Southern Division
of the
American Fisheries Society

Fish culture plays an important role within the American Fisheries Society. In part, AFS was founded upon artificial propagation and culture of fishes. Production of fish and invertebrate species within the Southern Division is diverse, including sportfish, imperiled species, bait and food fish. Hatchery production of sportfishes provides an important resource for recreational anglers. Threatened and endangered fishes have been spawned and reintroduced through advances in fish culture techniques. Fish culture research has advanced over the years to provide a number of benefits including: improved hatchery and grow-out techniques, relievable spawning techniques, and enhancement of recreational small impoundment stocks through responsible broodstock selection.

This symposium on Fish Culture in the Southern Division seeks to bring together professionals in this field and present to others current research within this field. Some speakers for this session have been contacted, however, if your research pertains to this session or you have any questions please contact the Chair.

See you in New Orleans,

Christopher Green
LSU Agricultural Center, School of Renewable Natural Resources
Aquaculture Research Station
Baton Rouge, LA
(225) 765-2848
cgreen@agcenter.lsu.edu

The Atchafalaya River basin (ARB) is a commercially, ecologically, and socio-culturally important ecosystem that has experienced significant changes over the last century. At over 5,000km2, the ARB is the largest remaining bottomland hardwood swamp in North America and is intensively managed for water control, sediment transport, recreational and commercial fisheries, and oil and gas exploration and extraction. Because of excess nutrient and sediment inputs, extensive modifications of floodplain waterways for energy production and flood control, and tremendous increases in the density of aggressive exotic aquatic macrophytes, ecosystem function and biodiversity within the ARB are seriously imperiled. In this symposium, papers will address a number of important issues facing the ARB, including an overview of problems in this unique river-floodplain system, factors affecting seasonal water quality patterns, ongoing monitoring and restoration projects, tools for assessment of water management activities, water quality and fishery response to hurricanes, and economic values of the ARB.

 

Pontchartrain Basin Fisheries: Recovery, Management, and Conservation

The Pontchartrain Basin supports fisheries across freshwater, estuarine, and marine habitats in southeastern Louisiana and western Mississippi . The levee failures associated with hurricanes Katrina and Rita have spotlighted the Basin as managers assess damage to ecological and economical aspects of the fisheries. Because the Basin has a long history of recovering from both natural and anthropogenic disturbance, this symposium will include information on the environmental history of the fisheries, current research efforts on human and hurricane impacts on fishes and other nekton, and predictions about the success of proposed future conservation efforts.

 

Lower Mississippi River Symposium: “Scaling” Up - Fisheries Research on the Lower Mississippi River

The Lower Mississippi River Ecosystem harbors some of the most valuable aquatic natural resources in the nation: 954 miles of channel habitat; a 2.1 million-acre active floodplain, and 0.7 million acres of backwater areas with over 3000 lakes. Large, navigable rivers present unique challenges to fisheries professionals in terms of project scale, feasibility, funding, and management. The symposium will highlight efforts by bordering states (5 in the Southern Division) to quantify, conserve and restore aquatic habitats in the LMRE. Speakers will discuss issues relating to Mississippi River threatened and endangered species, as well as invasive species, and will share lessons learned from restoration efforts involving multiple stakeholder groups and resource management agencies.

 

Adaptive management and structured decision making: making good decisions better

Fisheries management and aquatic resource conservation decision-making is difficult due to the large number of ecological uncertainties and the multiple competing human interests for resources. Adaptive management in the context of structured decision making emphasizes the reduction of uncertainty associated with resource response to management actions and the improvement of management of resources through learning. Resource response and resiliency to natural variability of systems also is recognized and incorporated in this “learning by doing” process. Many resource agencies are recognizing the importance of stakeholder involvement, definition of alternate management actions, decision making, and monitoring responses to management and adjustment of management actions which are many of the components of effective adaptive management. Some of the best examples of adaptive management and structured decision making have been applied to aquatic habitats of the Midwest and Southeast. This symposium will be comprised of presentations from different natural resource systems—from horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay to fishes in the Missouri River—and will highlight ongoing application of adaptive management and structured decision analysis. Presenters will then participate in a panel discussion to share practical experiences with the processes of adaptive management and structured decision making.

 

Recent Trends & Trials in Nuisance Aquatic Plant Management

This special session of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society meeting will highlight on-going and recently completed research with nuisance aquatic plants. Speakers from Southern Division states will share information about recent management strategies for nuisance aquatic plants including giant salvinia, common salvinia, and hydrilla.

 

Crayfish symposium

The Southeastern United States is home to the greatest freshwater crayfish diversity in the world, making southeastern crayfishes excellent study systems for broader applications within ecology, evolutionary biology, conservation biology, aquaculture, and invasive/non-native species management. Contributors from across the Southern Division region will present research pertaining to crayfish, which includes basic natural history/distribution data, non-native species monitoring, and commensal relationships.

 

Lepisosteid Fish Research and Management Symposium

This symposium is organized by the Lepisosteid Fish Research and Management Committee and will consist of invited and contributed papers on the biology, ecology, culture, and management of all Lepisosteid species.