The Bioengineering Section of the American Fisheries Society

Committees

Current Committees & Contact Information

Nominating Committee

According to the Section’s Bylaws, the Nominating Committee is chaired by the Immediate Past-President. Members of the Nominating Committee are appointed by the Section President, as necessary. Following the 2009 AFS National Meeting, Doug Dixon will assume the Office of Immediate Past President. In 2011, he will be responsible for identifying candidates for President-Elect and Secretary/Treasurer. Doug’s contact information is 804-642-1025 (Virginia Office); ddixon@epri.com.

Emerging Technology Committee

The Section’s EXCOM established an ad hoc Emerging Technology (ET) Committee in 2007. This committee provides strategic support and technical guidance for those who are pursuing either the development of new fish passage and intake protection technologies or the use of existing technologies in unusual and innovative conditions (e.g., as fish collection devices or as barriers to fish passage). The committee accomplishes this by assisting innovators, reviewing concepts, fostering communication, providing a forum for highlighting new technologies, and identifying potential funding sources. A development workgroup under the chairmanship of Lynn Reese of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has drafted interim bylaws describing its mission, objectives, operating structure, and technology evaluation criteria. The current workgroup is serving as the initial ad hoc committee. The committee began operation in 2007 and has quarterly (seasonal) meetings by conference call except during the AFS Annual Meeting when the committee meets in person. The Committee organizes and implements, when needed, a technical session at the AFS Annual Meeting during which time technology innovators will be provided an opportunity to present their ideas to the AFS membership and conference attendees. During its initial operation as an ad hoc Committee, the interim bylaws and operating procedures will be evaluated and revised as necessary. Committee membership will rotate beginning in 2010 at which time new members with education in fisheries science and professional experience in the development, evaluation, and use of fish passage, protection and restoration technologies will be called upon to serve.

Detailed information on Committee Bylaws and Operating Procedures

For new Committee activity in 2009 and future, following this link

For additional information on this committee, contact Ted Castro-Santos, current BES President at tcastro_santos@usgs.gov or Lynn Reese, Committee Chair at Lynn.A.Reese@usace.army.mil.

Telemetry Standards Committee

The Section’s EXCOM established an ad hoc committee to develop a “Unified Codeset” to support aquatic telemetry monitoring. Radio and acoustic telemetry have become essential tools in the development and improvement of fish passage solutions. With the development of pulsed codes, it has become possible to monitor multiple, even hundreds of unique codes simultaneously on a single frequency. To date, manufacturers have each developed their own codes, which can only be decoded by their own receivers. This has preventing end-users from selecting which transmitters or receivers best suit their needs: having invested in a given receiver users become obligated to purchase tags from that same manufacturer. The Section is attempting to develop a ‘Unified Codeset’ that will provide a solution to this problem. In an ad hoc committee effort that involves both developers and end users, the Bioengineering Section hopes to arrive at consensus over Codeset specifications, including the number and width of pulses, as well as the intervals between them. If successful, this Codeset may serve as a standard for all manufacturers to design receivers around, encouraging competition among providers, collaboration among users, and improving flexibility in study designs. A grant proposal has been developed and is has been distributed to potential funding organizations for consideration. The ad hoc committee is being chaired by the Section’s President Ted Castro-Santos, USGS Conte Anadromous Fish Laboratory, tcastro_santos@usgs.gov; (413) 863-3838.