007
Brian.Graeb@sdstate.edu
605-690-3026

2011 Fisheries Management Section Annual Business Meeting

September 4th, Seattle, WA

Download a print version of the agenda here

President Dirk Miller called the meeting to order at 3:10 PM, confirmed a quorum (58 signed attendance sheets) and thanked everyone for attending. Dirk introduced the meeting agenda, the members of the executive committee and then recognized the FMS past presidents in attendance.

AFS President Wayne Hubert addressed attendees, mentioning that he has always enjoyed attending our annual business meeting as he has been a member of the FMS since its inception. He welcomed everyone to the largest AFS meeting in our history with over 4000 registered, 95 symposia, 29 concurrent sessions, 2600 oral and 500 poster presentations. Each large annual meeting usually has a corresponding surge in membership and AFS expects an increase of several thousand to over 9000 members. Wayne then spoke to the three goals of the AFS Strategic Plan, making special mention of several items. The transition in publishing to Taylor & Francis has had some “rough edges” but several benefits have already been noted through an increase in impact factors of AFS journals and in global readership and submissions. There has been substantial progress in several policy issues this year including those relating to climate change, use of lead in sport fishing tackle, and the need for an immediate release sedative. AFS has hired a consultant to review its electronic services in an attempt to improve this important membership feature.

Ian Dolben, IFM Chair, addressed the group on activities “across the pond”. A water framework directive has begun that will classify waters not just by water quality parameters but will now include fish community information as well. A River Trust conference is scheduled for March that will encompass the current state of knowledge on fish screening. And a new “sustainable eel standard” is being worked on by the IFM.

Dirk provided a presidents report. He mentioned the potential for an AFS 2012 symposium on the 75th anniversary of the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, as FMS and the Fisheries Administration Section jointly participate in an exchange program with the IFM. This past year Dirk traveled to the IFM meeting in Portsmouth at the historic dockyard. The location provided a feeling of the long history associated with this meeting, dining aboard the old vessels and amongst the cannons brought home the meeting theme of “Fisheries in transition from source to sea”. The United Kingdom and much of Europe face similar challenges in fisheries management that we have here in North America, this exchange provides a valuable link between our professional groups that benefit us all. Serving on the AFS Governing Board, Dirk believes that the work surrounding the development of policy statements is positive and substantial progress has been made. Similarly, the review of the AFS electronic services is needed and positive.

The minutes of the 2010 Business Meeting minutes from Pittsburgh were published in the newsletter. After asking for and receiving not comments or corrections, the minutes were approved. Mark Porath, Secretary/Treasurer, provided a financial summary for the 2011 fiscal year (August 1, 2010 through July 31,2011) with each transaction provided by handout. For 2011 the starting balance was $34,801.12 and the ending balance was $30,165.81 for a net decline of $4,635.31. Mark also reported that several transactions had occurred since August 1, 2011. A $2,000 donation to the Hutton Fund has been made (from 2010 Business Meeting), $953.40 was used to purchase FMS t-shirts (fundraiser), and $5,884.05 has been received from AFS for book royalties (last payment was in May 2010). With an estimated $900 bill for the meeting refreshments, Mark reported that the current balance of FMS funds is approximately $32,196.46. Jeff Boxrucker commented that in the early 90’s the FMS also had a generous balance of around $20,000 and extra effort was made to put the money to work (spent down to approximately $10,000), he recommended we follow the same course of action.

 

Committee Reports

Quinton Phelps, Newsletter Editor, provided a brief update on the status of the newsletter and reminded those attendee’s who had ordered t-shirts to pick them up.

Travis Neebling, Web Page Editor, is planning to make some updates this winter and asked for any suggestions be forwarded to him. He also thanked past editor Fred Janssen for all his work in developing the current web page.

Urban and Community Fisheries Management Committee representative Tom Lang provided an update. There are currently 59 facebook friends of the committee and Tom is looking for someone to take over the management of the facebook page. Andy Loftus provided some insight from the AFS Membership Survey, which showed little value was placed on social media, specifically FB, regardless of age. Dirk shared some difficulty in its use and utility. Tom will put together a newsletter article.

 

Awards

President-elect Brian Graeb took the podium to present this year’s FMS Awards.

An Award of Merit was presented to Adam Kaeser and Thom Litts, fisheries biologists from the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. Adam and Thom developed a new technique for identifying and quantifying instream aquatic habitat with the use of side scanning sonar and GIS technology. This novel technique for analyzing aquatic habitat has enormous potential to assist Fisheries Managers efforts to identify, measure, or improve aquatic habitats to benefit fisheries resources. They have done a superb job of making this technique available to fisheries professionals through the publication of their research, teaching workshops, and preparing an online guide and other online resources. Neither Adam nor Thom was able to be present to accept their award.

