American Fisheries Society
Alaska Chapter
The Alaska Chapter of the American Fisheries Society is a professional organization of individuals interested in maintaining high standards for the fisheries profession and ensuring conservation of Alaska's fisheries. This web site is a source of current information regarding the Alaska Chapter and its activities.

****NOTE THAT All participants are required to pay the conference registration fee (registration form available later)****

The final call for papers has been made, and abstracts must be submitted to session leaders by October 15, 2007.

See the links 2007 Annual Meeting page for information regarding accommodations, continuing education courses, registration, and more.

Please contact the following session chairs if you wish to present. Our plenary speakers are still being organized but so far include Denis Wiesenburg, Dean of UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and Gordon Reeves from Oregon State University. Opportunities to tour totem parks, the Tongass rainforest, and the waters surrounding Ketchikan will also be available. Finally, Ray Troll and his band the Rat Fish, based in Ketchikan, will add some spice to the socials.

If you have a presentation for a specific session, contact the chair (see below) soon to ensure that you have an opportunity to present. Titles and abstracts should be submitted by October 15, 2007. Abstracts should be a single paragraph not more than 300 words in length and follow the format described in the AFS guide to authors. Abstract formatting guidelines are available at Abstract Guideline. Registration forms will be available online (Pre-Registration) and the final lineup of symposia and continuing education courses will be announced in the October Oncorhynchus. Please contact Bert Lewis with questions about this year’s meeting.

