Southern Division American Fisheries Society EXCOM Meeting Minutes February 2002

President Jeff Boxrucker called the EXCOM Meeting to order at 0817. Secretary/Treasurer Dick Luebke determined there was a quorum present. No official proxies were present. President Boxrucker recognized Past Presidents Rich Noble, Fred Harris, Mike Van Den Avyle and Mike Meador, as well as AFS representatives Gus Rassam, Carl Burger and Joe Margraf.

AFS Executive Director’s Remarks: Dr. Rassam remarked that AFS has been active in three arenas: 1) Commission for Ocean Policy, a joint Presidential and Congressional commission, on which Southern Division has been actively involved, 2) Continuing Education training – the Southern Division has taken the lead to help prepare a prototype workshop at the upcoming annual meeting in Baltimore, and 3) Mentoring Program – designed to match up high school juniors and seniors with mentors during the summer (he solicited both mentors and students).

President Boxrucker introduced the other Southern Division officers: Larry Connor, Vice President, Steve Filipek, President-Elect, and Dick Luebke, Secretary/Treasurer.

AFS Immediate Past-President’s Remarks: Dr. Carl Burger applauded the Southern Division for its great job in partnering with students. He explained he is active in leadership training and invited participation in it.

AFS President-Elect’s Remarks: Fred Harris invited everyone to the Parent Society meeting in Baltimore. He also briefly encouraged participation in the mentoring program. Also, he mentioned that AFS is hosting a World Fisheries Congress in 2004 in Vancouver.

President’s Report: Jeff Boxrucker addressed leadership training development programs and upcoming workshops scheduled for the AFS Annual Meeting in Baltimore. After that a series of training modules will be developed for use by agencies. He also discussed revamping of the Student Affairs Committee to strengthen it by identifying numerous individuals to head up specific activities. He also encouraged Southern Division committee chairs to maintain contact with their respective fish chiefs to enhance communication between the Division and the agencies.

President-Elect’s Report: Steve Filipek recognized the staff from Arkansas that actively prepared to host this spring meeting and thanked them for their efforts. He solicited a chapter to volunteer to host the 2005 spring meeting. He mentioned he had been able to attend the MS-LA joint chapter meeting and also participated on the North American Fisheries Action Plan Committee.

Larry Connor moved and Steve Filipek seconded to amend the agenda to include some additional funding requests. The motion carried.

Vice President’s Report: Larry Connor indicated his report would stand as printed in the Briefing Book.

Immediate Past President’s Report: Mike Meador indicated his report would stand as printed in the Briefing Book.

Secretary/Treasurer’s Report: Dick Luebke warned committee chairs he would be contacting them regarding financial information he would need to prepare the annual tax return for the Southern Division. Minutes were prepared and submitted to the Newsletter Committee for both the EXCOM and Business meetings in Louisville, the former appearing in the January, 2002 Southern Division newsletter and the Division website. He then moved and it was seconded by Dave Coughlan to approve the EXCOM minutes. The motion carried. Regarding the financial particulars of the Division, he indicated that information would stand as printed in the Briefing Book.

Awards Committee Report: Gene Gilliland presented a poster recognizing individuals receiving awards at last fall’s Southern Division Business Meeting held in conjunction with the SEAFWA meeting. He encouraged nominations, especially for chapters. He moved and it was seconded to change the Award of Merit from an annual award for any institution/agency presenting at least two papers at the annual SEAFWA meeting to an award given every 3 years to those institutions/agencies averaging at least two papers over the previous 3-year period (award given every third year). The motion carried.

Student Affairs Committee Report: Tennessee Tech and Virginia Tech revived the Student Colloquium on their own but now we need to broaden the scope to include all Southern Division schools. Estimated annual cost: $1,000. Larry Connor moved and Dave Coughlan seconded to amend the Division budget to add $1,000 to the Student Affairs portion. The motion carried. President Boxrucker suggested the committee should appoint an individual to specifically handle the colloquium. Stuart Welsh reported that 31 mentors and 39 students had signed up for the student/mentor luncheon. He also suggested that the student workshops and Best Student Paper Award should help keep student participation up.

President Boxrucker talked about funding to help international members attend meetings. Steve Filipek moved and Larry Connor seconded to donate $500 to the International Section. The motion carried.

Anniversary Committee Report: Rich Noble indicated his report would stand as printed in the Briefing Book. He then discussed plans for the 50-year anniversary celebration at this meeting. His committee will prepare a paper for the upcoming SEAFWA meeting to share our celebration with our wildlife colleagues. Also, plans are in place to prepare a special article for Fisheries to share with the rest of our own organization. He recommended to the EXCOM appointment of a Historian or Archives Committee. President Boxrucker said he would announce the appointment of an ad hoc committee at this fall’s SEAFWA meeting. We may want to have the Division archives reside at a university.

AFS President’s Remarks: Dr. Ken Beal discussed the various initiatives within the AFS that are effectively making the Society more responsive to the membership. Financially the organization is in the black and membership is increasing. Several new membership categories are helping. The four focal points of his administration are Partnerships, Professionalism, Diversity and Visibility.

