2020 AFS-OC Annual Meeting

Theme: What’s the cost of doing nothing?

February 20–22, Geneva Park, Orillia, Ontario

On February 20-22, the Ontario Chapter of the American Fisheries Society hosted our 2020 Annual General Meeting & Conference at the YMCA—Geneva Park in Orillia, Ontario.

The conference was attended by a total of 63 participants including 32 professionals, 30 students and 1 exhibitor. Sixty-five percent of attendees were AFS-OC members. Professional attendance included a full range of representatives including consultants, academic researchers, conservation authorities, Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The Keynote speaker at the 2020 AGM was Dr. Brad Bass, Researcher at Environment and Climate Change Canada. In his talk “How much does it cost? The socio-economic impact of algal blooms on Lake Erie” we learned how algae blooms, which include hazardous cyanobacteria and nuisance algae (Cladophora), affect the welfare of Ontario residents living within 100 km of Lake Erie. The impacts of the blooms were presented for two 30-year scenarios including a business-as-usual scenario (no actions to reduce nutrient loadings into Lake Erie) and a policy intervention scenario (that assumed actions are taken to reduce nutrient loadings leading to reductions of blooms).

In addition to the keynote, conference attendees enjoyed a total of 28 oral presentations and 6 posters, including the 2019 Outstanding Mentor Award winner, Dr. Andrew Drake from the Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Andrew talked about the reproductive ecology of Spotted Gar in Canada.

During breaks, attendees were afforded an opportunity to network and view exhibits courtesy of Lotek Wireless and Anishinabek/Ontario Fisheries Resource Centre.

Jordanna Bergman from Carleton University, was awarded the E.J. Crossman Award for best student oral presentation. Jordanna’s presentation was titled “Spatial ecology of invasive Round Goby in the Rideau Canal Waterway: Understanding fish behaviour at the invasion front”. The President’s Award for best student poster was won by Jacob Burbank from the University of Waterloo. Jacob’s poster was titled “Consumption of terrestrial food resources by a small-bodied stream fish: Silver Shiner in an urban drainage”. Abstracts for all presentations can be found within the 2020 AFS-OC AGM Program. The 2020 Outstanding Mentor Award was won by Krystal Athanassiou, Project Biologist and Field Supervisor at Ontario Streams. The mentor award was announced following the Annual Meeting.

The business meeting was held on Friday afternoon. Following dinner on Friday, a mentoring session and social took place that included a raffle to support the Student Subunit. On Saturday afternoon, Peter Davis, a Freshwater Telemetry Specialist with Lotek Wireless Inc instructed a one-hour Beginner’s Guide to Freshwater Telemetry continuing education workshop.