Special Symposia

A tribute to Kim Hyatt

Organizers: Richard Bailey; Irvine

Sadly, Dr. Kim Hyatt passed away on May 25, 2021, after battling aggressive cancer. Kim’s impressive career began several years before receiving his PhD from UBC in 1980, covering a broad range of topics pertaining to salmonids and the aquatic ecosystem. Kim’s contributions continue as evidenced by several papers published posthumously, and ongoing work by numerous colleagues who carry on research initiated or inspired by him. The goal of today’s session is to pay tribute to Kim by providing an opportunity for colleagues and friends who worked with or were inspired by him to describe their research. We begin with a brief chronological summary of his major contributions, starting with theoretical contributions to foraging theory and leading to applied and impactful research on a Risk Assessment Method for Salmon (RAMS) and Fish Water Management Tools.

Indigenous management systems: Leadership, collaboration, and agency

Organizers: Andrea Reid, Duncan, Greening, and Atlas

The decline of fish populations is substantially affecting livelihoods and communities around the world. Fishing is integral to many Indigenous cultures, identities, and livelihoods. Across Canada, access to fish for food, social, and ceremonial purposes is a constitutionally protected right for Indigenous peoples that is founded in a complex history of displacement. In the spirit of raising awareness of our shared history and future, this symposium will emphasize the importance of fisheries to Indigenous Nations and examine how holistically understanding the complex and interwoven social, ecological, and political systems of fisheries can improve conventional management and research practices. How can we improve reciprocity in the exchange of knowledge to improve long-term sustainability? How can a better understanding of Indigenous knowledge systems improve collaborative management, science and research? We take a collaborative, pluralistic approach to consider fisheries - engaging Indigenous and Western sciences (i.e. biology and ecology) to allow us to better understand modern problems and suggest best-practices and solutions. We will emphasize that by approaching fisheries management through an Indigenous lens means that cultural values and protocols, ceremony, storytelling, and socio-political discourse play just as crucial a role as does scientific observation and experimentation. Through this symposium we hope to re-ground our practices around fisheries conservation and management and make space to learn from Indigenous experts and challenge our foundations learned through Western science.

Source, fate and effects of contaminants in fish food webs

Organizers: Tim Jardine and Heidi Swanson

Contaminants in aquatic systems continue to pose potential health problems for fish and for wildlife and people who eat fish, limiting people’s participation in commercial, recreational and traditional fisheries. Legacy pollutants such as methyl mercury and industrial chemicals and pesticides, and emerging compounds such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics, present new challenges for empirical measurement and modeling. This session invites contributions that examine contaminants in aquatic food webs, broadly defined to include examinations of exposure and/or effects. Field based studies will be given priority, but laboratory or mesocosm experiments will be considered if there is a clear link to the health of wild fisheries. We particularly encourage submissions that involve collaborations with communities that have a joint aim to understand implications of exposure for humans and ecosystems.

Recreational fisheries: the human and biological dimensions

Organizers: Steven Cooke and Dominique Lapointe

Recreational fisheries are embedded in the fabric of Canadian culture, especially in rural regions (e.g., the Orillia Perch Festival in ON, the statue of Chuck the Channel Catfish in Selkirk, MB). Recreational fishing generates over $8 Billion CDN for the economy on an annual basis and engages more than 10% of Canadians. Although more than 2/3rds of fish captured by anglers are released, fish captured by anglers play an important role in regional food security. Yet, there can be conflict between recreational fisheries management objectives and other sectors and activities such as biodiversity conservation. Moreover, there is evidence of declines in some prominent recreationally-exploited fisheries. In this session we embrace the idea that recreational fisheries are coupled social-ecological systems and explore the current state and future of the sector by examining both the human and biological dimensions. We welcome diverse contributions that tackle topics such as the role of anglers in fisheries research, emerging technologies, the intersection between recreational fisheries and other sectors, development of best practices for catch-and-release, adaptation of recreational fisheries to environmental change, recreational fisheries governance, and the future of recreational fisheries research and management in Canada. Our goal is to achieve consensus on what is needed to achieve responsible and sustainable recreational fisheries in Canada for today and tomorrow.

Cumulative effects in watersheds

Organizers: Marta Ulaski, Naman, Iacarella, Chalifour, Adams

Watershed networks are complex systems, connected by downstream movements of water, sediment, and organic materials and bi-directional movements of fish and other animals. While this highly connected structure of watershed ecosystems underpins their productivity and resilience, it also creates the potential for cumulative effects from multiple human activities to impact ecological and hydrological integrity across the landscape. Individual stressors that may be considered small on their own can have significant consequences when combined with other interacting stressors across watershed networks . Impacts from localized activities may also be exacerbated against the larger backdrop of a changing climate. Cumulative effects are a critical threat to watersheds and the ecosystems they support, yet effectively understanding and managing them is a wicked challenge for science and conservation. This session aims to bring together diverse approaches to better understand and manage cumulative effects in watersheds across Canada. We welcome presentations on a wide range of topics within this theme, including science on multiple stressors, cumulative effects assessment tools, and social dimensions of cumulative effects and watershed stewardship.

Aquatic Habitat Restoration & Partnerships

Organizers: Catherine Febria; Lau

The recovery and effective management of aquatic habitats are essential to fisheries, ecosystems and society. To be truly effective, partnerships with science, communities and decision-makers are required at a range of scales. From research co-design, the implementation of research in local communities, and implementation of legislative tools and frameworks, the dimensions influencing aquatic habitat research are numerous. One thing is certain when it comes to successful restoration: Partnerships are key. Therefore, this session will explore partnership-based efforts in the science and practice of aquatic habitat restoration. The session invites a broad range of contributions including research presentations focused on lessons learned and outcomes of aquatic habitat restoration efforts. We are actively seeking a diversity of perspectives, ways of knowing and doing, and research approaches. Offerings can include case studies, efforts that feature local and Indigenous knowledge systems, to empirical studies on the effectiveness of aquatic habitat restoration efforts. Extending from individual species to whole ecosystem connections, offerings are not limited to fishery-specific efforts but can focus on ecosystem dynamics, riparian habitats, and social or cultural dimensions, and efforts across human-impacted landscapes (e.g., agriculturally-intensified, urbanized). Notably, this session is co-designed to intentionally complement and amplify messages shared in the Indigenous Fisheries session and will follow on the same day to highlight Indigenous-led, community-driven efforts.

Salmon in a changing climate

Organizers: Samantha Wilson, Milner, Tremblay-Boyer

Climate change is affecting salmon and their habit throughout their life cycle— from ocean climate variability driving large shifts in survival and growth, to warming streams causing decreased growth in juveniles and mortality in adult migrants. The effects of climate change on salmon survival and productivity will depend both on the magnitude of changes to salmon habitat, as well as the adaptive capacity and sensitivity of salmon species and populations. Thus, understanding both vulnerability and resilience to climate change will require an understanding of changing habitats as well as static and changing salmon traits. This symposium will bring together researchers studying how climate change is impacting salmon to better understand the vulnerability and resilience of salmon species and populations to climate change. We welcome studies on changing salmon habitat (e.g., flooding, temperatures during migration, ocean food web changes), changes in salmon traits (e.g., age-at-maturity, phenology) and trait diversity. Finally, we welcome talks that demonstrate how individual salmon characteristics (e.g., size, physiological tolerances) or carryover effects may interact with changes in habitat to impact fitness or survival.