I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : PRESIDENT’S CORNER: SETTING THE...

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I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

O R E G O N C H A P T E R O F T H E A M E R I C A N F I S H E R I E S S O C I E T Y

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P R E S I D E N T ’ S

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O R A F S L I F E

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F I S H E R Y F E A T U R E :

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J U V E N I L E C H I N O O K

H A B I T A T

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P R E S I D E N T ’ S C O R N E R : S E T T I N G T H E B A R

The past two years have been a whirlwind as ExCom has guided the Chapter through an exciting period that included the ORAFS Hatchery vs. Wild Salmonid Symposium, the American Fisheries Society’s 145th Annual Meeting in Portland, the Chapter’s 52nd Annual Meeting in Seaside, and a concerted effort to improve the Chapter’s financial and operational condition. The Hatchery vs. Wild Salmonid Symposium gathered many of the leading researchers and managers at the forefront of the hatchery-wild discussion. Over a day and a half, presenters reviewed their research, management efforts, and perspectives on the topic. Attendees had the opportunity to discuss the latest research and management actions intended to balance hatchery goals of fishery augmentation, reintroduction, and meeting regulatory requirements with the target of restoring wild populations for long-term ecological and economical sustainability. Gary Vonderohe, Ian Tattam, and Ryan Couture organized diverse presenters from across the Pacific Northwest. Holly Huchko worked with the Hilton Portland to ensure the Symposium met the high standards expected by ORAFS members. The Symposium was a remarkable success, and in many ways, established a new mark for future Chapter workshops. Chapter members volunteered countless hours to make the National AFS Portland Meeting an incredible accomplishment. The Oregon Chapter led the planning effort, with Chapter members at the helm of nearly every major committee and many more members serving as a supporting cast to the committee chairs. Meeting metrics from the number of diverse symposia, to sponsorship and vendor participation, to the financial results of the AFS Portland Meeting speak to the overwhelming dedication of Oregon Chapter members. The Portland Meeting has now set the bar for future AFS meetings.

Following Portland, ExCom rolled right into planning the Chapter’s 52nd Annual Meeting in Seaside. With the theme of “Communication, Brokers in Information”, the Seaside meeting was our first coastal gathering in nearly 20 years (pg 6-14). ExCom speculated the short time between Portland and Seaside would likely influence attendance and returning to the coast could possibly attract attendees who would appreciate a departure from the Chapter’s recent reliance on Bend and Eugene for Annual Meeting locations. Then President-Elect Ben Clemens confidently led ExCom through the planning effort and the Chapter responded with a solid showing. From my perspective, Ben met his goal of promoting discussion on contemporary issues such as diversity in the fisheries profession. Our Raffle-Auction Committee led by Jeremy Romer, Vice President Chrissy Murphy, and Luke Schultz executed an exceptional event (pg 13). Cory Sipher organized our external committees (pg 2) and assisted with symposia development and Student Subunit Representative Justin McKinney oversaw a well-attended student-mentor mixer (pg 13). The hospitality of the conference center staff and feedback from attendees have ExCom considering including Seaside as a viable third venue for Chapter meetings. ExCom upped the ante for Annual Meeting fundraising, vendor revenue, and raffle-auction proceeds. My presidential tenure began with concern regarding the Chapter’s fiscal sustainability. Despite maintaining a healthy savings account balance, the Chapter’s annual operating funds were in a downward trend due to diminishing Annual Meeting revenues and the quest to satisfy the Chapter’s commitment to scholarship. As ExCom reviewed historical records during the Spring 2015 retreat, we realized our current financial situation was indicative of periodic cycles the Chapter experienced between AFS and Western Division meetings which were historically

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S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 P I S C A T O R I A L P R E S S

What a busy spring it's been! Thanks to all who attended

a fantastic Oregon Chapter Meeting in March - our first in

Seaside, OR. We had a great lineup of workshops,

vendors and sessions . Thanks to all the committee chairs

who organized, moderated and motivated and also to the

speakers who gave some great talks.

We all know that networking at the Annual Meeting is one

of the biggest reasons for attending. If you got caught up

catching up with former or future colleagues and missed

an opportunity to sit in on one of the committee meetings,

you can still find out more about any of the committees by

checking the website at http://orafs.org/external-

committee and contacting a committee chair (also see

page 16) or by emailing me at [email protected].

Cory Sipher, External Director

[email protected]

E X T E R N A L D I R E C T O R ’ S R E P O R T

Are you an AFS Life Member and interested in showing your life-long dedication to the Oregon Chapter? We now have

an Oregon Chapter Life Membership that allows you to do just that! The Oregon Chapter Life Membership cost is $125

or 12.5x the Oregon Chapter annual membership rate. This relative cost difference mirrors the AFS Life Member cost.

