2024 AFS-OC Annual Meeting – Ontario Chapter of the American Fisheries Society

Theme: Our Forgotten Freshwater Fauna

January 26–28, 2024, Bayview Wildwood Resort, Severn Bridge, Ontario

The Ontario Chapter of the American Fisheries Society began 2024 by hosting its Annual General Meeting & Conference on January 26 to 28. The Bayview Wildwood Resort located on the shores of Sparrow Lake near Severn Bridge, within the traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg, once again welcomed us.

The conference was attended by a total of 36 participants including 20 professionals, 15 students and 1 exhibitors. Eighty-three percent of attendees were AFS-OC members. Professional attendance included a full range of representatives including consultants, academic researchers, conservation authorities, industry, and government.

Our keynote speaker was Dr. Stuart A. Welsh, from the US Geological Survey, West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at West Virginia University. Dr. Welsh’s talk, “Hornyheads, Madtoms, and Darters: Narratives on our Forgotten Freshwater Fauna”, highlighted the meeting’s theme and excited the audience with numerous pictures, videos, and stories with a peek under the water surface at some of central Appalachia’s fascinating and less famous fish species. The links of the work of early ecologists and naturalists to individual fish ecologies and larger scale conservation today provided an engaging perspective on aquatic science and the ‘forgotten’ fishes.

This year’s AGM hosted a dedication to Alan Dextrase and a tribute to Will Wegman. Three speakers, Nicholas Mandrak (University of Toronto), Scott Reid (OMNRF), and Andrew Drake (DFO), commemorated Al’s journey and contributions to science and reflected on personal experiences. The President’s Award was rededicated and now bears the name “Al Dextrase Award“.

Scott Gibson (OMNRF) and Jon Clayton (Credit Valley Conservation) provided an overview of some of Will Wegman’s work. To honour the contributions of Dr. Wegman to networking, collaborations, and mentorship, the AFS-OC mentorship event was dedicated as “The Will Wegman Mentorship Event”.

The program included presentations on research topics ranging from bioenergetics, conservation, angler effects, invasive species, and novel technologies, among others. The poster session, apart from exciting science, provided further opportunities for research-focused interaction and networking among all attendees. Abstracts for all presentations can be found within the 2024 AFS-OC AGM Program

Another highlight in the program was a presentation and workshop by Les Stanfield on “Navigating the Flow: Overview of the Flowing Waters Information System and how it supports Fisheries Research”. This database holds vast amounts of long-term data and holds much promise for integration in future research.

The high quality of all student presenters in the oral and poster session made the judging somewhat of a task. The 2024 winner of the E.J. Crossman Award was Mitchell Shorgan from Trent University for his presentation titled “Validation of a new acoustic telemetry transmitter for the study of predation events in small fishes”.

In the poster category, the Al Dextrase Award for best student poster presentation went to Cole MacLeod from Carleton University. His poster was titled “River-Scale Evaluation of Light as a Behavioural Guidance Mechanism for Out-Migrating American Eel Anguilla rostrata”.

The Outstanding Mentor Award, which recognizes a fisheries professional who has contributed to an improved experience, such as networking, intellectual support, encouragement, and training opportunities, for AFS-OC students or young professionals was given to Craig Paterson, St. Clair Region Conservation Authority.

Keeping up with the principles of the Diversity and Inclusivity Subcommittee, Indigenous participation and perspectives were invited and welcomed. Further, the Subcommittee organized two events aiming to bridge any communication gaps, foster inclusivity and engagement, identify barriers, and encourage equity in aquatic sciences. The Sharing Circle session on the Saturday and the Breakout Session on the Sunday, were a huge success with both events continuing well past their scheduled time slots. These were followed up by a post-meeting survey on further steps that could be taken to improve the society’s work on diversity, inclusion, and equity.

The social event was packed with games and mini breakouts allowing for semi-organized, semi-spontaneous fish chats, laughs, and learning. Unfortunately, with the warm winter, the planned ice-fishing had to be called off, but we all enjoyed the views and the warmer temperatures. The customary Student Subunit Raffle sported a variety of prizes among which were a couple of beautiful pieces of Indigenous art (graciously provided by some of our sponsors) that had the excitement rise up.

The 2024 AFS-OC Annual Meeting & Conference was filled with great science, networking, and sharing, and the organizing committee thanks all presenters, attendees, and sponsors that contributed to its success. Some of the meeting’s content is available on the AFS-OC YouTube channel.