Committee Forum

Anadromous Fish Committee

Idaho Chapter American Fisheries Society

Chairperson

Tim Copeland
Phone: 208-465-8404, ext. 232
Email: tcopeland@idfg.idaho.gov

Mission

The mission of the Anadromous Committee of the Idaho Chapter American Fisheries Society is to advance knowledge and appreciation of the state's anadromous fish resources and the aquatic habitats upon which they depend; and promote the use of sound science towards conservation and recovery of the fishery resource for its use and enjoyment by all.

Goals

The committee will seek to achieve the mission through these goals:

Goal 1: Continue to work on informational Placemats to restaurants for distribution at key fishing areas and well as key population areas around Idaho.

Goal 2: Sponsor a plenary session or symposia at next years Idaho Chapter AFS meeting. Topic of interest is supplementation. We will choose select speakers to hear get a comprehensive look at this topic that will hopefully lead into a very energetic panel discussion.

Goal 3: Reprint anadromous committee brochure for free fishing days at Kooskia, Dworshak, and Hagerman free fishing days.

Progress Report

The Anadromous Fish Committee (AFC) saw a surge of attendance (17 people) at the Annual 2007 Idaho Chapter American Fisheries Society (IDAFS) Meeting in Boise this past February, which is up from the past several years. This was exciting and hope this enthusiasm continues, because anadromous fishes are an integral piece of Idaho's past and will hopefully continue into the future.

During the meeting it was decided that the AFC needed to move into another direction. Anadromous fish are extremely important and a tremendous amount of funding associated with the propagation and evaluation of those species are devoted by many entities each year. Given the extreme importance of these species, the AFC is going to sponsor a symposia or plenary session at the 2008 IDAFS meeting in Post Falls. The topic we have chosen is supplementation; this is a very polarizing topic that has not been resolved and has entertained many disagreements over the years. The AFC is going to put together a session that will invite experts on the topic from many view points, and conclude with a panel discussion. This is a much needed discussion and should be very stimulating. Be sure to watch announcements for the upcoming 2008 meeting.

Again this year we provided AFC brochures, which provides the public with information about the economic impacts of salmon and steelhead fishing to Idaho, for distribution at Kooskia, Dworshak Hagerman fish hatcheries, Manns (Lewiston)and Cascade lakes, Browns (McCall) and Meadow Creek (New Meadows) ponds free fishing day clinics. This brochure has continued to provide valuable information to the public and we plan to continue that effort in the future.