Communications Committee Report: Fred Janssen reported that the original charge of the committee was to set up the Division website. However, because subunits are allowed to park their materials there, the increased volume of materials has resulted in increased cost. He moved and Rich Noble seconded to increase current budget for the committee by $300 (i.e., total up to $700). The motion carried.

Mail Ballot Committee Report: President Boxrucker reported that the procedures change presented at the last meeting would require an additional $1,000 to the Newsletter Committee to mail out ballots. Steve Filipek moved and Bob Curry seconded to budget an additional $1,000 for the Newsletter Committee to take care of that. The motion carried.

Chapter Reports:

Alabama – Elise Irwin reported their chapter is generally inactive, but she is attempting to revitalize it. Much discussion was provided suggesting ways to do that.

Arkansas – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition it was reported that at this meeting there would be 92 technical presentations, 23 history posters and 10 technical posters.

Auburn University – None given.

Florida – Larry Connor reported that last year’s midyear meeting in Jacksonville, Florida has 466 attendees. The University of West Florida may be interested in forming a student subchapter.

Georgia – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Kentucky – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Louisiana -- Bobby Reed reported they just had a joint meeting with the Mississippi Chapter and elected new officers. Their web page is up and running. They formed a History Committee to document their activities.

Mississippi – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

North Carolina – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. Shari Bryant added that their Best Student Paper Award was renamed the Richard L. Noble Best Student Paper Award to honor Rich’s many accomplishments.

Oklahoma – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition it was reported that they held a workshop on pond management and they will be hosting the 2004 spring meeting in Oklahoma City.

Potomac - Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

South Carolina – At their annual meeting they had 100 attendees and 35 technical presentations. The Clemson University student subchapter is trying to get more involved.

Tennessee – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition it was reported their auction at the annual meeting netted $2,100 to be used to support fishing rodeos.

Texas – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Texas A&M – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition, Christine Burgess reported they had a very successful annual fish fry fundraiser to generate money to fund student travel to scientific meetings. They also sponsored two workshops on pond management and age/growth.

Tidewater – None given.

Virginia – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Virginia Tech – Anne Hunter reported they are preparing for their annual white bass tournament. Their other big outreach event is their 4-H day. They put out the Division newsletters. They submitted a global warming petition as recommended by the Parent Society. They are pairing graduate and undergraduate students for a mentoring program.

West Virginia – None given.

Student Subchapters – None given.

Audit Committee Report – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Membership – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Nominating – A slate of officers has already been prepared, so the committee is ahead of schedule for the year.

Program – Report stands as added to the Briefing Book.

Resolutions – Elise Irwin reported no resolutions were submitted this past year.

Aquaculture – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition, it was reported the committee is setting up a list server to facilitate information exchange.

Pollution – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Small Impoundments – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Reservoir – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition Fred Janssen reported he was elected as the new chair. They are finishing up plans for an all-day symposium at Baltimore on vegetation and its impacts on fisheries. They also plan to initiate an attitude/opinion survey regarding catch-and-release of largemouth bass.

Striped Bass – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition it was reported that they plan to set up website information to combat electronic misinformation being traded about on the Internet.

Trout – The report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Warmwater Streams – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book. In addition, it was reported they are looking into putting together another warmwater streams symposium, probably in conjunction with the 2004 spring meeting in Oklahoma City. The warmwater streams video is finally finished and ready for distribution.

Instream Flow – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Non-Game – Report stands as presented in the Briefing Book.

Appointed and Elected Positions:

AFS Nominating Committee Representative – A slate of candidates has been developed but not announced at this time.

Newsletter Editor – Scheduled newsletters have been distributed.

SEAFWA Proceedings, Fisheries Editor – South Carolina will host SEAFWA after Alabama and committee appointments are being made.

SEAFWA Director’s Liaison – Mike Van Den Avyle reported that he has been involved in discussions regarding proposed changes to the SEAFWA Proceedings, as drafted by the Wildlife Society. He then reviewed briefly a list of those changes.

Watson Award Committee Representative – None given.

Old Business:

Change in Meeting Emphasis – SEAFWA meeting attendance has been steadily dwindling while midyear meeting attendance has been growing. The logical approach would be to move officer changes, awards, and etc. to the midyear meeting instead of the fall meeting held in conjunction with the SEAFWA meeting. So, all officer terms and committee appointments will carry over until next spring. No motion required for this change. Discussion regarding what to call the February and October/November meetings resulted in consensus that it should be simply spring and fall. Much discussion regarding logistics associated with the change. It was suggested that perhaps a transition committee is needed to address logistical matters.

New Business:

Spring Meeting – President Boxrucker encouraged someone to volunteer to host the 2005 spring meeting. He also asked Larry Connor to update the Midyear Meeting Procedural Manual to reflect the change in emphasis described in Old Business. Bob Curry and Dave Rizzuto offered to help in that effort.

Larry Connor moved and Fred Janssen seconded to adjourn the EXCOM meeting and the motion carried. President Boxrucker adjourned the meeting at 1204.