Be one of the first ORAFS members to have bragging rights during the 2017 Annual Meeting in Bend! Please contact

Troy Brandt ([email protected]) for more information.

O R A F S L I F E M E M B E R S H I P S N O W A V A I L A B L E !

relied upon as financial windfalls. Over the last two years, ExCom has made a concerted effort to promote fiscal sustainability and has made changes on both sides of the ledger to achieve this goal. We have increased revenue by raising the Annual Meeting registration and Chapter membership rates to be more in line with the average rates of other Western Division chapters. Prior to the changes, ORAFS was near or at the bottom in both categories. Secondly, Secretary-Treasurer Tony Siniscal has deftly organized our books, prepared historical budgetary comparisons, and developed a new Annual Meeting budget that will serve future ExCom officers. Tony’s long hours working through our finances clarified many of the aforementioned concerns and provided us with a pathway towards a more sustainable future. Past-President Mike Gauvin provided leadership through this process and made getting our financial house in order a tenet of his legacy. Our three incredibly successful meetings over the last two years, a better understanding of our financial condition, and prudent management of Chapter finances have put

the Chapter back on the path to prosperity. To avoid the cyclical boom and bust periods of the past, future ExComs must realize that the Chapter’s mission of advancing science, education, and public discourse on fisheries and aquatic sciences requires not only dedicated fisheries professionals, but also attention to the financial health of our Chapter so that we can continue to fulfill our mission. As one of the largest and most decorated chapters in the American Fisheries Society, the Oregon Chapter will continue to set the bar for achievement. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead the Chapter and work with dedicated individuals who share a similar vision for Chapter success. I look forward to continuing my involvement at all levels of AFS, and I am eager to work with future Chapter leaders!

Troy Brandt, President

[email protected]

P R E S I D E N T ’ S C O R N E R ( C O N T I N U E D )

http://orafs.org/external-committee

http://orafs.org/external-committee

mailto:[email protected]



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The Student Chapter’s Spring Break trip was a blast! Seven days of fun in the California sun with biologists, natural resource professionals, and fellow students was a great way to relax between quarters. The trip was filled with exciting activities and a lot of information. The Student Chapter Leadership Team did an excellent job making sure that we never got bored during the trip. We started out with a guided kayak tour through the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve where we got a glimpse at the restoration that has been done and the incredible diversity within the ecosystem; then we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and arrived just in time to see the anchovy feeding in the big tuna tank; we had a blast sight seeing in San Francisco; we explored the Humboldt State University’s Department of Wildlife and Department of Fisheries where we talked

to professors and graduate students; and we closed out our trip with a hike through the Redwoods led by a couple of U.S. Forest Service Biologists. There was lot of driving during the trip, but it was an experience that we will not soon forget.

Don’t think that we are done for the year, though. The Student Chapter has a lot of events planned for Spring Quarter. We have invited guest speakers to our bi-weekly meetings to discuss their research and any internships that they might have available, as well as a couple of weekend trips that are going to be really exciting/educational.

Our first trip of the quarter will be to Depoe Bay where we are going tide pooling with the Marine Team, a group from Hatfield Marine Science Center. The next trip we have planned is to the Oregon Hatchery Research Center where we will learn some valuable skills such as electrofishing, PIT tagging, and how to park and backup a boat trailer. Then it is down to the Wildlife Safari for a tour of the park and a private tour of the park’s veterinary clinic. Lastly, we will close out the quarter with a white water rafting trip and a barbecue. More exciting news from Spring Quarter: we have just finished with elections and selected our new Student Representative. Jacob Peterson will be holding the title for the 2016-2017 school year, and I will have the pleasure of introducing him to ExCom. Jacob is an awesome guy who is really passionate about fish. The Student Chapter would like to sincerely thank the Oregon Chapter of AFS. Without the funding you have provided we would not be able to offer Student Chapter members so many of the activities and learning experiences that were put on this year. I would also like to personally thank ExCom for the great experience I have had this past year. You guys/gals are the best!

Justin Michael McKinney, Student Representative

O R A F S S T U D E N T S U B U N I T U P D A T E

Student subunit members sending out a “Thank You” to ORAFS!

Students from the student subunit at Fisherman’s Wharf

taking in the ocean view!

Student subunit at members learning about the redwoods!

