Planned Sessions to Date (9/15/2008)-Session Chair Contact Information-Session Description

Chair: Doug Molyneaux, Alaska Department of Fish and Game;  doug.molyneaux@alaska.gov, (907) 543-2931 (prior to 15 October), (907) 267-2397 (after 15 October)

Developments in the stock assessment program for salmon populations in the Kuskokwim River drainage have allowed investigators to address broad scale information gaps such as quantifying spawning distribution, estimating historical run abundance, and characterizing the stock composition of harvests. These findings have direct implications for the protection of critical habitat, directing harvest strategies, and for providing a means to explore causative agents of natural variation in abundance. This session will highlight some of these advances as well as describe promising avenues for future pursuit.

Session Chair: Cheryl Dion;  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Cheryl_Dion@fws.gov; (907) 271-2776

This session will include any paper submitted by undergraduate and graduate students for consideration for the Best Student Paper Award. All presentations will be judged by the same group of judges to ensure equity in scoring of each student presentation. Students who would like their papers to be considered for the Best Student Paper Award MUST submit and present at this session.

Chair: Cindy Hartmann Moore; National Marine Fisheries Service, Habitat Conservation Division;  cindy.hartmann@noaa.gov; (907) 586-7585

This session focuses on resource issues related to hard rock mining and fisheries in Alaska.  Various aspects of how mining can impact fisheries will be discussed including: what we need to know about fish habitat, hydrology, water chemistry, toxicology, mine permitting, monitoring, and how to minimize or avoid impacts to fisheries.  The question of whether fisheries and mining is compatible and what conditions need to be met to determine compatibility will be addressed.  AFS mining policy will also be discussed.

Alaska’s Subsistence Fisheries: Balancing Tradition, Conservation, and Economic Change

Session Chair: Jan Conitz; Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Division of Commercial Fisheries, Juneau; jan.conitz@alaska.gov; (907) 465-1191

This session explores wide-dimensions surrounding subsistence fisheries. Current management systems for subsistence fisheries are poorly developed, which is based on commercial or recreational fishery management models without taking into consideration differences in structure and basic economic motivations surrounding subsistence fisheries. How can modern scientific management concepts and fisheries research better address subsistence fisheries and the desire of rural Alaskans for more control over the fish resources they depend upon? How can local, traditional knowledge be integrated into scientific concepts of fish stocks and their conservation? How should the responsibility for conservation of stocks be apportioned between subsistence and commercial fisheries, particularly when commercial fisheries target larger or mixed stocks farther offshore? How are economic changes in rural Alaska, such as the extraordinarily high cost of fuel, or the growth of the tourism and fishing charter industries, affecting subsistence activity? What is the value of healthy and viable subsistence fisheries to Alaska’s small communities in relation to income from other resource development, such as mining? Most importantly, how can traditional fisheries be sustained for future generations in a fast changing global economy?

Chair: Toshihide “Hamachan” Hamazaki; Alaska Department of Fish and Game;  toshihide.hamazaki@alaska.gov; (907) 267-2158

Fisheries modeling have been dominated by production models, such as Ricker and Beverton-Holt. However, those models are not really capable of incorporating biological understandings about the species. Life-history/Ecological simulation models are designed based on biology and have been widely used for conservation and management of wildlife.  However, those models have not been applied widely in the field of fisheries.  This session explores how life-history/ecological models could improve understanding of fisheries.

Chair: Jeff Adams; Fish and Wildlife Field Office US Fish & Wildlife Service; Jeff_Adams@fws.gov; (907) 456-0218

As Alaskan fisheries agencies and users strive to adapt to environmental and social responses caused by climate change, increased infrastructure, and new fishing practices, there will be an increased need to address fisheries issues from a large scale, multi-disciplinary approach. To understand these responses, fishery scientists must understand and embrace the role that GIS can play in future research and management. The first portion of this session will introduce the audience to GIS technology as it applies to Alaskan fisheries, and will provide an awareness of techniques and products that fisheries researchers and managers can apply. The second portion will provide specific case studies of GIS applications.

Session Chair: Debby Burwen, debby.burwen@alaska.gov

Hydroacoustic assessment programs are often the only way to obtain inseason escapement estimates for fish stocks in rivers that are too wide for weir structures and too occluded for visual observations. Hydroacoustic survey methods are also used extensively for surveying stocks of fish in lake and marine environments. Use of hydroacoustics continues to expand as sonar technology and analytical methods for these applications evolve and improve.

In this symposium we plan to highlight innovative techniques for using hydroacoustic technology to assess fish populations in both marine and riverine environments. Significant advances in acoustic technologies have been made in recent years and hydroacoustic techniques are emerging as some of the most powerful tools for assessing fish stocks.

Session Chair: Timothy Joyce,  tljoyce@fs.fed.us

This session will discuss topics in the Subfamily Coregoninae. The session is open to any information collected recently in Alaska on this interesting group of fish. Presentations can include taxonomic distinctions, life history information, interactions between species, population, and distribution information, and any other interesting area of study. This subfamily is widely distributed in Alaska and often overlooked. It is used as a subsistence food in rural areas, yet limited information is available in many areas of the state.

Session Chair: Ray Beamesderfer, Beamesderfer@fishsciences.net

Escapement goal management has been a lynch pin in the tremendous success of Alaska's salmon management system. It is designed to ensure spawning escapements that sustain populations and optimize production over the long term. However, implementation of escapement goal management is not without its problems and controversies. Significant questions concern effective methods for accurately identifying sustainable escapement levels, appropriate management objectives for stocks where data is lacking or incomplete, management imprecision that makes it difficult to consistently achieve many goals, implementation in mixed stock fisheries where not all goals can be achieved, conservation risks of low escapements, and the effects of large escapements on potential future yields. Many of these biological issues have significant fishery implications and very controversial social and political dimensions. This session explores the implementation, strengths, and weaknesses of escapement goal management and highlights outstanding questions for future consideration.

Session Chair: Danielle F. Evenson; Alaska Department of Fish and Game; dani.evenson@alaska.gov; (907) 267-2135

Anecdotal information and local knowledge suggests that the size of salmon Oncorhynchus spp has decreased and some fishers have expressed concerns over a reduction in their encounters with large fish.  Reports of small size and low numbers of females have become increasingly common in recent years, and apprehension over the long-term health of stocks has grown.  The subject has been discussed in Alaska Board of Fisheries and Federal Subsistence Board meetings, and other forums that involve subsistence, commercial, and sport fishers.  This session will explore the various causes, current status of salmon stocks, and potential management implications relating to size trends.

Chair: Dennis R. Lassuy;  North Slope Science Initiative; denny_lassuy@fws.gov; (907) 271-4121

Alaska’s Arctic is an "epicenter" for the dual challenges of climate change and energy development.  This session is intended to start gathering fish folks who are active or interested in marine and freshwater fishes of the North Slope of Alaska, to share our current knowledge and share our thoughts on what more we need to know.  The session will highlight some of the ongoing work in this huge chunk of Alaska geography and conclude with a panel discussion.  The panel, working with session attendees, will be the kickoff of an effort to identify the pressing management and science needs that can position us all to help ensure the continued health of Alaska's arctic fish resources under these changing conditions.  The culmination of this effort may be a collaboration between the North Slope Science Initiative and the Alaska Chapter AFS to put on a “full blown” workshop at the 2009 meeting of the Alaska Chapter as a way to share our knowledge, share our priorities, and share the load in meeting these emerging challenges.

Contributed Papers

Session Chair: TBD

Presenters with topics that do not fit the subject matter of other sessions are encouraged to submit their abstracts to this session.