Southern Division
American Fisheries Society
Business Meeting Minutes
31 October 2000
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Call to Order: President Elect Mike Meador acting for President Marty Hale called the meeting to order at 1510. Secretary/Treasurer Larry Connor determined that a quorum was present (4 officers and 50 other members present). Mike recognized Southern Division Past Presidents Jack Dequine and Fred Harris. Fred Harris, First Vice President, was present representing the American Fisheries Society.

Remarks of the Society First Vice President: Fred Harris remarked that Society Executive Director Gus Rassam has done an excellent job managing the Society's finances and the Society will be in the black this year and will add to its contingency fund. Gus is looking outside the AFS for income rather than raising dues. Gus and Society President Carl Burger are in China attending the 3rd World Fisheries Congress in Beijing. They are attempting to bring the 4th Congress to North America probably on the west coast. The Society has revised its membership structure to include young professional dues to attract newly graduated professionals at the beginning of their careers. The membership committee will be contacting the chapters to see if each can add five new Society members next year. There are other long-term ideas being discussed to increase membership. Fred praised the Society for its scientific communications but emphasized the need for better communications through the web site and to the general public and policy makers.

President's Remarks: Marty Hale commented that it was a fast year. He got some things started this year. He felt that his biggest accomplishment was that he and the other officers attended 15 chapter meetings. He gained a lot form attending these meetings. Mike Meador intends to continue the practice. The SEAFWA submittals were up this year. Finally he felt that the midyear meeting was top of the line and encouraged everyone to plan on attending.

Secretary/Treasurer's Report: The Southern Division had an account balance of $23,215.57 as of 16 October 2000. The 2000 income has been about $16,406 and expenses have been about $11,367 resulting in a profit of about $5,000 to date. The end-of-the-year profit should be about $2,700. The 2001 budget includes $1,500 for AFS leadership training at the midyear. The travel budget was increased. The 2001 budget projections show a $2,400 deficit. Larry Connor moved to accept the Secretary/Treasurer's report. Gene Gilliland seconded. The motion carried.

Bob Curry moved that the meeting minutes from the 9 November 1999 annual meeting be accepted. Keith Ashley seconded. There were no corrections. The motion carried.

Audit Committee Report: President Hale read the report in Wes Porak's absence. The committee of Wes Porak, Chair, and Steve Crawford examined the financial records of the Southern Division on 23 October 20000 and found everything to be in order. Larry Connor moved to accept the committee report. Bob Curry seconded. The motion carried.

Anniversary Committee Report: Mike Meador reported for chair Rich Noble that the anniversary committee plans a celebration at the 2002 midyear meeting in Little Rock. They would like to have the chapters and committees to create a history poster costing in the range of $100. They also have several speakers lined up.

Program Committee Report: Mike Meador reported that the SEAFWA editor received 29 papers. Texas Parks and Wildlife had five submissions and North Carolina State had three. There were three case history papers. Twenty-four papers were accepted. Mike thanked Pat Mazik for her job as associate editor. John Galvez will be the new editor.

Gene Gilliland moved that the agenda be suspended to consider the bylaws revisions at this time. Dennis Riecke seconded. The motion carried.

Bylaws Revisions: Larry Connor moved that Section V Duties of Officers, (a) President, and (b) President-Elect be revised to change all references to the Executive Committee of the Society to the Governing Board of the Society. Jeff Boxrucker seconded. The motion carried.

Larry Connor moved that Section VII (b) Awards Committee be revised to rename the best paper award to the John F. Dequine award for the best paper. Dick Luebke seconded. The motion carried.

Larry Connor moved that the agenda be restored to the original order. Keith Ashley seconded. The motion carried.

