153rd Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society – August 20-24, 2023, Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Adaptive Approaches to Understand and Manage Changes in Fisheries

The American Fisheries Society, President April Croxton, and the Michigan Chapter are excited to host the 153rd AFS Annual Meeting, August 20-24, 2023 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Home to the iconic Blue Bridge and Grand River, AFS is thrilled to return to the city of Grand Rapids following a successful Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting held earlier this year. As we continue to address the various stressors impacting fisheries and their ecosystems, we hope that this year’s theme, “Adaptive approaches to understand and manage changes in fisheries,” will stimulate a wide range of sessions as we bring together professionals from across North America and countries throughout the world.

Conference Timeline

Session submission open

Session submission closes

Abstract submission opens

Registration opens

Early bird registration ends in early July

Abstract submission closes

Conference begins

December 19, 2022

February 7, 2023

March 9, 2023

April 1, 2023

April 21, 2023

August 20, 2023

HOUSING

Book your stay at the Amway Grand Plaza or Courtyard Marriott. Special attendee rate if booked through the AFS hotel block.

EXPLORE GRAND RAPIDS

Check out special attendee discounts at a number of local restaurants, attractions and other businesses.

EXHIBIT WITH AFS

Exhibitor Registration is opening soon! Download the exhibitor brochure for more information.

SPONSOR AFS

Make an impactful investment in fisheries education, science, and management by sponsorshing!

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Continuing Education Courses

Take your fisheries career to the next level by gaining in-demand skills right here in Grand Rapids! Sign up when you register for the meeting, or you can add-on classes later.

Sessions

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Dr. Kirk Winemiller’s Contributions and Enduring Legacy: Perspectives in Fisheries Science and Conservation across Tropical and Temperate Regions

This symposium will highlight Dr. Kirk Winemiller’s contribution to the ecology and conservation of freshwater ecosystems in tropical and temperate ecoregions. The symposium is organized by a large number of

Research to Inform Walleye Management: Native, Introduced, and Invasive Aspects

Walleye Sander vitreus is one of the most sought after game fishes in North America. Walleye management goals differ dramatically among waterbodies and regions, from restoration efforts in its native

The Future is Now: Supporting Students and Early Career Professionals in AFS

Recruitment and retention of new fisheries professionals is an issue affecting all levels and units of AFS. This symposium was created by Students and Early Career Professionals (S&ECP) with the

Engaging Youth in Fisheries Science and Stewardship through Place-Based Education Practices

Engaging youth through fisheries education experiences offers opportunities to advance goals of the fisheries science community. Youth engagement serves as a foundation for fostering the next generation of informed fishery

What Does Ecosystem Management Mean to Inland Fisheries Biologists and Managers?

Every US state receives federal funding for fisheries management in the form of Sportfish Restoration Act money and these funds must be used for fisheries management activities that are limited

Introduced and Invasive Species: Monitoring, Management, and Ecology

Management of introduced and invasive species continually adapts to minimize ecological impacts and economic losses. The Introduced and Invasive Species Section welcomes submissions on a broad range of topics related

Exploration of the Science and Innovation Supporting Selective Connectivity at Barriers

Addressing the tension between improving aquatic connectivity for fishery restoration versus using dams and barriers for invasive species management (the connectivity conundrum) is one of the greatest issues facing fishery

Failing Successfully: How Unexpected Results Improve Fisheries Science

“Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.” If this quote doesn’t sum up fisheries science, I don’t know what does. Traditionally the scientific method tells

Challenges and Solutions for Using Citizen Science Data in Fisheries Management

Citizen science has generated interest among fisheries researchers and managers in recent years. The ability of volunteers to cover large areas and help collect information on economically and ecologically important

Innovative Session / Not accepting abstracts

Fish Farming in the Great Lakes Region: Hatcheries, Private Farms, and Partnerships

Government agencies in the Great Lakes region are responsible for managing fisheries as a natural resource, which includes growing fish in aquaculture systems to subsequently stock them into public waters.