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F I S H E R Y F E A T U R E : J U V E N I L E C H I N O O K S A L M O N H A B I T A T

V A R I A B I L I T Y I N T H E C O L U M B I A R I V E R E S T U A R Y

The Columbia River estuary has long been influenced by human activity and environmental variability to the point that multiple salmon stocks are now listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Since habitat is believed to play an important role in the status and trends of specific stocks, understanding that variability is critical to the preservation and restoration of Columbia River salmon. In this research, we introduce a refined habitat computation method that combines 15 years (2000–2014) of skill assessed simulation results from a 3D circulation model with the best available empirical understanding of fish response to hydrodynamic variables (including depth, temperature, velocity, salinity, and dissolved oxygen levels) found in the Columbia River downstream from the first dam (Bonneville Dam). While this methodology is applicable for computing estuarine habitat for all fish rearing in the estuary, we focus primarily on juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) because they use the estuary as a rearing habitat more than chum or pink salmon and steelhead. We also characterize the spatial and temporal variability of contemporary salmon habitat in the coastal lowlands entrance-mixing region and in the middle tidal flood plain region (Fig. 1). We calculate daily habitat based on the volume of water that met the specific thresholds (extracted from fisheries data) for water depth and 3D fields of velocity, salinity, and temperature at those regions. Salmon habitat is classified into nursery habitat (where depth is less than 2 m) and migratory habitat (where depth is more than 2 m). The methodology also classifies nursery habitat based on different life stages of juvenile Chinook salmon, by applying velocity thresholds for emergent and resident fry, fingerling A, and fingerling B.

Characterizing seasonal and inter–annual variability of habitat for years 2000–2014 suggests strong temporal variability in nursery habitat (Fig. 2). Nursery habitat variability responds primarily to river forcing in the middle tidal plain region, and to tides in the coastal lowlands entrance-mixing region. By contrast, migratory habitat has almost no temporal variability over the 15-year span. A low inter–annual variability of nursery habitat in the coastal lowlands entrance-mixing region during the years 2000–2014 (Mean Coefficient of Variation, MCV= 15%), is the result of low inter–annual variability in tidal range (MCV= 8%). A relatively high inter–annual variability of nursery habitat in the middle tidal plain region during the years 2000–2014 (MCV= 23%), is the result of high inter–annual variability in river discharge (MCV= 46%) at Bonneville Dam. (continued on next page)

Figure 1. Horizontal (partial) view of the computational grid for Columbia River estuary. The grid extends from the Bonneville Dam to the continental shelf of the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. Highlighted in color are the regions for which the

time series of Fig. 2 were generated.

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Higher river discharge during spring and summer 2011, as well as a relatively high and early freshet in 2012 (relative to the 2000–2014 mean river discharge), drastically increase nursery habitat in the middle tidal flood plain region. Conversely, lower river discharge during spring and summer 2001 (relative to the 2000–2014 mean river discharge) reduces nursery habitat in this region (Fig. 2).

Also, the middle tidal flood plain region, which has a greater area of shallow waters, offers more nursery habitat than the coastal lowlands entrance-mixing region. Finally, based on the velocity thresholds for different juvenile Chinook salmon sizes, the coastal lowlands entrance-mixing region provides more nursery habitat for fingerlings than it does for emergent or resident fry, while nursery habitat doesn’t change by size at the middle tidal flood plain region.

Our analysis of the contemporary variability of the estuarine habitat provides a baseline for assessing future changes due to climate, navigation improvements and flow regulation. The analysis is presently limited by a primarily hydrodynamic definition of habitat, but could in the future be extended to include biological competition, food availability, and prevalence of disease – thus better addressing salmon performance in the estuary.

Contributed by:

Mojgan Rostaminia, Oregon Health & Science University, 2015 recipient of the ORAFS Ph.D. student scholarship

António M. Baptista, Oregon Health & Science University Acknowledgement: This analysis was made possible by the modeling and observation infrastructure described in Baptista AM, Seaton C, Wilkin M, Riseman S, Needoba JA, Maier D, Turner PJ, Karna T, Lopez JE, Herfort L, Megler VM, McNeil C, Crump BC, Peterson TD, Spitz Y, Simon HM. 2015. Infrastructure for collaborative science and societal applications in the Columbia River estuary. Frontiers of Earth Science. 9(4):659-682.

Figure 2. Seasonal variation of nursery habitat for emergent fry at (a) the coastal lowlands entrance-mixing region and (b) the middle tidal plain region, in context of (c) tidal range at Tongue Point and (d) river discharge at Bonneville Dam. The multi-

colored lines represent the mean nursery habitat from 2000–2014 (black line), nursery habitat in 2001 (red line), 2011 (blue line) and 2012 (green line). The range and interquartile range for nursery habitat are plotted in light and medium gray, respectively.

