August 23, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2022 Contact: Beth Beard [email protected] RICHARD BEAMISH AND BRIAN RIDDELL RECEIVE RICKER CONSERVATION AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY (Grand Rapids, Michigan) August 23, 2023 –Richard Beamish, Ph.D. and Brian Riddell, Ph.D., were awarded the William E. Ricker Resource Conservation Award at the American Fisheries Society (AFS) 153rd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. AFS President April Croxton announced the award at the Business Meeting of the Society. The Ricker Award is presented to an individual or organization for a singular accomplishment or long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation at a national or international level. Dr. Beamish is with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (emeritus) in Nanaimo, British Columbia, and Dr. Riddell is with the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) in Vancouver, British Columbia (retired, Nanaimo, BC). Together, they proposed the concept the International Year of the Salmon (IYS) to encourage greater international cooperation in research and monitoring of Pacific salmon. As part of the IYS, they privately organized funding for expeditions to study the ocean ecology of salmon in the Gulf of Alaska in the winters of 2019, 2020 and 2022.  This was an incredible effort with funding from governments, NGOs, academic partners, individuals, and the fishing industry in Canada and the United States; and involved researchers from Canada, the United States, Japan, Russia, and Korea.  These expeditions provided new insights to the mechanisms regulating salmon production and their winter ecology in the North Pacific Ocean.  Plus, the indisputable need for international cooperation to study salmon in such a huge and diverse habitat. The IYS (2019-2022, https://yearofthesalmon.org/) was expanded and governed by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO).   The results of all studies are being shared in technical reports, workshop and conference abstracts, press coverage from expeditions, and access via virtual technical briefings and synthetic publications. Beamish and Riddell noted the special significance of this award established to recognize their friend and colleague, Bill Ricker; and acknowledged NPAFC and PSF for supporting this “big” idea and the effort required to conduct it. “This award was created in 1995 to honor the contributions of Canadian scientist Bill Ricker, truly one of the founders of modern fisheries science,” said Croxton. “This incredible effort by Drs. Beamish and Riddell will make a lasting impact on international fisheries research and management.” # # # Editor’s Notes: Founded in 1870, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is the world’s oldest and largest fisheries science society. The mission of AFS is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. With five journals and numerous books and conferences, AFS is the leading source of fisheries science and management information in North America and around the world.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2023 Contact: Beth Beard [email protected] ERIC PALKOVACS OF UC SANTA CRUZ RECEIVES EXCELLENCE IN FISHERIES EDUCATION AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY (Grand Rapids, Michigan) August 23, 2023 –Eric Palkovacs, Ph.D., of the University of California Santa Cruz, received the Excellence in Fisheries Education Award at the American Fisheries Society (AFS) 153rd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. AFS President April Croxton announced the award at the Business Meeting of the Society. The Excellence in Fisheries Education Award is presented to an individual to recognize excellence in organized teaching and advising in some aspect of fisheries education. Dr. Palkovacs is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Santa Cruz. He is also Director of the Fisheries Collaborative Program, which supports collaborative projects between UC Santa Cruz and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center. His research interests include freshwater ecology, eco-evolutionary dynamics, fish ecology, fisheries management, and conservation. He is particularly interested in the ecological consequences of intraspecific genetic and phenotypic variation and applications of eco-evolutionary dynamics for fisheries management. He is actively engaged in conservation and management of anadromous fishes, such as salmon, on the U.S. Pacific coast and river herring on the U.S. Atlantic coast. Dr. Palkovacs has made key contributions to fisheries education through his teaching, mentoring, and DEI activities. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in freshwater ecology and fisheries ecology. His courses engage students in active learning and connect theory with practical applications. He is an engaged mentor for undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers. He has advised 11 Ph.D. students, 5 master’s students, 10 postdoctoral researchers, and many undergraduate thesis projects. He has served on numerous graduate advisory committees. His students and postdocs have gone onto careers in academia, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Dr. Palkovacs is active in broadening diversity and creating an inclusive culture by launching programs such as the “Diverse Voices in Fisheries Science” seminar series. He has been the faculty mentor for the Santa Cruz-Monterey Bay Area Student Subunit of AFS since its founding in 2015. “For those who know my work, you might know that I am interested in ‘extended phenotypes’ – the traits of organisms that go on to shape their environments,” Palkovacs said. “To me, teaching and mentoring are our most powerful ‘extended phenotypes.’ Through these, we can share knowledge and experience, inspire new ways of thinking and acting, and build community and broaden diversity. We are all both mentors and mentees. I encourage everybody to exercise your own ‘extended phenotype’ for the betterment of our field, our fisheries, and our world.” # # # Editor’s Notes: Founded in 1870, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is the world’s oldest and largest fisheries science society. The mission of AFS is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. With five journals and numerous books and conferences, AFS is the leading source of fisheries science and management information in North America and around the world. General link: fisheries.org Link to AFS Annual Meeting: https://afsannualmeeting.fisheries.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2023 Contact: Beth Beard 240-687-3761 [email protected] VERMEJO PARK RANCH RECEIVES PRESIDENT’S FISHERY CONSERVATION AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY (Grand Rapids, Michigan) August 23, 2023 –Vermejo Park Ranch in Raton, New Mexico, received the President’s Fishery Conservation Award at the American Fisheries Society (AFS) 153rd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. AFS President April Croxton presented the award to Carter Kruse, Director of Conservation and Science for Turner Enterprises, Inc., at the Business Meeting of the Society. The President’s Fishery Conservation Award is awarded for singular accomplishments or long-term contributions that advance aquatic resource conservation at a regional or local level. Vermejo Park Ranch (VPR) was recognized for their long-term partnership with federal and state entities for 35 years in efforts to restore the habitat on more than 550,000 acres of mountains and plains in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. This vast expanse includes extensive headwater habitats for Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout, Rio Grande Chub, and Rio Grande Sucker. After the completion of the project elements on the ranch, VPR continued to provide support as the project moved downstream onto Carson National Forest lands. In total, 120 miles of stream habitats and the lakes and reservoir mentioned above will be restored for native species, increasing the range-wide distribution of Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout by 16%. “We congratulate Vermejo Park Ranch and Turner Enterprises (TEI) for their dedication to restoring aquatic habitat for the benefit of these at-risk native species. They set a wonderful example of what a long-term partnership between private landowners and state and federal agencies can accomplish. Simply put, this project would not have been possible without the dedicated and gracious partnership of VPR and TEI,” said Croxton. # # # Editor’s Notes: Founded in 1870, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) is the world’s oldest and largest fisheries science society. The mission of AFS is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals. With five journals and numerous books and conferences, AFS is the leading source of fisheries science and management information in North America and around the world. General link: fisheries.org Link to AFS Annual Meeting: https://afsannualmeeting.fisheries.org/