Report to the AFS Governing Board, September 2006
To: Dr. Chris Kohler, President, AFS
From: Dave Willis, President, Fisheries Management Section
Date: August 4, 2006
I. Motion Report
- Recommended Motion: None
- Minority View: None
- Background for Motion: Not applicable
II. Activity Report
(A) Charge or Annual Program of Work: No specific charge or program of work defined. However, we did update FMS by-laws this past year. The procedural manual also needs to be updated.
(B) Summary of Outcomes and Accomplishments Organized by Focus Area in Strategic Plan with the appropriate goal, strategy, and target referenced.
Aquatic Stewardship
Strategies AS 1.3, A.S. 3.1, ITO 2.1. President-Elect Joe Larscheid (IA) will attend the annual meeting of the Institute of Fisheries Management (United Kingdom) as part of the exchange program between that Institute and the Fisheries Management Section (FMS) and Fisheries Administrators Section (FAS). Joe will deliver a plenary presentation based on the meeting theme: "Fisheries and conservation - successes and failures." The basic approach to this exchange is that each President would attend the other’s meeting in alternate years. AFS would be represented alternately by the President of the FAS and the President of the FMS. FAS President Gary Saul made the trip in 2005, and the FMS thus makes the 2006 trip. The original proposal was approved by the FMS membership to support this endeavor for two cycles (four years), and then decide whether we could justify continued expenditures.
Strategies AS 1.3, AS 2.3, ITO 2.1, MS 2.1. Since 1978, FMS has been a sponsor for the trout stream habitat improvement workshops. The 2006 meeting is entitled Salmonids in the 21st Century, and will be held Oct 17-20, 2006 in Newcastle, United Kingdom. Based on the successful workshop in Ireland in 2002, which FMS also cosponsored, the Central Fisheries Board has issued a new publication based on their river restoration works using natural materials, based on design input from Don Duff in the 1990's. The book, entitled Channels & Challenges: the Enhancement of Salmonid Rivers, can be ordered from the Central Fisheries Board.
Strategies AS 2.3, MS 2.1. FMS will be a sponsor of the Urban Fishing Symposium planned for the 2007 AFS annual meeting in Lake Placid.
Strategies AS 2.8, M.S. 3.3. Webmaster Fred Janssen (TX) continues to do an outstanding job of keeping the FMS website updated and fresh. He recently added a new column on “Latest News” that allows the section to provide an updated, progressive, and useful web page. We hope that members will look there first for the most recent news and information. Past-President Bob Wiley (WY) has written new and re-written old articles for the FMS newsletter, and these have been posted on the FMS web page as FMS Special Publications. Digital images of the plaques for all members of the FMS Hall of Excellence have now been posted on the web page. Our recent decision to provide free FMS memberships to students has been posted on our web page in an attempt to garner student interest.
Strategies AS 3.1, ITO 2.1, MS 2.1. President-elect Joe Larscheid is working to develop a symposium to better integrate the FMS with the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS).
Strategies AS 3.5, ITO 2.1. FMS has teamed with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, the Fisheries Administrators Section, B.A.S.S., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to sponsor a National Fish Habitat Action Plan workshop at the AFS Lake Placid annual meeting. Early registration indicates far more interest than we had anticipated.
Visibility
Strategy ITO 1.5. FMS provides information on topical areas to the AFS Executive Director, as requested. Mark Pegg (NE) provided written information on black carp that was used by the Executive Director in testimony before Congress. Similarly, the FMS President regularly responds to management-based email inquiries that are routed to us from the Executive Director.
Membership Services
Strategy MS 1.5. FMS recognized many volunteers during 2006. This year, we will announce two inductees into our Hall of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the section. Other honorees will include two Conservation Achievement award winners, one Award of Merit, and one Award of Excellence.
Strategy MS 1.7. FMS initiated free memberships for students in 2006. Students have to ask (request) to be members, but will not need to pay. Also, we wanted to make a clear point: we did not approve student memberships; we approved free memberships for students. Students will be Section members in full standing, with all the rights and all the responsibilities of other members. We do not want students to view themselves as “only” being student members. The 2006 AFS membership application and renewal forms had a check-off box for students to join the Section. We will assess the number of members who joined when the 2006 membership roster is finalized at the end of the year.
