154th Annual Meeting

This session concerns the specific methods to incorporate co-produced knowledge into scientific models of fishery population dynamics. These efforts are often integrated within an “open-science” framework to facilitate transparency and participation, so we especially encourage presentations that include this sub-theme. This session will include breakout sessions, a panel discussion with representatives from Hawai’ian commercial and recreational fisheries, sociologists, and economists. There will be a lightning round for short-format (5 minute) student talks, and we invite presenters to submit a “show and tell” of their open science frameworks (e.g., Shiny applications, interactive web sites, citizen science dashboards) in a special sub-session.

Organizer: Megumi Oshima, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Felipe Carvalho, Kristan Blackhart, Maia Kapur

Inland and marine fisheries are coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) in which humans and nature are linked via reciprocal interactions that operate at local, regional, and global scales.  Fisheries are central to food security, nutrition, and livelihoods globally, yet fisheries are also highly vulnerable to threats including over-exploitation, impacts from invasive species, and degradation from landscape-scale stressors such as urbanization, agriculture, and climate change. We welcome presentations that decompose specific fisheries according to CHANS frameworks (e.g., Liu et al. 2017; Carlson et al. 2022); present data needs for more effectively understanding fisheries as CHANS; use the CHANS framework to highlight potential management actions; and/or emphasize policy needs to address multi-scalar interactions and improve conservation of fisheries resources.  Our session will be followed by a panel discussion to review the CHANS framework, drawing from lessons learned throughout the session to enrich the overall understanding and applicability of fisheries as CHANS.

Organizer: Kyle Brumm, Michigan State University, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Dana Infante, William Taylor, Abigail Bennett, Andrew K. Carlson, Alison Coulter, Tommy Detmer, Dennis DeVries, Michael Kinnison, Mark Pegg, Travis Seaborn

Supported by: United States Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture Multistate Research, Introduced and Invasive Species Section of AFS, Equal Opportunity Section of AFS

Climate change is exacerbating existing environmental stressors through changes to the fundamental drivers of ecosystems. These changes in temperature, precipitation, seasonal cycles, biogeochemistry impact processes such as deoxygenation, nutrient and carbon cycling, respiration rates, stratification, ocean circulation, upwelling, and mixing. This leads to implications for the prevalence, severity, and duration of harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification, and hypoxia events. Understanding how these multiple stressors interact and subsequently impact species, habitat assemblages, and ecosystems is critical for place-based management.

Advancing our understanding through both western science and other traditional ways of knowing the combined impacts of multiple stressors on the function and health of marine species within the context of climate change is important to improve decisions and management of ecosystems. This session is designed to share and expand our understanding of how multiple stressors are currently impacting ecosystems, and how these impacts will change and interact under future climate scenarios.

Organizer: Kaity Goldsmith, NOAA Ocean Acidifcation Program, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Erica Ombres

Climate change represents a significant challenge to aquatic ecosystems. Understanding how species may be affected will help determine feasible adaptation solutions. Adaptive capacity (AC – the ability of a species, ecosystem, or human system to cope with or adjust to climate change) has been applied through climate change vulnerability assessments, with select examples existing as wildlife applications. Despite potential benefits, there seems to be limited adoption of AC by aquatic researchers. Consideration of species’ inherent attributes and external constraints can inform management of potential AC and response (e.g., “shift-in-space” vs. “persist-in-place”; Thurman et al. 2020). Synthesis of fish vulnerabilities can aid climate-adaptation planning and lead to preemptive management intervention strategies to enhance AC. This session explores the application of AC to assess fish resilience to climate change. We invite presentations that explore a) species attributes vulnerable to climate change, and b) implementation of management strategies designed to enhance fish AC.

Organizer: Spencer Gardner, Purdue University, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Holly Embke

Supported by: Purdue University, USGS Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center

Managers must balance the economic costs and ecological benefits of water quality and habitat improvements to maintain conditions suitable for both aquatic life and human uses. Reliable estimates of costs and benefits can aid allocating resources and communicating the rationale for restoration planning. Tools and approaches are needed that link management actions to water quality and habitat improvements, and further link those improvements to changes in fish populations and human values. For this symposium, we welcome contributions that address:

1) biophysical models linking human actions to water quality, habitat, and fish populations responses, and

2) economic tools and approaches for evaluating benefits associated with water quality improvements and fish population responses.

We especially encourage examples that link water quality improvements to fish populations in a decision support framework.

This symposium aims to generate discussion and foster collaborations to advance the science and practice of water quality valuation for fishery endpoints.

Organizer: Joseph Ebersole, US EPA, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Hannah Lesch, Michael Papenfus, Brittany Beebe, Ryan Hill, Robert Fonner

Supported by: US Environmental Protection Agency, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Fish management in North America has long relied on the rotenone.  Despite being one of the most versatile, well-studied, safe, cost-effective, and valuable tools available, challenges remain.  Regulatory agencies continue to question rotenone’s safety, while the public is often misinformed and leery of the need for rotenone.  More work is required to overcome these hurdles. The symposium focuses on messaging for engaging the public, using fish and wildlife coalitions to build project support, and using standardized methodologies that focus on environmental stewardship to achieve the desired outcome while minimizing impacts.  We welcome presentations on rotenone’s role in sports fisheries, AIS control, conservation of native fishes and amphibians, and restoration of native wetlands.   The symposium will start with a summary of current constraints and end with a discussion on various viewpoints and corrective actions.  Limited financial assistance is available for travel (contact one of the symposium organizers for information).

Organizer: Brian Finlayson, Fish Management Chemicals Committee of American Fisheries Society, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Donald Skaar

Supported by: AFS Fish Management Chemicals Committee and Central Life Sciences

Recent reviews suggest that undergraduate curricula in fisheries programs will need to adapt to produce students with the knowledge, competencies, and skills needed to promote management, conservation, and sustainability of fisheries resources through the work of state, federal, provincial and tribal agencies, NGOs, and the private sector. Undergraduate curricula are constrained by a 120-credit hour limit, requiring careful consideration of curriculum components and their integration with graduate curricula. This symposium will bring together representatives from the public sector, private sector, tribes, NGOs, universities, and AFS to discuss critical knowledge, competencies, and skills that should be addressed in the fisheries undergraduate and graduate curricula and in continuing education for agency employees. We will include graduate students and early career professionals in the discussion.

Organizer: Melissa Wuellner, University of Nebraska at Kearney, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Marty Hamel, Joel Snodgrass, Selina Heppell, John Carroll

Supported by: AFS Education Section; National Association of University Fish and Wildlife Programs

The ability to compare data over time and space; via standard sampling, indices and comparison methods; has revolutionized inland fisheries science, contributing to baseline knowledge of fish populations and ecology, their conservation and management, and fisheries education. Conversely, inability to compare such data has hampered fisheries planning, trend monitoring, and collecting adequate sample sizes for useful conclusions. Continent-wide standards for fish sampling continue to progress.  A new edition of the American Fisheries Society’s Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes, supported by AFS, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now available.  Here we (1) describe updates in the 2nd edition, (2) present examples of how such methods can be used by managers and researchers, and (3) provide short overviews in other topics relevant to freshwater fish sampling standardization.  Most of the session will be in “speed presentation” format.

Organizer: Scott Bonar, USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, [email protected]

Co-organizers: Norman Mercado-Silva, Kevin Pope

Supported by: American Fisheries Society, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service