hook, line and thinker

HOOK, LINE AND THINKER
The Newsletter of the Fishermen and Scientists Research Society
Issue: 2015-1
Spring 2015
FSRS Celebrates Fisheries Leadership
The Fishermen and Scientists Research Society (FSRS) held its 22nd Annual Conference on February 1920, 2015 in Dartmouth, NS. Despite winter storms and precarious travelling conditions, the conference
attracted 100 participants, including fishermen, scientists from academia and government, graduate
students, Aboriginal representatives, and other ocean enthusiasts interested in supporting our objectives
and research.
The day started off with opening remarks by Dina Desveaux, the FSRS’s new Executive Director who
welcomed all, reviewed the agenda [http://www.fsrs.ns.ca/docs/2015-conference-agenda.pdf], thanked all
the volunteers and sponsors and commented that, “it doesn’t matter whether you’re a fishermen, a marine
scientist, or you just happen to like having a feed of freshly-caught lobsters on New Year’s eve—the
success of our fisheries sector in Nova Scotia is of critical importance to this province’s future.”
Dina then invited Magali Grégoire to kick off the conference with her passionate invitation for everyone
to, “Fall in Love with the Ocean, Again!” Ms. Gregoire’s informative presentation about catch and
release aquariums demonstrated how a spark of curiosity can lead to understanding and caring to foster
hope for the conservation of our Maritime marine ecosystem.
Magali’s communication style was infectious – so much so that she was nominated
and elected to become the FSRS’s new Communications Committee Chair (see p. 7).
As we look forward to a great year ahead with Maggie at the helm, we remain so very
grateful to our former chair, Hilda Russell, for her time served.
Continued on page 2.
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HOOK, LINE AND THINKER
FSRS Celebrates Fisheries Leadership (continued)
The morning’s sessions also included presentations by Dan Membourquette (SMU) on a framework to analyze
how community benefits are distributed within Atlantic Canadian Commercial Fisheries, by Kristin Dinning
(UNB) on her young lobster habitat research, by Dr. Fraser Clark (Mount Allison) on the question of whether
or not green crabs should be used as lobster bait, and an information session by Duncan Bates on the locations
of Ocean Tracking Network’s equipment in order to avoid potential interactions with fishing gear.
Kristin Dinning (pictured below)
Dan Membourquette (pictured below)
A slide from Dr. Fraser Clark’s presentation on Green Crabs:
If you didn’t get a chance to
complete Kristin’s survey, it is
available on our website
(annual conference page, under
presentations):
LOBSTER FISHER SURVEY:
WHERE DO YOUNG
Amanda Dedrick from Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia also gave an informative session on
activities, initiatives and strategies to tackle safety at sea.
Crew overboard drills pictured below (Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia):
Issue: 2015-1
Page 3
For summaries of all the day’s presentations, please go to our website at www.fsrs.ns.ca and click on conference summaries tab, or if you are receiving the newsletter electronically, you can click on this link.
After lunch, Dr. Jon Grant (NSERC-Cooke Chair in Sustainable Aquaculture) from Dalhousie University led
off with a presentation on Interactions between Aquaculture and the Surrounding Environment. Dr. Grant
introduced conference attendees to a practice called marine spatial planning (MSP) which serves to address
aquaculture conflicts by mapping resource use in a GIS, providing consultation among stakeholders, and allowing ‘what if’ planning scenarios for conflict resolution.
Sample slide from Dr. Grant’s presentation:
REMINDER: All slides from the presentations can be viewed on our website at http://www.fsrs.ns.ca/
conference.html
This set the stage for the following presentation “Building Bridges” by the Aquaculture Association of Nova
Scotia (AANS). AANS advocates for state of the art regulations and codes of best practice and are focused on
continual improvements through research and developments. Angela Bishop and Peter Sykes asked the question: If sea farmers and lobster fishermen started to talk and work together on research gaps, could a new, sustainable way forward be innovated here in Nova Scotia?
Sample slide from the AANS presentation:
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HOOK, LINE AND THINKER
These two presentations were followed by a group presentation called “Traditional Nova Scotian Fishing Communities Face New Challenges: Community-Based Research – What Can We Learn?” Conference attendees
learned about how four community groups are using local resourcefulness to meet both challenges and opportunities in their respective fishing communities.
