Wednesday September 25, 2019
In just a few days, staff from all three of our California offices will be converging on Reno, Nevada, for the American Fisheries Society annual meeting from September 29–October 3. Given the combined meeting with The Wildlife Society and the impressive array of fisheries talks from across the country (and around the world!), it is sure to be a head-spinning whirlwind of a week. FISHBIO staff will be presenting on every day of the conference, with a total of eight talks in all. Here’s a sneak peek at our presentation lineup so you can mark your calendars in preparation for the big event!
Monday, September 30
At 9:20 am, biologist Dana Lee will be giving the talk, “Use of low-cost autonomous, underwater camera systems to advance understanding of fish habitat usage and behavior.” This presentation will discuss several versions of automated cameras that FISHBIO has developed to passively monitor fishes in floodplains and fish passage structures. This talk is in the session “Using Applied Technology in Fisheries Monitoring and Research,” held in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, A18. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
On Monday, FISHBIO staff are also helping to organize and moderate the session “Migratory Freshwater Fishes: Global Status Update and Swimway Initiative.” We are co-organizing this session with our colleagues at the University of Nevada, Reno, from the Wonders of the Mekong Project, as well as the World Fish Migration Day Foundation. This day-long symposium will include talks highlighting the global status of migratory fishes and managing their migration routes (or swimways), and end with a panel discussion of future steps towards filling knowledge gaps and achieving sustainability. The session will be held from 8:00 am–5:20 pm in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, A3. See the session lineup.
- As part of this session at 2:10 pm, biologist Tyler Pilger will be giving the talk “Caught between a rock and a hard place: monitoring Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley.” This presentation will provide an example of a robust migratory fish life-cycle monitoring program that has been developed for fall-run Chinook on the Stanislaus River to inform the management of these iconic Pacific salmon. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
Tuesday, October 1
We will be giving two presentations in the symposium “Channels for Change in the Mekong: Integrating Multiple Disciplines for New Frontiers in Managing the Mekong River Basin,” being held from 8:40 am–5:00 pm in the Atlantis Hotel Grand Ballroom 3. This symposium is organized by the Wonders of the Mekong project, and will discuss interdisciplinary approaches for understanding environmental stressors and informing management in the Mekong Basin. See the session lineup.
- At 8:40 am, Scientific Collaborations Director Shaara Ainsley will be kicking off the symposium with the talk “Continuing the conversation on Mekong River management at the annual AFS Conference.” This presentation will show how the session builds on two previous Mekong-related symposia held at AFS in 2015 and 2017, including discussions of development, fisheries stressors, and solutions. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
- At 3:20 pm, Communications Director Erin Loury will be giving the talk, “Communicating the Wonders of the Mekong to build support for conservation.” This presentation will describe how the Wonders of the Mekong project is using engaging online content, printed communications materials, and unique personal stories to reach both urban and rural audiences in Cambodia, as a way to celebrate the country’s rich natural and cultural heritage related to the Mekong River. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
At 1:10 pm, Erin will also be giving the talk “Lights, Camera, Science! Using video to communicate scientific studies.” This presentation will discuss how to plan, produce, and share a video to communicate a scientific paper, based on the example of FISHBIO’s publication and video about juvenile salmon outmigration on the Stanislaus River. Topics will include using the Message Box tool, filming interviews and B-roll, and sharing videos on social media. This talk is in the session “Beyond the Publication: Science Communication Strategies to Increase the Impact of Your Research,” held in the Atlantis Hotel, Grand Ballroom 4. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
Wednesday, October 2
At 10:30 am, Erin Loury will be giving the talk, “Engaging Communities, Protecting Freshwaters: Lessons from Fish Conservation Zones in Laos.” This presentation will discuss successes and challenges from FISHBIO’s experience establishing and monitoring community co-managed freshwater protected areas (known as Fish Conservation Zones or FCZs) in Laos, including developing a guidebook for assessing FCZ effectiveness. This talk is in the session “It Takes a Village: Success Stories in Community-Based Conservation,” held in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, A1. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
Thursday, October 3
At 3:40 pm, biologist Michael Hellmair will be giving the talk “Early-season reproductive failure of Chinook salmon: limited behavioral plasticity in warming rivers?” This talk is in the session Climate Change Across the Salmon Life Cycle. Atlantis Hotel, Grand Ballroom 1. This presentation uses temperature and juvenile salmon data on the Stanislaus River to demonstrate diminished reproductive success of Chinook salmon during the recent California drought, and reveals a shrinking window for suitable juvenile emigration conditions based on long-term air temperature trends. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
At 4:40 pm, Scientific Director Matt Peterson will be giving the talk “Project update on establishing a nonnative predator research and pilot fish removal program on the Stanislaus River, California.” This presentation will discuss current results from the Stanislaus Native Fish Plan, an ongoing collaborative scientific effort to assess the impact of non-native predator removal on juvenile salmon survival. This talk is in the session “Invasive Fishes: Ecology and Management,” held in the Atlantis Hotel, Grand Ballroom 3. Read the abstract in the session lineup.
With this jam-packed schedule, it’s sure to be a busy week from beginning to end. Our videographer Dee Thao will also be filming the AFS conference to produce a video (check out our video from AFS 2015 in Portland), so be sure to give her camera a wave. And if you see any of our staff coming and going throughout the conference, we hope you’ll say hello!