Program

Symposia

The Western Division and Washington-British Columbia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society invite you to attend the 2020 Annual General Meeting to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada April 13 – 17. The theme this year will be “Crossing Boundaries and Navigating Intersections”.

In order to advance our understanding and management of fisheries and aquatic ecosystems we will need to boldly cross boundaries and navigate intersections – we will need to go where we have not gone before. Boundaries are divides that may include technology, methodology, mindsets, disciplines, environments, borders, politics, communications, values and the like. Intersections represent pathways where these often-separate factors converge. This meeting will highlight the myriad and successful ways boundaries have been crossed and intersections navigated in fisheries and aquatic sciences to achieve desired outcomes. A special focus will be given on generating outcomes from the diversity of symposia presented. Outcomes may include publications, proposals, recommendations, agreements, identification or clarification of uncertainties, and other action items. Generating outcomes within our meeting will leverage collective talent and help us to cross boundaries and navigate intersections for the betterment of our fisheries profession and advancement of aquatic culture. Proposals about harvest, fish culture, long-term genetic monitoring, Columbia Basin Partnership, Columbia River Treaty, science x policy, management of species conflicts are particularly desired.

To review the Call for Papers, please click here.

To view all scheduled symposia, please click here.

To submit an abstract for this meeting, please click here.

To view the Schedule at a Glance, please navigate to this page.


Plenary Speakers

Daniel Pauly, Ph.D. Sea Around Us | Oceans and Fisheries & Department of Zoology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Date: Monday, April 13, 2020
Time: 1:20–2:00 pm

Title: Using the Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT) for crisscrossing the boundary between life history and physiology

Abstract:

A summary of the Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory (GOLT) is presented, i.e., of a theory seeking to explain a variety of life history features of fish and aquatic invertebrate by the fact that the surface of their gills (and hence their oxygen supply) cannot, as 2-dimensional objects, keep up with the growth of their 3-dimensional bodies, and thus with their oxygen requirements. Various processes and attributes of fish and aquatic invertebrates are presented which had to date no mechanistic explanation, but which fit neatly within the GOLT, offered as a tool to interpret phenomena that until now were perceived as issues to be studied by different disciplines. However, the GOLT should also help to address current practical issues, such as arise for aquaculture and fisheries management under conditions of ocean warming and deoxygenation.

Biography:
Born in France and raised in Switzerland, Daniel Pauly studied in Germany, where he acquired a doctorate in fisheries biology in 1979, from the University of Kiel. He did his first intercontinental travel in 1971 (from Germany to Ghana for field work related to his Masters) and has since experienced a multitude of countries, cultures, and modes of exploiting aquatic ecosystems in Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. This perspective allowed him to develop tools for managing data-sparse fisheries, as prevailed for example in the Philippines, where Dr. Pauly worked through the 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1994, Dr. Pauly became a Professor at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, and was its Director from 2003 to 2008. In 1999, Daniel Pauly founded, and since leads, a large research project devoted to identifying and quantifying global fisheries trends, funded until mid-2014 mainly by the Pew Charitable Trusts and since by a number of charitable organizations, and called the Sea Around Us after Rachel Carson’s 1951 bestselling book. Daniel Pauly is also co-founder of FishBase.org, the online encyclopedia of more than 30,000 fish species, and he has helped develop the widely-used Ecopath modeling software. He is the author or co-author of over 1000 scientific and other articles, books and book chapters on fish, fisheries and related topics. Two books, reflecting his current interests were published in 2010: “Five Easy Pieces: Reporting on the Global Impact of Fisheries” and “Gasping Fish and Panting Squids: Oxygen, Temperature and the Growth of Water-Breathing Animals”. In 2016, with Dirk Zeller, he published an article titled “Catch reconstruction reveal that global marine fisheries catches are higher than reported and declining” (DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10244) and the Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries, concluding a decade-long activity of the Sea Around Us.

Dr. Pauly is the recipient of multiple international prizes and awards, including seven honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and Canada. Since 2003, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and since 2016, he is University Killam Professor.

He also received the Award of Excellence of the American Fisheries Society (‘04); the International Cosmos Prize, Japan (‘05), the Volvo Environmental Prize, Sweden (‘06), the Excellence in Ecology Prize, Germany (‘07), the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology, Spain (‘08), the Albert Ier Grand Medal in the Science category (’16) among others. Daniel was also knighted as Chevalier de la Légion D’Honneur (’17) by the French government on Bastille Day.


Helen Neville, Ph.D. Trout Unlimited, Boise, Idaho, United States.

Date: Monday, April 13, 2020
Time: 2:00–2:40 pm

Title: Cross-cutting translational science to inform conservation needs and management options for the imperiled Lahontan cutthroat trout

Abstract:

The Lahontan cutthroat trout represents one of the major lineages of cutthroat trout, now known to have evolved from an ancestral form present in the Lahontan Basin of the U.S. over 10 million years ago. Subsequently shaped by multiple glacial cycles and the massive Lake Lahontan, the Lahontan cutthroat trout evolved into geographically unique stream and lake forms across its modern desert and montane environment. But like many other cutthroat trout, it is now lost from most of these habitats and is (U.S.) listed as threatened. With a host of agency and university collaborators, we have developed cross-cutting scientific research and resources to help managers understand conservation status and needs and prioritize management options for this imperiled fish. This collective work has included predicting climate change impacts, developing new Multiple Population Viability Analysis approaches for estimating extinction risk, assessing riparian habitat condition via remote sensing, and applying genetic/genomic tools for effectiveness monitoring and status assessment. Participation on various management teams and rancher collectives ensures our science is relevant, translational, and integrated into current management planning.

