american fisheries society newsletter

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

ANNUAL MEETING

Meeting Registration Opening the Week of June 21

In order to assist those organizations approaching the end of their fiscal year with travel funds remaining to be spent, we will be opening Baltimore Annual Meeting registration next week! Early registration rates will continue until August 31st. Abstract submission and hotel room blocks are currently open.

POLICY

Over the last few years, with the hard work of our members, AFS has served as a leading voice in Washington, DC, and a champion for healthy fish and fish habitat. Your membership supports this important work to advocate for clean water, ensure proper funding to conserve fish habitat and support healthy fish populations, and bring science to policymakers on a range of fisheries issues. Now more than ever, we need your support and engagement as we work with conservation partners, federal agencies, and lawmakers. We ask you to continue to work with us -- if you are not currently a member, please consider joining or renewing your membership in AFS. If you are member, we thank you and ask that you encourage a friend to join today!

Recovering America's Wildlife Act: Sponsor Drive

We would like to thank our AFS Units that have sent letters in support of the Recovering America's Wildlife Act, including:
  • Kansas Chapter
  • Pennsylvania Chapter
  • Texas Chapter
  • Minnesota Chapter
  • Wisconsin Chapter
  • Cal-Neva Chapter
  • North Carolina Chapter
  • Mid-Atlantic Chapter
  • Mississippi Chapter
  • Florida Chapter
  • Louisiana Chapter
The next month is crucial for recruiting more bill sponsors. AFS Units can sign onto a group letter or use our letter template to quickly and easily ask your Congressperson to support this important bill. Individuals can email or call their member of Congress. For other ways you can take action, see our recorded joint webinar with The Wildlife Society.

Clean Water Act Updates

On June 9, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army announced their intention to initiate a new rulemaking process to pull back the harmful Navigable Waters Protection rule that eliminated Clean Water Act protections for important streams and wetlands while they work to establish a durable, science-based definition of "Waters of the United States." Further details of the agencies’ plans, including opportunities for public participation, are pending.

In May, AFS and other aquatic science societies filed an amici brief on a Navigable Waters Protection Rule case in the U.S. District Court for South Carolina. The brief argues that the agencies failed to quantify the negative effects of new rule on the integrity of the nation's waters.

SCIENCE

Insights on Angler Satisfaction from the “Great Red Snapper Count”

Management of Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus has been a topic of much scientific debate and intensive public scrutiny. In response to political, public, and management desires for more robust data on Red Snapper populations, a gulfwide initiative commonly referred to as the “Great Red Snapper Count” was funded to estimate the absolute abundance of Red Snapper in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. This Featured Paper describes the results of an online survey that focuses on the human dimensions of a controversial and highly important fishery.

Transborder Gene Flow between Canada and the USA and Fine-Scale Population Structure of Atlantic Cod in the Gulf of Maine Region

Fishery managers have struggled for decades to rebuild stocks of Atlantic Cod Gadus morhua in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, and the resolution of current fine-scale population structure will surely help those efforts. Using double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing, the authors of this paper analyzed 248 adult and 215 juvenile Atlantic Cod collected from areas bordering the Canada–USA boundary in 2017–2018.

FISHERIES

Transformative Action for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

I have written several times of the critical need for us to amplify efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within both AFS and our profession. Those columns spurred a number of responses from members, including a letter to AFS officers from three long-term AFS members, all recipients of the AFS Emmeline Moore Prize for their leadership in DEI efforts. While talk of DEI raises awareness, progress can only be made with concrete actions: here members have responded to the calls for action with specific recommendations. Their suggestions offer new paths and strategies that could help supercharge our DEI efforts, and AFS leadership will take them under close advisement as we work to develop a DEI strategic plan. I invite you to review their letter, and to share your related comments and suggestions with your fellow members in the new “Letters” section of Fisheries magazine, or directly with AFS leadership.

Mexican Small-Scale Fisheries Reveal New Insights into Low-Carbon Seafood and “Climate-Friendly” Fisheries Management

As a society, we are confronted with the question of how best to feed an expanding human population, and some have pointed to seafood as a “climate-friendly” option. To date, the contributions of small-scale fisheries (SSFs) have been largely excluded from studies on food footprint. The authors of this paper calculated the emission intensity profiles for seven seafood types generated by Mexican SSFs.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Electrofishing Webinar

Join us on June 30 at 1:00 p.m. EDT for an electrofishing webinar with Kevin Meyer and Jim Reynolds, "The 100-Watt Method: A Protocol for Backpack Electrofishing in Small Streams." Registration is free for AFS members.
2021-candidates-web

Election Voting Deadline June 24th

The deadline for casting your ballot in this year's officer election is June 24th. AFS members, please check your email for voting instructions.

Hutton Challenge 2.0

This year, the Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program is launching another funding challenge building on the success of our 2020 campaign in conjunction with the "Spring Virtual Conference for Canceled Talks." Our goal for the Hutton Funding Challenge 2.0 is to reach 100 individual donations and raise $5,000 from June 1 to September 1. All donations will go directly to the Robert F. Hutton Fund to support more student activities and internships for future program years.

Throughout the summer, tune into our Instagram accounts (@afshuttonprogram and @americanfisheries) to learn about what our 2021 Hutton Scholars are up to - we have lots in store for the students and our followers!

RESOURCES

EVENTS: See upcoming AFS and other fisheries events in our Events Calendar
CAREERS: For the latest JOBS postings from around the U.S. and Canada
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