Planned Sessions-Session Chair Contact Information-Session Description
Juvenile salmon early marine ecology and biological interactions Session chair: Joe Orsi Phone: (907) 789-6034 email: joe.orsi@noaa.gov Salmon are important components of pelagic marine ecosystems in Alaska, so resolving factors that influence their year class strength and increase our understanding of ecological interactions is of interest. The early marine life history of salmon is considered to be a critical period linked to survival; consequently, the dynamics of biophysical factors that affect juveniles during this period may reveal mechanisms that govern their survival. This session will present information derived from coastal and ocean research projects on the topics of juvenile salmon early marine ecology and biological interactions in Alaska.	Commercial Fisheries Management Session chair: Bert Lewis Phone (907) 424-3212 email: bert.lewis@alaska.gov Fish populations have been under pressure from commercial fisheries for centuries. As a result, fish stocks throughout much of the world are over-fished and in decline. Ever increasing economic and political pressure for increased harvests must be balanced by defensible conservative management to prevent this downward trend. Commercial fisheries managers have increasing ability to manage for sustainable resource development as understanding of fishery science and stock status monitoring continue to improve. This session will discuss on-going challenges and present current monitoring tools and management methods used in sustainable fisheries management.	Data Analysis in Fisheries: Turning Data into Wisdom Session chair: Hal Geiger Phone: (907) 586-1845 email: geiger@alaska.com The field of fisheries has its toolbox of standard data analytic techniques, such as growth curves, yield-per-recruit analysis, and so on. Sometimes the rote use of these techniques obscures features of the data that could lead to new insights. This session was added to the meeting to showcase innovative and non-standard ways of looking at fisheries data, especially when the analysis features simple statistical or data descriptive techniques or simple graphical techniques.
Aquaculture and Fisheries Enhancement Session chair: Gary Frietag Phone: (907) 225-9605 email: garyf@ssraa.org Aquaculture and fisheries enhancement play a significant role in the commercial and sport fisheries of Alaska. With improved technology and assessment tools we are learning how significant that role has been in the last decade. Mariculture is also poised to play an increasing role in the relatively new shellfish fisheries in Alaska. This session will present the status of aquaculture and mariculture in the State with emphasis on how users of the resources are benefiting from various finfish and shellfish programs. The session may include all aspects including present and future benefits and problems associated with aquaculture and enhancement strategies.	Salmon and Trout Ecology Session chair: Jeff  Adams Phone: (907) 456-0218 email: Jeff_Adams@fws.gov Salmon and trout form the basis for many commercial, sport, subsistence, and personal use fisheries in Alaska. Understanding these species’ roles in the ecological community, their habitat references, their life histories, and their behaviors is critical to provide for appropriate management. This  session  will  focus  on  current  knowledge  of the freshwater aspect of these species’ life histories and describe the use of  this  information  to  adopt  management  approaches. Experts with experience in research or management of juvenile life stages and habitat are especially encouraged to participate.	Sport Fish Management Session chair: Brian Marston Phone: (907) 424-3212 email: brian.marston@alaska.gov Sport fisheries in Alaska exist among many competing user groups for finite fish resources. Subsistence, personal use, and or commercial fisheries, as well as consumptive uses of fish habitats also “utilize” fish populations in Alaska. Mangers of sport fisheries strive to use the most advanced data gathering techniques to analyze, understand, manage, sustain, and protect sport fish populations stressed with these forces. Preemptive fishery studies focused on potential or apparent stress points to individual fish stocks and fisheries will best help sustain sport fisheries into the future. This session will gather sport fish professionals to discuss a wide range of tools, techniques, applications, and lessons learned in, the management of sport fisheries, fish population assessment, or identifying potential impacts to sport fish habitats.
Sharing your message effectively with adults and children Session chair: Laurel Devaney Phone: (907) 456-0558 email: laurel_devaney@fws.gov As biologists and fisheries managers, we want to gather the most accurate research data possible, but we also need to effectively communicate our results to the public. Effective communication with adults helps foster acceptance of management practices, and increases compliance with fisheries regulations. Sharing our message with youth helps build knowledge and develops stewardship of fisheries resources in the next generation of Alaska’s decision makers. This session is dedicated to all aspects of sharing your fisheries information effectively with adults and children.	Fisheries Habitat Restoration Session chair: Don Martin Phone: (907) 586-8712 corrected email: dmartin02@fs.fed.us Increasing human populations result in increasing demands on wild places. These demands, weather they manifest themselves as industrial use or recreational use, often lead to alteration and degradation of aquatic habitats.  As a result, land managers are being faced with more opportunities to develop and implement aquatic habitat restoration projects.  The purpose of this session is to help managers design and implement better restoration projects by sharing information on what aquatic habitat restoration projects are taking place in Alaska and other places, what are managers doing to improve and restore aquatic habitat, what are the challenges of aquatic habitat restoration and how are they being overcome, who are the different groups and stakeholders conducting aquatic habitat restoration, and how are they working together to restore habitat for aquatic resources.	Alaska’s Large River Deltas: Coastal Wetlands of Diversity and Production Session chair: Dirk Lang Phone: (907) 424-4753 email: dwlang@fs.fed.us The coastal wetlands associated with Alaska’s large rivers provide a mosaic of habitats that support an array of fish and wildlife resources. The channels, lakes, ponds, and sloughs, combined with extreme tidal fluctuations, create some of the most diverse and productive wetland habitats in the world. Wetlands of this size and magnitude are rare and ecologically significant. They are vital to the migration of fish and wildlife between coastal and interior regions and to international migrations along the entire Pacific coast. Anadromous fish species contribute an abundant nutrient supply to aquatic and terrestrial habitats in coastal and interior regions of Alaska, fueling productivity in many complex ecosystem processes. Fish and wildlife resources are not only the commercial, recreational, and cultural lifeblood of the many small communities located in coastal areas, but these resources are further linked to human and animal populations throughout the Pacific rim. As resources around the Pacific are confronted with changes in climate and increased demands, it is imperative that we recognize, understand, and conserve Alaska’s key coastal wetlands. This session will present papers highlighting the significant diversity and production of fish and wildlife resources on some of Alaska’s large river deltas including the Copper, Stikine, Yukon, and Kuskokwim rivers.
Hatchery Salmon Straying Symposium Session chair: Hal Geiger Phone: (907) 586-1845 email: geiger@alaska.com Many scientists and researchers in the Pacific Northwest and Canada have pointed to what has been called the “Alaskan model” for sensible and sustainable use of Pacific salmon hatcheries and Pacific salmon stock enhancement. While hard to define, this term has been used to acknowledge Alaska’s progressive policies for genetics, pathology, and fishery management and to acknowledge Alaska’s practical example of the Precautionary Principle, as applied to salmon stock enhancement. Recently the issue of straying from hatcheries into wild stocks has reemerged as a contentious topic in the management of Alaska’s salmon hatcheries. High rates of straying of hatchery fish have been detected in certain locations. At least in some cases, these rates of straying are far higher than what is allowed under ADF&G-approved hatchery management plans. Although high rates of straying may pose risks to wild stocks, there has been no consensus as to what straying levels are acceptable, and there is currently no consensus as to the exact types or levels of risk associated with any straying level. This symposium has been organized to (1) review the results of the sampling that has already been done, (2) review levels of straying that ADF&G has permitted in the past, (3) review current research on the effects of straying, (4) review proposals for ongoing monitoring of hatchery straying, and (5) review ADF&G policy on hatchery straying. Moreover, the symposium has been organized in the hope that this review will help guide further research and policy in this area, and in the hope that this review can help the Alaskan model continue evolve through science-based guidance.	Marine Habitat Mapping Session chair: Cindy Hartmann Phone: (907) 586-7585 email: Cindy.Hartmann@noaa.gov (description added-10/28/2007) Habitat is a key requirement for maintaining sustainable fisheries.  This session’s focus is mapping of shoreline, near shore, and offshore marine habitat.  Presentations will showcase marine habitat mapping completed in Alaskan waters and elsewhere.  Mapping techniques, data and databases, applications and mapping gaps and needs will be discussed.  Session goals are to describe completed habitat mapping in Alaska to date, plans for future mapping, discussions of database availability  and instruction in accessing and using  available data.  Mappers and data users will be able to share information and collaborate on data uses and future mapping efforts.	Contributed Papers Session chair: Andy Piston Phone: (907)225-9677 email: andrew.piston@alaska.gov
		Poster Session Session chair: Bert Lewis Phone (907) 424-3212 email: bert.lewis@alaska.gov