F I S H E R Y F E A T U R E ( C O N T I N U E D

Do you have something to share? Submissions from ORAFS members are welcome!

Do you have an update on interesting work you would like to share with the membership? Are you interested in

providing a Fishery Feature or Field Note to tell the membership about your recent project? If so, please submit your

story or thoughts to Allison Evans at: [email protected]. Submission deadlines for news items are:

June 20, Sept.15, Dec. 15, and March 15. The newsletter is published approximately two weeks after

submissions are received. Submissions used as time and space allows.

P I S C A T O R I A L P R E S S : C A L L F O R S U B M I S S I O N S


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Oregon Chapter’s 52nd Annual Meeting Recap

COMMUNICATION, BROKERS IN INFORMATION

A total of 362 scientists, administrators, fish aficionados, and students attended the 52nd Annual Meeting from March 1 – 4, 2016 in Seaside. Given that the location and venue were quite new, and outside of the usual and popular Eugene-Bend meeting rotation, we were very happy to see that this attendance number was quite similar to that of the popular 50th Anniversary meeting in Eugene (over 370 attendees). The vision for this meeting was to try some new things to stimulate communication and cross-pollination among attendees. We achieved this through a combination of broad-topic sessions and “tried-and-true” sessions, while avoiding single taxa sessions. An exception to this was the incredibly broad and large session, “Salmonid biology”. We also tested a speed presentations as an alternative communication format. Our interest in this format was to combat those negative experiences many of us have had with incredibly tedious, methods-heavy papers that squelch curiosity, discussion, and understanding….(just get to the point!). We also explored the use of art and media as a way of storytelling for science, as witnessed by Jeremy Monroe’s plenary (pg 7) and the showing of his documentary, “Upriver”, which garnered very positive feedback. Feedback: To obtain feedback about the meeting, we tried a new polling strategy, using an online Google survey that was live for about a month. Despite some hiccups at the beginning, the survey proved to ultimately be an efficient way to garner valuable responses from meeting attendees. The survey had the added benefit

of allowing pollees to see others’ responses. Out of 75 respondees, most people were pleased with the meeting: 48% indicated the meeting was “Excellent”, and 49% indicated the meeting was “Good”. A summary of responses of parts of the meeting follows. Note that some of the lower rankings (“Fair”, “Poor”) are not shown in many of the tables because the response rate in these categories was very low(i.e., 0 – 2 pollees out of 75 total).

Overall meeting organization: Meeting location (Seaside): Meeting venue (Seaside Convention Center): Meeting program: Pollees provided excellent feedback about things that they liked and did not like. We appreciate your feedback and we are taking your suggestions to heart as we move forward with planning for the 2017 meeting in Bend. One of the many take-aways from the plethora of comments was that it


Percent Ranking

70% Excellent

27% Good

Percent Ranking

56% Excellent

40% Good

Percent Ranking

39% Excellent

48% Good

8% Fair

Percent Ranking

47% Excellent

49% Good

3% Fair

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was not uncommon to see comments of particular things that some liked whereas others did not. One lesson to be taken from this is that our membership has diverse opinions, and that these diverse opinions should be considered when moving forward with meeting planning. Plenary: We had two plenary speakers this year, Jeremy Monroe, Director of Freshwaters Illustrated, and Emma Coddington, Associate Professor of Biology at Willamette University. The plenaries individually and collectively met our target for setting the tone for the rest of the meeting. We have received many positive comments about these two presentations. The stories and passion Jeremy shared through his images and videos were very beautiful and compelling. In an age of information overload and restrictions writ large, Jeremy’s message to use individual passion to tell more heartfelt, direct, and compelling stories was and is timely in aiding education about, and conservation of, Oregonian fishes. Here’s to reacquainting ourselves with our inner child and bringing passion and spirit to what we do! Emma’s perspectives on bias and diversity in the workplace stimulated many spin-off discussions. The discussions continue and have sparked interest and excitement that I will parlay into creating an External Committee on Human Diversity for the chapter. Thanks again to Jeremy and Emma for helping to make the plenary session and our annual meeting a success! Members agreed that the plenary session was an overwhelming success! Plenary session: Workshops: Our 52nd anniversary gathering hosted two great workshops prior to the meeting getting rolling with 35 participants taking advantage of these excellent learning opportunities! This year, our two workshops were: (1) Coastal Stream Fish Passage -- An Example Culvert Replacement Project in Seaside, and (2) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Use in Natural Resource Management. I would like to extend a warm thank you to the workshop instructors for

A N N U A L M E E T I N G R E C A P : C O N T I N U E D

doing an exemplary job in setting up and executing hiqh quality learning experiences. Special thanks to instructors Troy Brandt, Scott Wright, and Melyssa Graeper (Culvert Replacement Workshop) and Dan Avery, Robin Brown, and Erik Suring (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Workshop).


