NATIONAL FISHERIES DATA SUMMIT II
Focusing on Applications to the National Fish Habitat initiative
Hosted by the American Fisheries Society Computer User Section
Professionals from across the country who are responsible for the management, integration, and distribution of fisheries and related data for natural resources agencies and organizations (marine and freshwater) will come together October 31-November 2, 2006 in Salt Lake City, Utah to participate in National Fisheries Data Summit II - Focusing on Applications to the National Fish Habitat initiative. The products of the Summit will directly impact the progress of the National Fish Habitat Initiative (NFHI).
The NFHI is a nationwide effort to address common problems that afflict the condition of fish habitat throughout the United States. Measuring the condition of habitat and its impact on fish populations across wide geographic areas will require greater use of shared information across agencies. The widely acclaimed 1998 Freshwater Fisheries Database Summit established groundwork that assisted agencies in developing information systems. The 2006 Summit will build upon that work and focus attention on cutting edge issues that impact our ability to share information more effectively.
Participants of the Summit will review the National Fish Habitat assessment process and define the availability of indicator data at national, landscape, and local scales. The objectives of the Summit are to assess the availability of data at state, regional, and national scales necessary to fulfill the needs of the NFHI data system; identify specific sources of the data to meet the needs of the NFHI data systems; outline mechanisms and processes for assembling and transferring data, and identify mechanisms to integrate regional joint partnership information systems.
In addition to providing products to support the NFHI, the participants and the organizations they represent will benefit in many ways. They will have the opportunity to assist in the implementation of this national initiative, which has been endorsed by state fish and wildlife agency directors, federal agencies, and leading nongovernmental organizations, interact with and learn from colleagues facing similar information management challenges, and demonstrate their information systems and gain hands-on experience with systems used by other agencies.
For more information, visit www.fisheries.org/cus