Awards Committee Report: Marty Hale recognized Jack Dequine, the Southern Division's first President ('52 - '53), for his 23 years of work on the awards committee. Jack Dequine thanked the Division for the recognition and presented the Dequine awards to the first winners. The John F. Dequine Best Paper Award went to Harold L. Schramm Jr., Joseph E. Kraai, and Charles R. Munger for the paper titled "Intensive Stocking of Striped Bass to Restructure a Gizzard Shad Population in a Eutrophic Texas Reservoir." The John F. Dequine Best Paper-Runner Up Award was awarded to George J. Devlin III and Phillip W. Bettoli for the paper titled, "Seasonal Fluctuations in Growth and Condition of Trout in a Southeastern Tailwater." The John F. Dequine Best Paper-Honorable Mention went to Robert R. Weller and Craig Robbins for the paper Mention titled, "Food Habits of Flathead Catfish in the Altamaha River System, Georgia." Jimmie Pigg was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award. This award was made posthumously since Jimmie Pigg passed away en route to the 1999 midyear meeting. Bruce Saul and Fred Janssen received Distinguished Service Awards. The Virginia Tech Chapter was the Outstanding Chapter, and also tied for Society outstanding chapter with the Oregon Chapter. Awards of Merit were given to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, North Carolina State University, and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for submitting two or more papers to the 2000 SEAFWA.

Overview of Chapter Activities: Mike Meador presented the report on chapter activities. Continuing education was a big focus during the previous year. The Virginia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina chapters all sponsored workshops. The Virginia Tech and Auburn University chapters made a number of presentations of fish and fisheries to local schools. The Kentucky chapter continued to sponsor a kids fishing event with the hospice of Louisville. The Tennessee chapter and Tennessee Tech student subunit sponsored a kids fishing rodeo. The Arkansas chapter provided judges for local science fairs. The South Carolina and Georgia chapters did an outstanding job with the 2000 midyear meeting, and the Florida chapter is working on the 2001 midyear meeting in Jacksonville. The Tidewater and Potomac chapters are already working on the AFS meeting in Baltimore. The Texas chapter is celebrating its 25th anniversary next spring.

Old Business

Mail Ballot Committee: Keith Ashley reported that Steve Filipek was elected Vice-President, Dick Luebke was elected Secretary/Treasurer, and Hal Schramm was elected the Southern Division representative on the Society's nominating committee.

Resolutions Committee Report: There were no external resolutions this year. There was one internal resolution. Jeff Boxrucker read the resolution thanking the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries for hosting the 54th SEAFWA meeting. Dick Luebke moved that the resolution be adopted. Keith Ashley seconded. The motion carried.

There was no other old business.

Installation of Officers: Marty Hale installed the new Southern Division officers, Mike Meador, President, Jeff Boxrucker, President Elect, Steve Filipek, Vice-President, and Dick Luebke, Secretary/Treasurer. Marty assumed the office of Past President.

New President's Remarks: Mike Meador intends to emphasize three portions of his work plan: 1) increase the Southern Division's visibility both internally and externally, 2) foster opportunities for leadership and mentoring activities in the Division, and 3) promote the growth and flexibility of the technical committees. He wants to broaden the interaction between the Division, chapters, and technical committees. He would like to see all chapters have web sites. Mike anticipates working with external organizations such as the Southeastern Fishes Council, Southeastern Chapter of the Ecological Society of America, Southeastern Chapter of the Wildlife Society, and others to make them more aware of the Southern Division. He would like to see collaborative and joint meetings with these organizations. Mike wants to provide opportunities for leadership training and mentoring to enhance the professional development of the Division's members. The Division will sponsor a leadership-training workshop at the 2001 midyear meeting. The Division will bring in some outstanding speakers for the workshop and will spend up to $1,500 to fund these speakers. He also wants to foster one-on-one interactions between established scientists and young professionals and students. He wants the technical committee system to be able to proactively address emerging local, regional, and national issues. He worked on a committee to address the issue and the committee report will be available on the web.

New Business: There was no new business.

Jeff Boxrucker moved that the meeting be adjourned. Bob Curry seconded. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 1615.