Workshop participants get up close and personal with unmanned aerial vehicles and culvert replacement!

President-Elect Ben Clemens (middle) with plenary speakers Emma Coddington and Jeremy Monroe.

Percent Ranking

53% Excellent

27% Good

4% Fair

15% Did not see

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Participants were very happy with the quality of the workshops! Some recurring themes for workshops that pollees indicated they’d like to see in the future include:

eDNA Statistics Using R statistical software Stakeholder engagement

Technical Sessions: A total of 148 people gave oral presentations; 5 gave speed presentations, and 19 presented posters. In addition to speakers from Oregon, we had speakers from throughout the U.S., including Washington, New Mexico, California, and Wisconsin. We also had international speakers from locations as far away as Japan, Iceland, Canada. Oral presentations: Speed presentations: Posters:


Business Meeting: President Troy Brandt selected long-time Chapter member Dr. Jim Hall as the parliamentarian, confirmed that a quorum was present, and called the 2016 business meeting to order. Troy recognized the Executive Committee, Internal Committee Chairs, the Chapter Webmaster and Newsletter Editor, the AFS 2015 Portland Annual Meeting Planning Team. Troy also acknowledged the Chapter winning the AFS 2015 National Outstanding Chapter of the Year Award. The 2014 (the Chapter did not hold a business meeting at the AFS 2015 Portland Annual Meeting) business meeting minutes were approved and Secretary/Treasurer Tony Siniscal summarized the Chapter’s finances for Fiscal Year 2015-2016. Troy also provided an overview of Strategic Plan goals and accomplishments completed by the Chapter during the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Accomplishments included hosting the AFS Portland Meeting, planning the Seaside Meeting, updating and creating Chapter guidance documents, passing a new bylaw creating separate secretary and treasurer positions, participating in the Oregon Legislature’s 2016 short session, and continuing the tradition of recognizing our colleagues and students with awards and scholarships. Troy introduced Western Division President Jim Bowker who gave an update on the upcoming Western Division Meeting in Reno, Nevada and interactions between WDAFS and AFS. Jim focused on the benefits of AFS membership and promoting the Society within our profession. Jim’s attendance and enthusiasm were much appreciated by ExCom.


Fish aficionados get a chance to discuss science in a more informal setting at the poster session!

Percent Ranking

4% Excellent

6% Good

3% Fair

87% Did not see

Percent Ranking

36% Excellent

56% Good

4% Fair

4% Did not see

Percent Ranking

13% Excellent

20% Good

64% Fair

Percent Ranking

20% Excellent

45% Good

15% Fair

17% Did not see

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The OSU Student Subunit Justin McKinney provided an overview of the subunit’s active and successful year. Justin focused his discussion on recent activities and planning for the subunit’s trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and Humboldt State over the upcoming Spring Break. External Director, Cory Sipher thanked all of the External Committee Chairs for their volunteer service during the year and especially in preparation for the Annual Meeting. Past President Mike Gauvin announced the ExCom election results and welcomed the new officers for the upcoming 2016-2017 year. The meeting adjourned with Troy presenting the Past President Award to Mike Gauvin for his service to the Chapter. Thanks: We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to meeting attendees, workshop instructors, session moderators, an awesome cadre volunteers, sponsors and vendors, and any others we’ve inadvertently forgot to mention. This is YOUR society and the success and positive experiences of the 2016 would not be possible without the involvement of these people.

Ben Clemens, President Elect


The Awards Luncheon gave everyone a chance to honor award recipients and catch up with friends.

