The 2004 Annual Meeting was held February 20-22, at the Leslie M. Frost Centre in Dorset, Ontario. Neither snow nor sleet nor the threat of freezing rain could keep approximately 90 attendees away from the meeting. The attendance was the highest in recent years and reflected the strong line-up of talks and posters. By all accounts it was a very successful meeting. Some of the feedback we received from members included "You did a great job with the conference", "Once again, great job to the ExComm", "Had a blast, learned a lot" and "Congratulations on an excellent meeting".

The presentations included Dr. John Casselman’s plenary address from the 2003 Annual Meeting in Quebec City. A total of 14 presentations and 3 posters graced the presentation hall at Dorset covering a wide range of fisheries and aquatic resource topics. The theme of “Ontario’s Changing Fisheries” was well represented by a variety of talks that outlined research and results ranging from the Great Lakes to our smallest stream fish communities. New management strategies were highlighted and successful habitat restoration in support of aquatic communities was discussed. We were also happy to have four student presentations and one student poster representing the Universities of Guelph, Waterloo, Windsor and Trent. Here is a summary of the talks we enjoyed. The programme which includes abstracts from many of the presentations is available for download in PDF format. Two of the posters that were presented are also available for viewing in our Member Publications area.

On a more somber note, we honoured the memory of Dr. E.J. Crossman and his contribution to fisheries and the American Fisheries Society.  Dr. Casselman, one of Dr. Crossman’s former graduate students, gave a heart-warming tribute via a series of slides outlining the research and life of Dr. Crossman.  To honour Dr. Crossman, the chapter dedicated the E.J. Crossman Award; the first recipient was Mark Poos, a M.Sc. candidate with Dr. McLaughlin at the University of Guelph.  Mr. Poos’ presentation dealt with the assessment of the presence and abundance of fish species at risk in southwestern Ontario and is part of a larger Department of Fisheries and Oceans initiative. 

A very busy business meeting included an announcement of the passage of updated Chapter Bylaws, a vote on a name change from the Southern Ontario Chapter to the Ontario Chapter, unveiling of our new logo to go along with the name change and the announcement of the formation of a committee including the Chapter and Ministry of Natural Resources to bring the 2008 American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting to Ontario.

Obviously, after such a hectic business meeting we were ready for the entertainment of the Lost Anglers (1/2 of the FishHeads) who provided an excellent musical performance.

Visit the Photo Gallery to view some of the highlights from our weekend!  Visit the History page to see synopses from other meetings!