CCFFR Business Meeting Minutes

 

The 59th Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research

Fairmont Palliser, Calgary Alberta

January 5-7, 2006

 

I.                   APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

The business meeting for the 59th Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research (CCFFR) was called to order by President Dr. Michael Fox.  The agenda was approved (Lark/Curry). 

 

II.                APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 8, 2005

The minutes for the 2005 business meeting were reviewed and a motion to approve with amendments was passed (Post/Boisclair). 

 

III.             ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

John Post, the chair of this year’s organizing committee, gratefully acknowledged all those individuals and organizations for their support to make the Calgary meeting such an outstanding success.  Our sponsors this year included:

University of Calgary,

Fisheries and Oceans Canada,

Aquasalmo,

American Fisheries Society – Western Division,

Trout Unlimited Canada,

Alberta Ingenuity Centre for Water Research,

Alberta Fish and Wildlife,

Alberta Conservation Association,

Lotek Wireless,

Canadian Aquatic Resources Section of AFS,

Smith Root Inc.,

Hoskin Scientific,

Department of Oceanography Dalhousie University,

The Fairmont Palliser

Big Rock Brewery. 

A special acknowledgement and compliments was extended to John Post for his efforts.  

 

IV.              TREASURER’S REPORT

The treasurer’s report for 2004/05 was read by Andrew Cooper.   Additions to the list of sponsors are noted.  A full list will be provided by Dan Heath and the report to be amended accordingly. The motion to approve the treasurer’s report with amendments was passed (Lark/Curry).  The treasurer’s report will be posted on the official CCFFR website. 

 

V.                 CLEMENS-RIGLER TRAVEL FUND

Rob Mackereth reported on the activities of the Clemens-Rigler travel fund and selection committee for 2005/06.  He wished to acknowledge the efforts of Howard Powles to seek sponsors for the CRTF on behalf of CARS and CCFFR.  This year we were able to allocate $18,600 to support travel for 65 student applicants.  Awards ranged from $250 to $400 per applicant.   Dan Heath asked why some of his student only received $100.  Only $100 was awarded to applications received after the deadline of October 31st.  This amount was chosen to cover the cost of registration.

There was general support for CARS to continue its role in the administration of the CRTF.  We were pleased to see that Howard Powles, on behalf of CARS, was taking the lead on this and his continued interest or that of a CARS designate bodes well for the future success of the CRTF. John Lark noted that this kind of proactive support is wonderful for the CCFFR as we continue to require real organization support to deliver the CRTF and the annual meeting.  We should also not the importance of the CRTF and CCFFR legacy that sees the student participants become the professor that encourages their own students to participate and support this annual meeting.  The relatively modest amount of time and effort becomes an excellent investment for the organization of aquatic sciences in Canada. 

John Post noted that the non-student registration surcharge, which we had agreed to last year, is expected to bring in between $3600 and $4000 solely for the Clemens Rigler Travel Fund for next year. 

Andrew Cooper reported that the DFO-HQ equal contribution agreement was now in the approval process and expected to continue for the coming years.  He had inquired about an increase in the contribution amount to 8K.  He was advised that under DFO’s current budget restrictions a request to increase this amount was not likely to be approved.  Instead DFO-HQ offered to pay for the audio visual costs if we would send them an invoice for this service.  This is something that could be pursued each year if we approached DFO-HQ with a similar proposal well in advance of the meeting. 

 

VI.              UPCOMING MEETINGS

a. Officers and Arrangements – 2007 (Montreal, Quebec)

President: Jeff Hutchings (Dalhousie U.)

Local arrangements: Daniel Boisclair (U. Montreal), Grant Brown (Concordia U.)

Program Chair: Nick Mandrak (DFO-Burlington)

Nominations Chair for 2008: Lynda Corkum (U. Windsor)

 

Daniel Boisclair reported on progress for the 2007 meeting in Montreal.  He was currently negotiating a contract with the Delta Hotel – Centre Ville.  This venue was close to the downtown and train station.  He was working on getting good prices and a better deal on the security deposit.  In the next months he would be soliciting local sponsors such as Hydro Quebec.  He anticipated that the program structure would be much the same as 2006 with registration on Thursday night followed by two full days of oral and poster sessions.  The exact number of concurrent sessions for CCFFR and SCL would be decided once the themes were finalized.  Preference would be given to student papers.

 

Nick Mandrak reported on theme ideas and volunteers. Some suggestions received to date were:  

St. Lawrence River and Estuary

Biodiversity

Habitat

Ecosystem modelling

Wetland interactions

Damns, hydro-regulated flows

Large Rivers

Reservoir Science

Environmental Physiology and Genomics

 

Send any further request to Nick. 

 

b. Officers and Arrangements – 2008 (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Andrew Cooper read the nominations for 2008 as provided by Lynda Corkum:

President: John Casselman

Local Arrangements Chair: Paul Bentzen

Program Chair: Mark Ridgway

Nominations Chair for 2009: Eric Taylor

The motion to approve these was passed (Lark/Heath). 

 

c. Venue 2009

Ottawa was unanimously conscripted to be the venue for 2009 (Curry/Boisclair).  Nominations for the executive committee will be read during the next business meeting in Montreal 2007.  

 

VII.           REPORT FROM THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES

Moira Ferguson reported that the journal was “humming along nicely”.  Notable activities were that the CJFAS is now on-line and submission rates are good with about a 64% rejection rate.  In June of 2007 Moira will be stepping down as senior editor after 10 years in this position.  Bruce Dancik, Editor-in-Chief NRC Research Press, will be in the process of finding a new senior editor and this position will likely leave the University of Guelph to follow the senior editor.  The CJFAS editorial office is also caught up with the backlog of issues from last year.  

 

VIII.        OTHER BUSINESS

Daniel Boisclair reported on the results of the questionnaire sent out to CCFFR participants.  There were more people that wanted to change the timing of the meeting but those that did not want to change had better reasons regarding conflicts with other meetings, workload, preparation for field work in the spring, and venue costs.  As a result it is recommended that we do not change the meeting times. A motion to keep the same early January meeting time was passed (Gunn/Curry).    

John Post made an important note on keeping meeting costs down.  When you are making reservations at the hotel it is important to identify that you are staying for the CCFFR.  This helps the organizers meet the minimum guest room numbers and results in a significant discount on the meeting rooms. 

The issue of conference insurance was discussed.  Local organizers are asked to sign the contract with the hotel and therefore personally obligate themselves to the hotel for the financial risk if the meeting does not take place.  Two solutions discussed were: to incorporate the CCFFR and to purchase insurance the relevant insurance for the corporation or; to buy insurance for the organizing chair each year specific to the penalty clause in the contract and the default payment for rooms.  John Lark agreed to investigate the second option and report back to the CCFFR business meeting.  This motion was approved (Heath/Boisclair). 

Registration for the meeting is somewhat complicated under the two societies of CCFFR and SCL.  John Post and Daniel Boisclair will discuss how to improve this for next year. 

 

IX.              ADJOURNMENT

The participants of the business meeting wished to acknowledge this year’s executive committee for their great job: John Post (Local Arrangements Chair), Allan Curry (Program Chair), Rob Mackereth (Clemens-Rigler Travel Fund), Andrew Cooper (Secretary-Treasurer), and Michael Fox (President).

            Michael Fox asked that the meeting be adjourned as it was time to dine, motion passed (Boisclair/Mackereth).