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The 2016 Annual Meeting was a place to share ideas, learn about state-of-the-art research, visit with old friends, and meet new friends. It was also a place to recognize the achievements of our colleagues. This year’s professional awards were expertly managed by Colleen Fagan and the Awards Committee. Congratulations to the award winners, and thanks to all of the members who submitted nominations and reviewed the awards nominations. Fishery Team of the Year: ODFW’s Angling Regulation Simplification Team (Mike Gauvin, Josh McCormick, Mike Harrington, Gary Vonderohe, Jessica Sall, Chris Kern, and Shannon Hurn) for creating and implementing a much-simplified set of angling regulations with clarity and consistency! This team used their local knowledge of the resource and resource issues, their connection with the public and local communities, and their ability to implement change to make angling regulations simpler and more understandable. Congratulations on your collaborative work that crosses geographic and socioeconomic boundaries and promotes more effective management of the fisheries resources! Fishery Worker of the Year: Dr. Selina Heppell (not pictured) for her leadership, science, and communication skills, which have resulted in educational advances at Oregon State’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and scientific advances in understanding long-lived marine organisms. Selina has shepherded the development of innovative online curricula, oversees one of the top ranked Fisheries and Wildlife Science programs in the nation, and maintains an active research career in modeling life histories of long-lived organisms. Congratulations, Selina, on your a diverse and successful efforts on behalf of fishery science and education! Award of Merit: Neil Ward and Dave Ward for their exceptional efforts as the 2015 National Meeting Co-Chairs! They coordinated extensively with the AFS President, the Program Chairs, the Society’s Executive Director, AFS staff from Bethesda, and committee chairs and members. They attended to every meeting detail and did everything in their power to eliminate or alleviate last minute confusion and problems. Thank you, Neil and Dave, for ensuring that this was truly an extraordinary meeting! Lifetime Achievement Award: Jim Lichatowich for a career dedicated to reversing the decline of Pacific salmon. Jim’s influence as a biologist, researcher, and author is exceptionally far-reaching. From his service on scientific review teams, to his authorship of the landmark 1991 paper in Fisheries that demonstrated systemic collapse of salmon stocks at a regional scale, to his two widely acclaimed books, Jim exemplifies a long-term commitment to our profession and the resource. Congratulations, Jim, on a career that has steered the course for salmon in the Northwest!

A N D T H E W I N N E R S A R E . . .

Dave Ward (left) and Neil Ward (right) accept their Award of Merit for their leadership as 2015 National

Meeting Co-Chairs.

The ODFW Angling Regulation Simplification Team receives the Fishery Team of the Year Award for a

much-needed effort to simplify Oregon’s angling regulations (Left to right: Mike Gauvin, Gary

Vonderohe, Josh McCormick, and Troy Brandt).

Jim Lichatowich accepts his Lifetime Achievement Award for his lifetime effort on behalf of wild salmon

stocks in the Pacific Northwest.

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Student Scholarship Winners The 2016 ORAFS student scholarships were awarded to:

Christine Brandtner, A.A., Mount Hood Community College

Christina Uh, B.S., University of Portland Erica Maltz, M.S., Oregon State University Brittany Schwartzkopf, Ph.D., Oregon State

University The uniquely prestigious Carl Bond Scholarship was awarded to Thaddaeus Buser, Ph.D. student, Oregon State University, Department of Fisheries and wildlife, in support of his novel work using X-ray microtomography to understand the morphological and ecological diversity of Oregon’s sculpins. This is a subject that would likely be near and dear to Dr. Bond’s heart. Scott Heppell and the scholarship committee did an outstanding job managing the scholarship process and evaluating the worthy applicant pool. Best Student Paper and Poster Best Student Paper: Thaddaeus Buser (Oregon

State University, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife) and Rachael Klopfenstein (runner-up: Oregon State University, Marine Resources Management).

Best Student Poster: Joshua Schulze of University

of Wisconsin — Steven’s Point Emily Campbell and Ivan Arismendi did an excellent job planning for these important awards. Many thanks to Emily and Ivan and the team of volunteer judges who help make these award possible!

From left, Rachael Klopfenstein, Thaddaeus Buser, and Joshua Schulze accept their awards for the best student talks and posters.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the student scholarship winners! From left: Thaddaeus Buser, Brittany Schwartzkopf, Erica Maltz,

Christina Uh, and Christine Brandtner.

A N D T H E W I N N E R S A R E … ( C O N T I N U E D )

At the Annual Meeting, ORAFS members showed off their poker-playing skills for a great cause, supporting the chapter’s student scholarships, and for the chance to win fabulous prizes! Thursday evening, 23 card enthusiasts went to work in the poker tournament. The top three finishers were Steve Haeseker, Josh Schulze, and Greg Apke! Many thanks to Kevin Stertz for coordinating this friendly and fun competition! Thanks to all the participants who made the evening enjoyable. Brush up on your poker skills and you could be a winner next year in Bend!

T E X A S H O L D ’ E M F U N D R A I S E R W A S A H I T !

From left: Greg Apke, Kevin Stertz, Josh Schulze, and Steve Haeseker show off prizes the poker tournament!

