2010 WA-BC Chapter Awards
Michael Donaldson receives his award for the Best Student Paper (Runner Up) and Best Student Poster
There are so many people deserving recognition each year. We are so pleased to have presented the following awards at the 2010 AGM, and extend our congratulations to all the recipients.
Worthy Coelacanth Award
Dr. Keith Ketchen, retired, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Dr. Keith Ketchen pioneered the modern management of groundfish in the early 1960s. He would see this fishery decades later surpass salmon as the most important economic catch on the west coast. He has many publications, focusing on early life histories of several groundfish species, including lemon (English) sole and spiny dogfish fisheries and ecology. In earlier years, he was a member of AFS, but he has been retired now for many years. He mentored several up and coming fisheries scientists, with humor and humility.
Haig-Brown Award
Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council
The Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council communicates important scientific information regarding salmonid science and conservation to the Canadian government and public. Independent reviews and recommendations of the Council are provided in language that the public can grasp and understand. In this manner, the Council effectively communicates information regarding the status and trends in salmonid populations and habitat to the public. This embodies the essence of the Roderick Haig-Brown award.
Meritorious Service Award
Eric Knudsen, WA-BC Past President, Sustainable Fisheries Foundation
Over the past three years Eric has made substantial contributions to the WA-BC Chapter. Eric put the WA-BC ship on a course to success. When Eric joined the WA-BC Excom in 2007 we needed leadership and that is what Eric brought: Knowledge of how AFS works, wisdom of past meetings to avoid pitfalls, energy to motivate, opinions to share and discuss, and openness to hear and try new ideas.
Conservation Organization of the Year
Mike McHenry, Lower Elwha Tribe, Fisheries Division
The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT) Fisheries Division, largely through the efforts of Mike McHenry, has made significant contributions to fish habitat restoration along Washington’s north Olympic Peninsula. Their systematic work of identifying habitat limitations and then restoring natural habitat function has greatly benefited salmonids and their habitat in this region. They identified 31 barriers within the Salt Creek watershed, west of Port Angeles and have so far removed 17. In 2009, this included replacing five undersized culverts with stream simulation culverts to open 3.87 miles of stream habitat that had been previously blocked to anadromous salmonids. Coho salmon were observed using this newly available habitat last fall. In addition, the LEKT has been restoring natural conditions in the Lower Elwha River. This is critical in this system since two dams, Elwha and Glines Canyon, are scheduled for removal in 2011-2012. The LEKT has removed dikes, installing engineered logjams, controlled invasive species, and planted native vegetation in the lower floodplain. During 2009, the LEKT removed a dike that ran perpendicular across the floodplain and truncated several side channels. They installed four engineered logjams to provide stable rearing habitat for salmonids. In addition, they removed invasive plant species and planted native species in the middle River. The LEKT has worked effectively with Federal, State, and local agencies, as well as the public to identify, prioritize and complete these habitat restoration activities.
Certificate of Achievement
Dr. Richard J. Beamish, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
For significant contributions in numerous areas of fisheries conservation, Impressive publication record, exemplary teaching, and mentoring of future fisheries scientists.
Certificate of Appreciation
Caroline Mercado, HTI
For 2009 and 2010 AGM program production and graphics as well as production of booth banners for 2011 and the WA-BC chapter.
The Fish Gaffe
Larry Dominguez, Entrix
For his absence at the symposium he was supposed to chair at the 2009 AGM. Nobody from the symposium came to get Larry because they knew how busy he was with the logistics of the AGM. The symposium went off without a hitch but it was still funny when Larry said ‘I missed my symposium I was supposed to chair.’ And also for forgetting his passport when we were supposed to go to Nanaimo for 2010 planning.
Student Awards
The 2010 AGM in Nanaimo had a great turnout of students from six universities in British Columbia and Washington, many of whom volunteered to help make the meeting run smoothly. Attendees were impressed with the outstanding student presentations on a wide variety of topics.
Best Student Paper was awarded to Ryan Cloutier (Simon Frasier University) for his talk ”Do Rockfish Conservation Areas Work?”
The Runner-Up for Best Student Paper and the Best Student Poster award went to Michael Donaldson (University of British Columbia). He presented a talk titled, “Fisheries and Handling-Related Stressors on Adult Pacific Salmon Physiology, Behaviour and Survival,” and a poster titled, “Physiological Responses and Recovery of Adult Coho Salmon to Simulated Predator and Fisheries Encounters.”
In addition to the Chapter awards, Trout Unlimited presented a special award for, “Outstanding Student Research Supporting Conservation, Protection, and Restoration of North America’s Coldwater Fisheries and Their Watersheds” to Meryl Mims (University of Washington). Meryl’s presentation was titled, “Link Between Hydrologic Variability and Freshwater Fish Life Histories in the United States”.