An Award of Excellence was presented to Wes Porak of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Wes is responsible for largemouth bass research for the Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission (FWC). In his 29 years with FWC, he has studied the age and growth, ecology, behavior, genetics, stock enhancement, health and conservation of largemouth bass, and pioneered the development of largemouth bass regulations. Twenty four publications have resulted from his research projects and Wes has made numerous presentations at local chapter, Southern Division and annual AFS meetings, as well as over a hundred presentations to fishing clubs and other citizen conservation organizations. Wes has clearly distinguished himself as an outstanding fisheries scientist, and his work has had broad impacts on fisheries management in the Southeast and for largemouth bass fisheries in general. Wes expressed his appreciation for the award.

An Award of Merit was presented to Ken Cullis, Lake Superior Management Supervisor for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. In his 32 year career, Ken was intimately involved with the Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans (RAP) and his involvement with developing the fisheries components for the four RAPs along the Canadian North Shore of Lake Superior. The resultant document has shaped the management of non-commercial fisheries in the Canadian waters of Lake Superior for more than two decades. Ken took on a special assignment as a founding member of the Lake Superior Programs Office (LSPO), representing the Governments of Canada and Ontario in the Lake Superior Binational Program.

Some of the key accomplishments of the Upper Great Lakes Management Unit (UGLMU) Lake Superior offices during Ken’s tenure include: restoration of north shore steelhead; protection and rehabilitation of coaster brook trout; improving the understanding of the pelagic fish community in Lake Superior; establishment of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area; rehabilitation of the Black Bay walleye population. Ken expressed his appreciation for the award.

Jeff Boxrucker was inducted into the FMS Hall of Excellence. Jeff earned BS and MS degrees in Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1977 he began his illustrious career with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) as a fisheries technician at the Oklahoma Fishery Research Laboratory. He was soon promoted to fisheries biologist and in 2000 became the senior biologist at the OFRL. In 2007 he became Assistant Chief of fisheries for the Department and he retired in 2010 after 33 years of distinguished service. He continues to be active within the fisheries field through his leadership role in the Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership (RFHP).

For much of his career Jeff was involved in research directed toward more effective management of impounded waters. To that end he authored or coauthored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and gave numerous presentations before professional and lay groups.

Jeff is widely recognized as a leader within the fisheries profession. In 1991 he was named the Outstanding Fisheries Worker by the Oklahoma Chapter of AFS and subsequently served as the Chapter’s president. In recognition of his professional commitment and abilities his peers elected him president of the AFS Fisheries Management Section in 1999 and president of the AFS Southern Division in 2000. As Division president he served on the AFS Governing Board and Management Committee where he provided effective leadership and wise counsel. In 2002 he chaired the AFS Leadership Development Committee. In recognition of Jeff’s considerable service to his profession and contributions to fisheries management he received the AFS Southern Division’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2006.

Perhaps Jeff’s greatest contribution to the fisheries profession is his mentoring of students and young professionals. In his career at ODWC he supervised the graduate research of nine MS students and provided them a valuable role model of a fisheries professional. Likewise he supervised many technicians and biologists who benefitted from his scientific knowledge, insights, and professionalism. Within all levels of AFS Jeff has positively influenced the lives and careers of students and young professionals through formal presentations and informal, individual discussions for which he is seemingly always available.

Jeff is hereby elected into the NATIONAL FISHERIES MANAGEMENT HALL of EXCELLENCE, 2011 by order of the Executive Committee, Fisheries Management Section, American Fisheries Society.

 

Old Business

Under Old Business, Andy Loftus presented an abbreviated version of work that was partially funded by FMS entitled “Returns from Excise Tax Payments to Industry” that was completed for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) and put together by Andy in conjunction with Southwick Associates, Inc. He also provided a handout “The Benefits to Business from Hunting and Fishing Excise Taxes”. The purpose of this work was to assist AFWA in defending the continuation of this excise tax in its current form and level to congress, as industry support has eroded. For manufacturers, they recognize that the excise tax is one of their top three expenses along with property and personnel, and often exceeds their profit margin. Additionally, while agencies commonly evaluate the value of the projects to fish and wildlife, there rarely has been an industry perspective on “return on investment” (ROI). Andy emphasized that we need to better communicate that this is actually an investment and not an expense issue.

Several years ago, they began looking to see if data was available to support an analysis for ROI and initiated a pilot study. The approach was to look at the federal excise taxes paid by the manufacturers of products and the wholesale value of taxable sales. Motor boat fuels tax was not included in the ROI. From this analysis they found that ROI is much higher when compared to typical investments for three main reasons; leveraging, long-term investments and associated programs & Acts. Every excise tax dollar is leveraged with two license dollars and then often matched with an additional 25% when a project is started. This is a 150% immediate return. Most projects return benefits over a long time period, providing returns year after year and compound the initial investment. Other programs that get tied into projects or that also benefit fish & wildlife (Clean Water Act, Farm Bill etc.) bring outside dollars to improvements further benefiting the resource and manufacturers sell more tackle and equipment. Andy relayed that from 1951 through 2009, the value of products produced by the sport fishing industry has grown by 270% in constant dollars.