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Raffle/Auction: This year’s raffle/auction at the annual meeting in Seaside was a record-setting success! A huge thanks is in order to Jeremy Romer, Luke Schultz, Sarah R Sapienza, Katie Pierson, and Derek Wilson for all their hard work organizing this event. Among the spread of items that were raffled and auctioned off was amazing artwork from Heather Fortner, Bruce Koike, Freshwaters Illustrated, and many others. Amazing handmade items were donated, again demonstrating the talent and creativity of many of our mem-bers. This year we also debuted a special raffle for a Bowtech certificate! In line with previous years, we had several mem-bers step up and donate fishing trips that will take winners from chasing tuna in the Pacific Ocean to floating the Grande Ronde. This was our biggest year yet; more than 100 individu-als and businesses donated trips, gear, other items and ser-vices to the raffle/auction! ORAFS is truly indebted to the raffle/auction committee, all the donors, and the student volunteers who helped out – we wouldn’t have been able to raise all the funds we did without you.

Student Volunteers: We had an exceptional year for student participa-tion at our annual meeting! Over 25 graduate and undergraduate students from multiple universities and institutions across the Western Division volun-teered their time. Many of the functions of the annual meeting depended on the help of our volunteers, who continued to go above and beyond their volun-teer duties and show great initiative and professionalism. A special thanks to Dave Roon and Chris Hirsch for their leadership and guidance in scheduling and coordinating all of the volunteers. We look forward to seeing some famil-iar and new student faces at the annual meeting in Bend next year! Of course, you don’t need to be a student to help out, and we had a number of dedicated members who also stepped up. Consider volunteering, it’s a great way to interact with new folks and to help make every annual meeting a great one!

Student - Mentor Mixer: This year we had over 40 stu-dents that attended the student-mentor mixer where they were able to interact with a wide variety of mentors and potential employers! A round of thanks to those exceptional profession-als who met with our student members to impart their knowledge and experience. We used a slightly longer speed dating variant than the 2014 meeting. Students were able to meet one-on-one with a mentor for 7 minutes before moving on to talk to another mentor. This format allowed students to directly interact with as many mentors as possible. Feed-back so far is that mentor and students alike had a great time this year and we hope to continue to improve this event which is proving very helpful for student career de-velopment and meeting participation. If you have never participated in the student-mentor mixer, please consider it for next year’s meeting! Looking Ahead to Bend 2017: If you would like to step-up your participation at the annual meeting, please contact the VP directly to discuss opportunities to get involved! Chrissy Murphy, Vice President

V I C E P R E S I D E N T ’ S R E P O R T

Students take advantage of the time with mentors at the Student-Mentor Mixer, where students meet current

professionals and ask questions about job skills and open

So many raffle tickets—so little time!

Bruce Koike shows off an example of a beautiful canary rockfish print, the likes of which where

among some of the fantastic art available at the raffle/auction!


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The success of the 52nd

Annual Meeting represents a collaborative effort. Thanks to all who attended, assisted, presented, moderated, donated, and especially the ExCom for a year of behind-the-scenes planning: President-Elect Ben Clemens, Past-President Mike Gauvin, President Troy Brandt, Vice President Chrissy Murphy, Secretary-Treasurer Tony Siniscal, Internal Director Gary Vonderohe, and External Director Cory Sipher. From being the backbone of the Annual Meeting planning to facilitating the committees that do our Chapter’s work, to keeping our finances in order, this is the team that makes our chapter run! Your hard work is truly appreciated by the Chapter.

T H A N K S T O T H E 2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6 E X C O M

From left: Gary Vonderohe, Mike Gauvin, Chrissy Murphy, Cory Sipher, Tony Siniscal, Ben Clemens, and Troy Brandt

Do you ever wonder where we get those fabulous pictures of everyone at the Annual Meetings that are included in the newsletter? All the official photos from the 2016 Annual Meeting used in this issue of the Piscatorial Press were taken by unofficial chapter photographer Rich Grost (except the one of Rich to the right, of course)! Thanks, Rich, for never missing a beat and providing the chapter with documentation of all those memorable moments during the Annual Meeting! From awards recipients to those candid photos of folks cutting a rug after the banquet, we really appreciated it! If you are interested in seeing more of Rich’s fantastic photography, you can find it at http://www.richardgrost.com. Interested in seeing if you were captured by Rich’s quick shutter-finger? You can see the album containing Rich’s photos as well as photos by others on the Chapter’s Facebook page!

L O O K A T T H O S E S M I L E S !