A Fisheries Biologist’s Guide to Using Human Dimensions Data

Natural resource agencies often collect human dimensions data, but staff may not realize how to maximize their potential and practical application in fishery management. Using a combination of traditional symposium

Biology, Ecology, and Management of Esox Spp. in Changing Environments

Esocids are ecologically important predators that often support fisheries. Although numerous populations are thriving, stock depletion or extirpation in many waters have occurred due to overfishing, habitat alteration, and disease.

Vaterite, Calcite, and Other Otolith Weirdness: Extent and Exploration of Causes

While otolith techniques are well-accepted and broadly used in fisheries studies, less is known about the causes of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystallographic diversity in otoliths and how this diversity can

Offshore Wind, Fish, and Fisheries – Emerging Knowledge and Applications

U.S. offshore wind development is expected to create 30 gigawatts of generation capacity by 2030, requiring more than 2,000 turbines on fixed or floating foundations. Commercial-scale leasing activity in U.S.

Modeling Linkages Between Clean Water Act Administration and Fisheries Management

The Clean Water Act supports a variety of designated uses, fisheries are one of the most pronounced in terms of their ecological and socio-economic value. Therefore, administrators of the Clean

Becoming Relevant to a Changing User-base: Strategies to Manage Future Fisheries

Natural resource agencies can connect with people through the diverse ways they experience fish and nature through transformational change and using a relevancy framework. To conserve fishes into the future,

Soft Skills for Enhancing the Success of Early Career Professionals

This symposium provides an overview of soft skills and navigating the early career ladder that improve young professionals’ ability to establish themselves in the fisheries field. Presentations on how-tos, tips

Adapting Telemetry Tools, Techniques, and Analyses for Enhanced Understanding and Management of Fishes

Advancements in electronic tagging technology (e.g., telemetry, PIT tags) have expanded the ability of fisheries scientists and managers to study the ecology of fish populations. In particular, acoustic telemetry has

Should They Stay or Should They Go? Managing Dams as Agencies

Natural Resource agencies across North America are driven by mission statements to conserve, protect, and manage natural and cultural resources for current and future generations, but it’s not uncommon to

Innovative Session / Not accepting abstracts

Coolwater Aquaculture Workshop – Challenges, Updates, and Continued Collaboration

The AFS Fish Culture Section and Michigan DNR are co-hosting a one-day coolwater fish culture workshop in an “Innovative Session” format. This workshop signals a return to the pre-pandemic biennial

Spatiotemporal Variability in Aquatic Food Webs

Variability in abiotic conditions such as light, nutrients, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and precipitation drive differences in resource availability in time and space. Seasonality is a common temporal driver of food-web

Habitat Heterogeneity in Lake Michigan: Implications for Food Webs, Fish, and Fisheries

Lake Michigan is a spatially diverse system of habitat types supporting food webs, fish assemblages and fisheries. Habitat differences in abiotic conditions, productivity and prey availability may strongly influence community

Adaptive Management and Reform of Hatchery Programs for Fisheries Enhancement and Conservation

Hatchery programs have long been pursued for fisheries enhancement and conservation and are receiving renewed attention in the context of adaptation to global environmental change. While some hatchery programs bolster

Highlighting the Cutting Edge: Graduate and Early Career Research in Genetics-Genomics

Conservation genetics-genomics is a burgeoning field due to its rapid evolution and recent advancements of ‘omics’ technologies.” The use of next generation sequencing methods is changing not only what we

Adapting to Change in Fisheries Stock Assessment Science

State-of-the-art fisheries stock assessment models integrate diverse datasets to make predictions about fish populations and can be used to explore the responses of fish populations to alternative management actions. Increasingly,

Communicating Climate Change Impacts on Fisheries: Avoiding Controversy and Enhancing Buy-in

Climate change poses a major threat to fisheries around the world, but many fisheries managers/researchers lack the skills for effectively communicating this complex issue. It is critical for fisheries managers

Coast to Coast: Strategies, Tools, and Approaches for Applied Management of Salmonids

Many salmonid populations are federally threatened and endangered, or otherwise at-risk. From the Pacific, the Rockies, Upper Midwest, and Atlantic, managers must contend with environmental and anthropogenic threats that yield

Biology and Management of Lampreys in a Rapidly Changing Landscape

Lampreys are a unique and challenging group of fishes to manage and study, often overlooked as “primitive”. The distinct features that distinguish them from other fishes (e.g., reduced ability to