While participation rates are declining (as a percent of the population), there still are double the number of anglers since 1950 and there continues to be a large demand for products. And if you look at the average annual ROI to the sport fishing industry from 1955-2006 it is 2,157% which is based on $91.2 M in tax payments versus $2.3 B in average annual wholesale shipments of taxable equipment. For wildlife it was closer to $1,100%. The returns to the fishing tackle industry is higher due to motor boat fuel taxed added by the Wallop-Breaux in the 80’s which greatly enhanced the funding pot and were considered leverage funds.

Of the case studies each of them had a positive ROI ranging from 62% over 20 years to 830% over 40 years. Some of them did have a negative excise tax ROI, but overall the returns were positive. This is the message we need to communicate to the industry. Other important messages to convey are that these were pre-existing taxes that were redirected after WWII by Senator Dingell, back to the industry that was paying them. Secondly, these are a permanent appropriation with excise taxes that don’t require annual allocations by congress and have a clause requiring non-diversion of license dollars as well.

This report shows that these funds often experience a substantial return on investment. However, accurately quantifying the amount of return can be very difficult as there is substantial variability in returns and the data is often in a user friendly form. Several insights from compiling the report, first, the 25% match is an underestimate of the funds provided to these projects and should be considered as a “catalyst” as most projects would not be undertaken without them. Second, there is often a 3-5 year time lag before the investment begins providing returns. Also, there is little consideration about how a reduction in the excise tax would impact other cooperating funding partners, both federal and non-federal.

Dirk introduced Scott Bonar to give an update on the standard sampling project that FMS has helped fund. Scott thanked members for their support of the book project and wanted to update the group on the progress for setting up the online version. It allows constant updating for new information, and a process for validation of techniques. The online version is gaining a lot of interest internationally and is being formatted into French and Spanish versions. Scott then demonstrated the online version and commented on how computer language intensive the project has been, all in an effort to make it as user friendly as possible. He closed with once again thanking FMS for the support and continued data.

 

New Business

Dirk presented the revised bylaws to the group. The revision allows electronic voting and formalizes the role of regional representative in text, and increases the spending authority of the Executive Committee. The revisions were distributed by newsletter and posted on the FMS webpage. A motion to adopt the revised bylaws as presented was made by Steve Lochmann, seconded by Tom Lang and approved unanimously by voice vote.

Mike Allen presented a book project to be entitled the “Foundations of Fisheries Science” to be published by AFS and would contain reprints of classic articles that represent the foundational knowledge of fisheries science to date. Have already secured a number of experts to serve as editors for relevant topics. Will begin with an electronic survey to solicit what foundational papers should be included. Requested $3,000 to hire a student to compile the results, and was going to request $3,000 from the Education Section as well to make their $6,000 budget. Tom Lang expressed support as it’s difficult to access old symposia. Mike mentioned the target is published journal articles but will allow the survey to drive the content. AFS recommended a royalty package similar to other donations of this level, 3% post production costs and 2% pre. Dirk commented on the current structure of financing AFS book projects and how final royalties are negotiated. Mike responded to a question about the scope of the book, which is intended to tap foundational papers globally and not just in North America. Andy Loftus moved that FMS support the project at the $3,000 level, seconded by Brad Ray. Jeff Boxrucker asked Mike what would happen if the Education Section did not support the project? He then moved to amend the motion on the floor from “$3,000” to “$3,000 or up to $6,000”, seconded by Cindy Williams. The amendment passed by voice vote with a single dissent. The original motion was then passed unanimously by voice vote.

Vince Mudrak then addressed the group concerning the earlier book project “Propagated Fish in Resource Management”. He gave a presentation on the background that resulted in the first effort, and opened the floor to answer his question of “Is there interest in a second version, and is FMS willing to participate?” Vince asked if FMS is interested in being part of a pilot group to determine if a second edition is needed and supported. Dirk will seek a volunteer to work with Vince as part of the pilot group.

Kathryn Winkler, AFS Hutton Program/ Continuing Education Coordinator expressed thanks for the recent $2,000 donation to the Hutton Program from FMS. In 2011, there were 58 applicants and 18 were eventually selected across 14 states, two thirds were minority and two thirds were female. There has been good support from a broad base to date, but would like to get more involved with student subunits. They have found that successful candidates are understandably very active in these chapter activities.

Dirk requested if there was any new business from the floor. Hearing none, he thanked everybody for attending, reiterated his interest in developing future FMS symposia, and adjourned the meeting at 4:57 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Mark Porath, FMS Secretary-Treasurer