Biography:
Helen Neville is Senior Scientist for Trout Unlimited. She leads org-wide science guidance and is working to improve professional networking among TU’s dispersed science staff and increase integration of science with TU’s programmatic and grassroots conservation efforts. Trained as a geneticist, Helen’s research has focused primarily on applying genetic tools to improve our understanding of the ecology, evolution, and conservation needs of salmon and trout. She also oversees a multi-faceted program developing science, partnerships and conservation actions to assist recovery of the federally listed Lahontan cutthroat trout. In her current position, Helen gets to intertwine her affinity for collaboration, passion for conservation – and occasionally her wonky love of genetics – in a perfect mix of connecting people around research questions that advance the science and effectiveness of aquatic conservation.


Steven J. Cooke, Ph.D. Professor of Biology | Director of the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.

Date: Monday, April 13, 2020
Time: 2:40–3:20 pm

Title: Working across boundaries: Theoretical and practical perspectives relevant to fisheries professionals

Abstract:
Fisheries professional routinely work across boundaries whether they be jurisdictional, realms (e.g., freshwater-marine), disciplinary, or otherwise. There can be challenges with doing so yet the pay-offs can be huge. This is particularly the case for work that involves multiple disciplinarities (e.g., multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity). In this presentation I will discuss why applied fisheries problems often demand an interdisciplinary approach. I will also explore enablers and barriers to interdisciplinarity. Finally, I will explore several case studies that highlight the ways in which interdisciplinary research can enrich fisheries research and lead to solutions to applied fisheries problems.

Biography:
Cooke is a Professor of Biology and Director of the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Sciences at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.  His work spans the natural and social sciences with a particular focus on developing solutions to problems facing fish and other aquatic organisms.  He has much experience working with practitioners, policy makers and stakeholders to co-create useable knowledge.  Cooke founded the Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation and is working with diverse partners to build capacity for evidence synthesis.  He has published on topics such as fisheries management, conservation science, physiological ecology, animal behaviour, and human dimensions of natural resource management.  He has recently led a Royal Society of Canada working group in Interdisciplinarity that culminated in a white paper.  Cooke is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Secretary of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, and has previously served as President of the International Section and the Canadian Aquatic Resources Section of the American Fisheries Society.  He is Editor in Chief of the journal “Conservation Physiology”.  Check out his website at www.FECPL.ca or follow him on twitter at @SJC_Fishy.


Debaters

Some boundaries in fisheries science and management should be crossed and others are debatable about whether they should be crossed.  We will host a debate about whether scientists and scientific organizations should cross the boundary from science into policy advocacy.  Please join us after the Plenary at 3:40 PM on Monday, April 13th to engage in this important event on an important topic.

Scott A. Bonar, Ph.D. USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit | Professor of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona, United States.

Scott A. Bonar is a Professor of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona and is leader of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. He has a B.S. in Science Education from the University of Evansville and a Ph.D. in Fisheries from the University of Washington. Bonar has conducted award winning research in natural resources programs of state and federal governments, universities and private industry for over 30 years, authoring over 130 publications on fisheries biology and natural resource communication. His book on communication, The Conservation Professional’s Guide to Working with People was called “a must read” by the journal Ecology; “brimming with insights from hands-on experience” by Paul R. Ehrlich, Stanford University Professor and Author of The Population Bomb; and “a guidepost (which) should be a part of college curricula in every natural resources program” by Mamie Parker, former assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He was lead editor of Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes, a best seller of the American Fisheries Society which involved contributions from 284 scientists from over 100 organizations across North America. He is currently President of the American Fisheries Society, the oldest and largest fisheries science organization in the world.


Wayne Landis, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology at Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, United States.

Wayne Landis, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Institute of Environmental Toxicology at Western Washington University. Dr. Landis’s current area of research is ecological risk assessment at large spatial and temporal scales. Dr. Landis’s research contributions also include creation of the Action at a Distance Hypothesis for landscape toxicology, the application of complex systems theory to risk assessment, and development of the Relative Risk Model and its Bayesian network derivative for multiple stressor and regional-scale risk assessment and specialized methods for calculating risk due to invasive species and emergent diseases. He also has patents and papers on the use of enzymes and organisms for the degradation of chemical weapons. Dr. Landis has authored over 180 peer-reviewed publications and government technical reports, made over 400 scientific presentations, edited four books, and wrote the textbook, Introduction to Environmental Toxicology, now in its fifth edition. He has consulted for industry, non-governmental organizations as well as federal (U.S. and Canada), state, provincial, and local governments. Dr. Landis serves on the editorial boards of the journals Human and Ecological Risk Assessment and Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, and is the former ecological risk area editor for Risk Analysis. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and served on the SETAC Board of Directors from 2000-2003. In 2007 he was named a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis and in 2016 a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. From 2010 to 2018 he served the Science Panel for the Puget Sound Partnership, a state agency that focuses on the restoration of Puget Sound. Dr. Landis received his PhD in Zoology (Indiana University), MA in Biology (Indiana University), and his BA in Biology (Wake Forest University)