Advancements in Arctic Grayling Fish Culture

With changes to climate, shrinking refugia, and other factors the importance of captive rearing and supplementation of Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) is becoming more relevant. Augmented management objectives for Grayling

Innovative Advances in the Application of BRUV’s for Surveying Fisheries Resources

Methods for surveying fisheries resources are consistently advancing in order to provide the data needed for improving our understanding of aquatic ecosystems and for incorporation into stock assessments and fisheries

NONGAME: Underappreciated Fishes and their Management in the United States

For generations, management practices prioritizing game fisheries have been detrimental to native, traditionally-nongame fishes in the United States. The expansion of new fishing techniques such as bowfishing and others in

Incorporating DEIJA Activities: Where to Begin?

Across many levels of AFS, DEIJA initiatives are discussed and implemented to various degrees. However, the hurdle of setting a tangible goal and even the basics of where to begin

Getting it Right: Conservation Aquaculture for Recovery, Restoration and Supplementation

Since the environment for aquatic species raised in commercial production can be significantly different from the conditions needed for rearing conservation species with regard to water temperatures, food/feeding rates and

Invasive Carp Research: Sharing Across Watersheds to Improve Control Efforts

This symposium provides a forum to share research across geographical regions related to control of the four invasive carp species. Of particular interest is work that can be applied in

Ready, Set, Hire: Building a Sustainable and Diverse Workforce through Training and Pathways Programs to Increase Fish Careers

The NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (Fisheries) National Program Office for EEO and Diversity, is honored to bring back the Ready, Set, Hire Symposium. This session is an open forum

Downtown with Fish and Friends: Aquatic Ecology in Urban Settings

The historic linkage between urban centers and waterways has contributed to significant degradation of aquatic ecosystems due to factors like altered flow, loss of wetlands and floodplain connectivity, reduced channel

Growing Fisheries Research and Management through Angler Engagement

Anglers play an important role in providing scientists and managers with valuable data about the state of our fisheries. As new forms of electronic reporting come online, providing high resolution

We Are Not Adjacent to Nature, We Are Part of It

Fisheries are as essential to the African American/Black experience as they are to, Indigenous; Asian; European; Hispanic; Latin and other Americans. ‘We Are Not Adjacent to Nature We Are Part

Nigeria: A Case Study of Fishing Practices and the Different Economy Activities in Rivers Systems in Some of the Gwagawalada Area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

The important of the rivers in respect to fishing farming and how it benefits the community, innovative ways of preservation of the fish. Supported by: Talent Upgrade Global Concept Michael

“MacGyvering”: Innovative Problem Solving in Fisheries Science

The MacGyvers are back by popular demand! Fisheries scientists are often successful in “MacGyvering” innovative solutions to a question or problem. They do this by inventing, building, or repurposing technology

Implementing the Cooperative Research Model Through the NOAA Living Marine Resources CSC

Advances in the conservation and management of the nation’s living marine resources, and protection and restoration of healthy ecosystems are dependent upon research approaches that are innovative and integrative. Core

North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish: Challenges to Adaptive Management During Ecosystem Change

Sturgeon and Paddlefish possess life history characteristics that pose both challenges and advantages to management in the face of anthropogenically-mediated ecosystem perturbations. These species are iteroparous and highly fecund, but

Beaver and Trout Management in the Upper Midwest

Beavers play a complex role in the dynamics of low-gradient streams of the Upper Midwest, especially where dams alter important habitat for trout. Beaver control to maintain free-flowing conditions in

Mississippi River Basin Habitat Management for Interjurisdictional Fishes

The waters of the Mississippi River Basin (Basin) annually provide more than $19 billion of recreational fishing value. This economic value derives in part from species that require Basin habitats

Great Lakes Connecting Waters: Research, Monitoring, and Progress

This symposium highlights research and management activities in Great Lakes connecting waters. Presentations will provide an update on the status of aquatic and riparian ecology and management or highlight any

Integrating Monitoring and Decision Tools for Data-limited Endangered and Invasive Species

Decisions related to the development and implementation of management strategies for data limited endangered and invasive species can be hampered by critical uncertainties (i.e., those that limit decision-making), including a

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