Although the American Fisheries Society has been in existence since 1870, chapters were not established as subunits of the parent society until 1962. The Southern Ontario Chapter was formed in 1988. Henk Rietveld submitted the Southern Ontario petition at the 118th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, in Toronto, ON on September 14, 1988. The petition was unanimously accepted and an interim slate of executives were elected. The chapter was officially chartered on September 22, 1988.
The 1st Annual Meeting of the Southern Ontario Chapter was held April 8, 1989 at the Leslie M. Frost Centre in Dorset, Ontario. The keynote speaker was Bob White, President of the American Fisheries Society.
The Northwestern Ontario Chapter of the AFS was formed on February 27, 1979 and was officially incorporated on September 25, 1995. The 1st Meeting and Conference on Fisheries and Aquatic Ecology was held October 7-9, 1981 at the at Quetico Centre in Atikokan, Ontario. The conference was attended by over 60 people with representatives from Manitoba, Minnesota and all over Ontario.
At the 2004 Annual Meeting, the chapter voted to change its name to the Ontario Chapter and adopt a new logo. This change in identity would effectively remove any perceived barriers between fisheries professionals all across Ontario, and provide the foundation for one strong organization. Both chapters were dissolved when the Ontario Chapter was formed in 2004.
In March 2007, official status for the Student Subunit of the Ontario Chapter was granted and all student members of the chapter became members of the newly created subunit. Creation of the subunit was initiated and achieved largely due to the efforts of Lynn Bouvier.
The Ontario Chapter hosted the 138th American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting in Ottawa, August 2008.
There is a brief history in the old AFS-SOC Chapter Handbook, but we would like to expand this history to include other initiatives that the chapter(s) have been involved with (i.e., F.I.S.H.), membership trends, photos and AGM memories (past student winners, programs, etc.). If you have any old photos, newsletters, stories or memories of the Southern or Northwestern Ontario chapters, and would like to have them included, or if you have ideas about how our history can be presented, please contact history@afs-oc.org
View past AFS-OC Executive Committees and prior Annual Meetings. AFS-SOC and NWO-AFS Executive Committee History, Annual Meetings and Newsletters can be viewed below.
NWO-AFS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES
NWO-AFS NEWSLETTERS
Volume 1, Number 1 – October 1980
Volume 1, Number 2 – January 1981
Volume 1, Number 3 – May 1981
Volume 2, Number 1 – December 1981
Volume 2, Number 2 – February 1982
Volume 2, Number 3 – June 1982
Volume 3, Number 1 – December 1982
Volume 3, Number 2 – March 1983
Volume 3, Number 3 – June 1983
Volume 4, Number 1 – November 1983
Volume 4, Number 2 – March 1984
Volume 4, Number 3 – July 1984
Volume 5, Number 1 – December 1984
Volume 5, Number 2 – June 1985
Volume 5, Number 3 – September 1985
Volume 6, Number 1 – December 1985
Volume 6, Number 2 – June 1986
Volume 7, Number 1 – January 1987
Volume 7, Number 2 – July 1987
Volume 7, Number 3 – October 1987
Volume 8, Number 1 – January 1988
Volume 8, Number 2 – July 1988
Volume 9, Number 1 – January 1989
Volume 9, Number 2 – December 1989
Volume 10, Number 1 – June 1990
Volume 11, Number 1 – March 1991
Volume 11, Number 2 – August 1991
Volume 12, Number 1 – February 1992
Volume 12, Number 2 – October 1992
Volume 13, Number 1 – March 1993
Volume 15, Number 1 – April 1994
Volume 16, Number 1 – October 1995
Volume 17, Number 1 – October 1997
Volume 18, Number 1 – August 1998
Volume 19, Number 1 – March 2000
AFS-SOC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES
AFS-SOC NEWSLETTERS
Volume 1, Number 1 – November 1988
Volume 1, Number 2 – February 1989
Volume 1, Number 3 – March 1989
Volume 2, Number 1 – August 1989
Volume 2, Number 2 – November 1989
Volume 3, Number 1 – March 1990
Volume 3, Number 2 – June 1990
Volume 3, Number 3 – October 1990
Volume 4, Number 1 – April 1991
Volume 4, Number 2 – November 1991
Volume 5, Number 1 – September 1992
Volume 6, Number 1 – June 1993
Volume 6, Number 2 – November 1993
Volume 7, Number 1 – January 1994
Volume 7, Number 2 – May 1994
Southern Ontario Chapter Handbook – October 1995
Volume 8, Number 2 – January 1996
Volume 8, Number 3 – November 1996
Volume 9, Number 1 – May 1997
Volume 9, Number 1 – May 1999
Volume I, Issue I – February 2001
Volume I, Issue II – August 2001
Volume II, Issue I – January 2002
Volume II, Issue II – September 2002
Volume III, Issue I – June 2003
Volume III, Issue II – November 2003
