2009 Spring Meeting Workshops
F.A.S.T. Workshop-Friday January 16 th, 8:00 am- 5:00 pm
Drs. Mike Maceina of Auburn University and Jeff Slipke with Southeastern Pond Management will direct this one-day workshop on using the Fishery Analysis and Simulation Tools (FAST) software package. This software provides fishery biologists and managers with a simple to use Windows based computer program to simulate and evaluate the dynamics of exploited fish populations. The program provides for the evaluation of proposed minimum, slot, and inverted length limits and creel limits on exploited fisheries. FAST can be used to model recreational and commercial fisheries in freshwater and marine environments. Background information on growth, mortality, recruitment, and modeling will be presented. Students taking the workshop will run through examples using the Beverton-Holt equilibrium yield equation to estimate yields-per-recruit and build dynamic pool models. FAST comes with a 140 page users manual and support documentation as PDF files. Analyses of three actual fisheries with varying management goals and the corresponding data sets serve as examples for the user. Workshop participants need to bring their own Windows enabled PC laptop. FAST is not compatible with the VISTA operating system The workshop provides participants with their own copy of FAST software and a hard copy of the manual.
Cost: $125 and is limited to the first 30 who register for the workshop
Pond Management 101 Workshop-Friday January 16 th, 1:00 pm-5:00 pm
Management of ponds and small impoundments is vital to fishery biologists in the United States , particularly in the Southeast. Often, small impoundments comprise the majority of available water resources for anglers. Accordingly, fisheries biologists are routinely asked to assess both private and public ponds and provide sound management options that will optimize fish populations. Modern pond management has undergone a transformation over the past couple decades as many of the old paradigms have been questioned. This workshop will cover many of the innovative pond management strategies in use today, as well as the tried and true tradition pond management principles. Topics to be covered are listed below:
Pond Construction, Liming, Fertilization, Vegetation Control, Water Quality, Initial Stocking, Harvest Strategies, Trophy Bass Management, Alternative Species/Strains, Supplemental Forage Stocking, Supplemental Feeding, Fishery Assessments, and Pond Renovation
Pond management can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. Anyone can dig a hole, fill it with water and dump some fish in. But to really make a pond "rock" it takes commitment, planning, attention, and of course resources.
Cost: $50 for students / $125 for all other meeting attendees
Gar Aging Workshop – Friday January 16 th, 8:00am – 5:00 pm
The goals of this workshop are to compare current techniques for aging garfish, to develop or recommend standard techniques and to identify future research needs.
Workshop participants are asked, but are not required, to bring hard structures for aging, to include but not limited to otoliths, otolith sections, branchiostegal rays, scales, scale sections, fin spines, fin spine sections, and digital images of hard structures. Isomet saws and microscopes will be available for use by participants. If participants need special equipment to demonstrate methods, please contact Allyse Ferrara (allyse.ferrara@nicholls.edu).
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 4:35 PMyse.ferrara@nicholls.edu) if you plan to bring hard structures to the workshop.Cost: $20 for students / $50 for all other meeting attendees
SDAFS Student Affairs Workshop: Effectively Communicating Research Using a Poster Presentation-Friday January 16 th, 8:00am – 11:00am
This workshop is geared to providing students and researchers with guidelines and suggestions that will help in constructing presentations that clearly and concisely outline research. To begin the session, various professionals will speak to address basic issues such as formatting and style as well as more advanced problems frequently encountered. Professionals and students will then be available to review and critique poster presentations of their peers. Students are encouraged to bring electronic or hard copies of presentations for peer review. Because most students will, if not already, be required at some time to present their research through a poster, the goal of this workshop is to expose students to this style and provide them the necessary information to succeed in presenting their research.
Cost: Free but must pre-register
Asian Carp: Ploidy Determination and Need Workshop-Friday January 16 th, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Presented by J.A. Jenkins, Ph.D., U.S. Geological Survey and Glenn Thomas , Ph.D. Louisiana State University School of Renewable Natural Resources. In this workshop, we’ll review some of the issues with use, shipment, and escapement of diploid and polyploid Asian carps: black carp Mylopharyngodon piceus, grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, bighead carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, and silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix . Highlights include:
- Brief background on species’ life histories and distribution.
- Different techniques for ploidy determination for fish.
- QA/QC for use with field sampling feral animals for ploidy determination: protocols for shipping/handling/analysis
- Hands-on sampling cells from eyeballs for subsequent ploidy assessments.
This workshop will be of interest to fisheries biologists, managers, state-inspectors, students, and laboratory personnel. Several foundation concepts will be presented.
Cost: Free to students (must pre-register) / $20 for all other meeting attendees
Disease Inspection and Certification for Interstate and International Transport of Fish – Friday January 16 th, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm .
Presented by John P. Hawke, Ph.D., Louisiana State University , School of Veterinary Medicine , and Andy Goodwin Ph.D. University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff , with special guest Terry Conger DVM, USDA, APHIS.
Fish kills on the Great Lakes in 2005-2006 caused by the introduction and spread of a new virulent strain of VHS, designated IVb, resulted in the issuance of a federal order by the USDA, APHIS in October of 2006 to prohibit the importation of 37 species of fish from two Canadian Provinces into the United States and prohibit the interstate movement of same species from eight states bordering the Great Lakes. In addition to the original eight states affected, many other states are implementing protocols for inspection and certification of fish before they can cross state lines. Many foreign countries have strict regulations regarding disease certification prior to importation of live fish. Outbreaks of WSSV virus in crawfish populations in Louisiana in 2007 (a reportable disease to APHIS and OIE) resulted in APHIS intervention, quarantine of ponds and extensive surveillance. A similar situation has occurred with outbreaks of SVC virus on Koi farms. These issues have resulted in concerns that these diseases may spread and impact cultured and wild fish populations in other parts of the US . Competent diagnostic laboratories are currently being identified that can perform the necessary testing.
The objectives of this workshop are as follows:
1) Review background on pathogens of interest and susceptible species.
2) Present the protocols for sampling fish and crustaceans for lot or farm certification.
3) Describe assays for detection of pathogens.
4) Look at state requirements for inspection of fish prior to transport and international requirements for import/export of live fish and/or fish tissues.
5) Look at proposed surveillance programs
This workshop will be of interest to fisheries biologists, fish health specialists, veterinarians, managers, students, and laboratory personnel.
Cost: Free to students / $20 for other meeting attendees.