A rare picture of photographer Rich Grost taken at the end of the Spawning

Run!

Welcome to newly-elected and returning officers of the ORAFS ExCom. Please congratulate them and thank them when you have an opportunity, for ORAFS could not function without these dedicated individuals. The new officers are: President-Elect/2017 Annual Meeting Chair — Shivonne Nesbit (NOAA) Vice President — Jeremy Romer, ODFW Secretary — Katie Pierson, ODFW Student Representative — Jacob Peterson, OSU

Returning officers are: Treasurer — Tony Siniscal, ODFW Internal Director — Gary Vonderohe, ODFW External Director — Cory Sipher, BLM Past-President — Troy Brandt, River Design Group President — Ben Clemens, ODFW The new officers’ terms take effect May 1st. Full contact information can be found on the Chapter’s website. Thanks to all the nominees your willingness to serve!

W E L C O M E T O T H E N E W 2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7 E X C O M

http://www.richardgrost.com

https://www.facebook.com/ORChapterAFS/

http://orafs.org/executive-committee/

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The Native Fish Committee of the Oregon Chapter American Fisheries Society

Presents

The 2016 Nongame Native Fish Workshop This Year’s Featured Species are

Umpqua Chub, Dace, and Pikeminnow

Umpqua Chub (Oregonichthys kalawatseti)

Umpqua Dace (Rhinichthys evermanni)

Umpqua Pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus umpquae)

September 13-14, 2016 Tiller, Oregon

The Native Fish Committee of the Oregon Chapter American Fisheries Society organizes annual field work-shops featuring nongame native fish in Oregon. This year, the committee will study three nongame native fish found in the Umpqua River; the Umpqua Chub, Dace, and Pikeminnow. Species experts will lead discussions and field sampling to assist workshop participants to understand the biology of the species and associated management challenges. This is an opportunity to experience the species and their habitat. There is no charge to participate in the workshop. All biologists are welcome to participate and students are encouraged to attend. We will camp the night of September 13 at Three C Rock Campground, 4 miles from Tiller on County Road 46. No water is available at the campground. Bring your own food, water, and camping gear. The workshop will start 1:00 PM September 13 at the conference room in Tiller Ranger Station (27812 Tiller Trail Highway) and will end at 100 PM on September 14. If you plan to attend, please RSVP James Capurso, OCAFS Native Fish Committee Chair, at [email protected].

Photos courtesy of Brian Sidlauskas

U P C O M I N G M E E T I N G : N O N G A M E N A T I V E F I S H W O R K S H O P


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Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society www.orafs.org

CHANGE OF ADDRESS & MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS:

To join or change address, go to www.fisheries.org and be sure to sign up for the Oregon Chapter. Also visit www.orafs.org/membership to join our listserve and get other Chapter

information.

Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Mission

Improve the conservation and sustainability of Oregon fishery resources and their aquatic ecosystems for long-term public

benefit by advancing science, education, and public discourse concerning fisheries and aquatic science and by promoting the

development of fisheries professionals.

2016-2017 OREGON CHAPTER AFS EXECUTIVE

COMMITTEE OFFICERS (ORAFS EXCOM)

President: Ben Clemens

541-757-5113; [email protected]

President-Elect: Shivonne Nesbit


Past-President: Troy Brandt


Vice President: Jeremy Romer


Secretary: Katie Pierson

541-296-3023 x222; [email protected]

Treasurer: Tony Siniscal


External Director: Cory Sipher


Internal Director: Gary Vonderohe


Student Representative: Jacob Peterson

[email protected]

EXTERNAL COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Education and Outreach: Ryan Battleson

541-826-8774 x226; [email protected]

Fish Culture: Ryan Couture

541-487-5510 ext. 110; [email protected]

Freshwater Habitat: Bill Wall


Legislative Committee: Haley Blake


Marine Habitat and Ecology: Michael Harte


Native Fish: Jim Capurso


Social Media: Demian Ebert


Natural Production: Ian Tattam


INTERNAL COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Awards: Colleen Fagan


Investments: Tony Siniscal


Scholarships: Scott Heppell


Resolutions and Bylaws: Jeremy Romer


AFS / TWS Liaison: Laura Tesler


EXTERNAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL

Webmaster: Lora Tennant


INTERNAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL

Historian: Jason Seals


Newsletter Editor: Allison Evans


Additional contact information (mailing addresses, fax numbers) for all officers, committee chairs, and support personnel are available at: http://orafs.org under “Officers & Committees”.


http://www.orafs.org

http://www.fisheries.org

http://www.orafs.org/membership

http://orafs.org

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