Plenary Session Topic: “Water Allocation for Fisheries”
We are honored to have Dr. Larry McKinney as our Plenary Session Speaker for our 2006 Spring Meeting. Dr. McKinney will be speaking on the theme for our meeting -- “Water Allocation For Fisheries”. Many of us face water allocation issues today in our respective fisheries disciplines. These issues will most certainly become more important as competition for water increases in the southern U.S. As population growth and value of water-related resources increase, fisheries professionals will have to find innovative ways to ensure that water is available for our fisheries. Future conservation, preservation and wise-use of water resources will be critically important to sustain aquatic life and habitats, and the industries that depend on them. Dr. McKinney has led the charge concerning these important issues in Texas and in other areas of the country. He will share his perspectives on this very important topic and give us some direction for our future.
About Our Speaker...
Larry McKinney was born in 1949 and grew near the small farming
community of Coahoma; in west Texas during the 1950's "drought of record" that was a defining point for water development in 
the state. The McKinney family farmstead has seen continual agricultural production for over 105 years and Larry's appreciation for and focus upon water originated from that experience.
Larry completed his Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in 1976 and his dissertation was titled: The Zoography and Ecology of Amphipod Crustacea -- Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. He was a Smithsonian Fellow in 1976. Dr. McKinney’s research interests in benthic ecology and estuarine dynamics have included projects in all of Texas’ major estuaries and nearshore waters.
Currently, Dr. McKinney is Director of Coastal Fisheries, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Programmatic responsibilities include a broad range of natural resource and environmental issues: management of marine fisheries resources, assessing and securing freshwater inflows to estuaries and instream flows for rivers and reservoirs; wetland conservation and restoration; endangered species conservation; and other issues related to the ecological health of Texas aquatic ecosystems.