Goal MS 2. FMS initiated an ad hoc committee to deal with an Assessment of Fish Aging Techniques. For nearly 100 years, fishery biologists have commonly collected and processed structures from freshwater fish to estimate annular age. The current structures used and methods of validation and precision to age freshwater fish throughout North America have not been described, but certainly warrant attention given the importance of fish aging in our profession. In particular, species-specific publications on the use, precision, and accuracy of different aging structures have increased over the past 10-15 years, but a synthesis of this work has not been conducted. Thus to fulfill this need, the Fisheries Management Section with support of the Fisheries Administrators Section, formed the Assessment of Fish Aging Techniques Committee in 2006. The tasks of the Committee were to 1) survey state and provincial fish conservation agencies on structures used and procedures to age freshwater fish; 2) conduct a literature review on fish aging techniques that primarily examined precision, accuracy (validation), and back-calculation of lengths from presumed annuli; 3) provide recommendations for proper fish aging techniques that will improve accuracy and directions of future research.
In February 2006, an eight question survey was sent to all state and provincial USA and Canada freshwater fishery agencies. A total of 45 U.S. state and 6 Canadian provincial fish conservation agencies responded to the survey. Scales were more commonly used to age black bass, crappie/sunfish, and moronids than otoliths, but scale and otolith use to age salmonids and percids was nearly equal. The use of pectoral spines to age catfish was about twice as great compared to otoliths. Scales, followed by cleithra, were the predominant structures used to age esocids. Strong latitudinal clines in the percent use of scales and otoliths to age black bass, crappie/sunfish, moronids, and catfish existed as otoliths were more commonly examined in southern USA states and scales (spines for catfish) were used in more northern states and provinces. For those agencies that used scales, many respondents felt that a “true” maximum age could not be estimated, and the opinion on the maximum age of accuracy was about 5-6 years (median).
Most agencies (76%) assessed the precision of reader assignment of ages among the structures examined and commonly used two blind (independent) readers. More than half of the agencies (59%) conducted some annuli validation from the structures of primarily stocked fish (known age) that generally were either chemically or physically batched marked, then subsequently recaptured where these studies were being conducted. About 80% of all agencies provided training to personnel to age fish and of the training offered, 74% was individual or experienced personnel providing one-on-one training to a single individual.
Nearly every agency that aged fish used this information to assess growth (100%), mortality (86%), recruitment (82%), and the analyses of fish age data assisted in the regulation decision- making process (92%) and in research (82%). Finally, for scales, fin rays, and spines, 83% of the agency respondents believed that the non-lethality of collection was a strong consideration for using these structures. However, of these respondents, only 38% believed that these non-lethal structures were accurate for some ages (primarily young fish).
Committee members include Michael J. Maceina (AL; Chair), Jeff Boxrucker (OK), David Buckmeier (TX), Scott Gangl (ND), David Lucchesi (SD), Dan Isermann (MN), Randy Jackson, (NY), and Pat Martinez (CO). We greatly appreciate their volunteer efforts!
Goal MS 2. Initial discussions on a third edition of Inland Fisheries Management in North America, (coedited by Drs. Chris Kohler and Wayne Hubert) are underway. Hubert (WY) represents FMS on this effort.
Goals MS 2, ITO 3, and ITO 4. Work continues by the FMS Fisheries Techniques Standardization Committee on Standard Sampling Methods for North American Freshwater Fishes, which will describe standard methods to sample fishes in particular freshwater environments. The goal for this book will be to recommend a small group of methods for each of the primary freshwater environment types -- small lakes and ponds, reservoirs, large natural lakes, wadable streams, and large rivers, with a distinction between coldwater and warmwater fishes. Chapter outlines have been reviewed by the book editors, and by outside reviewers. Chapter authors include a mix of academic and agency personnel from Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Financial support has exceeded $131,000 with support from the U.S. Geological Survey, AFS (both FMS and the Education Section), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Goal MS 2. FMS is involved in the development of new standard weight equations (i.e., necessary for determination of relative weight values). University of Wyoming statistician and FMS member Ken Gerow (WY) will head an ad hoc committee for this task.
Strategy MS 4.3. FMS makes an annual $500 contribution to the Equal Opportunity Section for their student travel support program a line item in our annual budget.
Strategy MS 4.4. FMS has completed the election of officers for the 2006-2008 officer cycle (2-year terms). The executive committee includes a state agency employee, a federal agency employee, and an academic institute employee. Geographic diversity is ensured by the election of four regional representatives to the executive committee.
(C) Recommendations or Suggestions for Future Consideration: None.
III. Financial Status
(provided only to Society Financial Officer and will not be copied and distributed in the briefing book): Files will be sent via e-mail directly to the Society Financial Officer.