Slide from LFA 27 Management Board:
Slide from Gulf Aquarium Marine Station Coop:
The final presentation was co-presented by our own FSRS staff and Scott Coffen-Smout (OCMD, DFO) on one
of the new projects the FSRS has been working on with the Oceans Division of the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans. Scott introduced the context of the project: in May of 2014, the federal government announced measures
to develop and implement Area Response Planning (ARP) in response to a recommendation by the Tanker Safety
Expert Panel. The FSRS was contracted to contribute to coastal fisheries mapping for the ARP in two Maritime
response areas, as seen in the slide below:
We’ve identified and contacted about 50 fisheries organizations and industry partners as we’re seeking assistance
from fishermen and scientists in the two main response areas who have experience in designing/conducting local
ecological knowledge (LEK) surveys, or can contribute knowledge sensitive areas and species, or possibly volunteer to assist in the event of an emergency response situation. Please contact us if you can help out, or if you
know someone who can.
Issue: 2015-1
Page 5
Due to the enthusiastic questions and contributions of attendees, we did have to push the presentation of our
Scientific Program Committee and Review of our Annual Workplan to the next morning’s Annual General
Meeting. If you were unable to stay for the second day, I would encourage you to check out the full presentation at
http://www.fsrs.ns.ca/docs/FSRS_2015_SPC%20REPORT.pdf
Updates were given on all our projects including the Nearshore Temperature Monitoring Project, as shown in
the slide below:
The day wrapped up with our annual poster session, featuring research by Honours and Graduate students
from Canadian universities. This year, the top poster which took both the judge’s choice and the crowd
favourite, was presented by Kayleigh Chaston-Vickers. The poster is pictured below:
Other student poster abstract can be viewed here (scroll to the near bottom of the page). Or go to the following
link: http://www.fsrs.ns.ca/conference.html
The evening program included an auction that raised more than $1000.00 and of course, lots of humour. One
of our earlier presenters, Sarah Delorey captured the sentiment with a slide in her presentation…
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HOOK, LINE AND THINKER
If you didn’t complete our survey to help us put on an even better conference next year, you can do so here.
Or, if you did not attend this year, we’d like to know what we could do to encourage your participation here.
Special thanks to the following supporters, sponsors and donors of prizes and auction items:
Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia (AANS)
Aquatic Science & Health Services
Atlantic Catch Data
Aulds Cove Big Stop Irving
Hubert Boutilier
Caldwell-Roach Insurance
Cansel Wade
Chris Corkett
Dartmouth Comfort Inn
Dartmouth Toyota
Director's Office, Science Branch, Maritimes Region, Fisheries & Oceans Canada
Fairley & Stevens
Hiliner Tackle
Hines Marine
Jean Lavalee
Macintyre Chevrolet
Mime'J Seafoods
Eugene O’Leary
Hilda Russell
Rainbow Net and Rigging
Spartan Marine
Starfish Fisheries Ltd.
Trimac Breton Toyota
VEMCO: Grand Prize Minilog-II-T temperature data logger & VEMCO Field Reader
World Link Food Distributors (Atlantic Lobster.ca)
-Thank you!-
Issue: 2015-1
Page 7
The FSRS Welcomes Magali Grégoire!!
Hi, my name is Magali Grégoire and I am very excited
to join the FSRS team as the Chair of the
Communications Committee. I’m originally from
Montreal where I completed my B.Sc. in Biology and
M.A. in Museum Studies. Two years ago I moved to
St. John’s, Newfoundland where I fell in love with the
ocean and the animals that inhabit it. When the next
opportunity to move presented itself and I had to
decide between Ontario and Nova Scotia, the choice
was an easy one to make!
I’m very excited to be living in Halifax where I can continue to work in ocean literacy and education. I’m
looking forward to contributing to the mission and goals of the FSRS while applying my experience and
knowledge of volunteer engagement, communications and marine education. I attended, and presented at,
my first FSRS annual conference this February where I met many great members of the society.
I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of you!
FSRS Member Idea & Contribution (Thanks Chioma!)
By: Chioma Anikpo—PHD student (UNN Nigeria)
Pecha kuccha is an activity first introduced in Tokyo 2003 and recreated at FSRS annual conferences. It involves
displaying 20 slides with a 20-second presentation. It got me thinking there could be another type of “Pecha kucha,” in
this case writing 20 sentences that gives information without pictures. Half a page of our FSRS newsletter could be
dedicated to it and could be on related aspects of fish, oceans literacy, sustainability, etc. The activity should educate and/
or raise awareness with FSRS members and oceans enthusiasts globally. Members or students can contribute 20 lines on
old and new fisheries topics. The trick: capturing as much information as possible in 20 lines.
For my presentation, I chose a summary of fish farming and its advantages. Fish farming in 20 lines:
Fish farming in Nigeria started in late 1960’s.
The most popular cultivable fish are catfish and tilapia.
Artificial breeding produces the eggs called seed.
The seed is reared as fry, fingerlings later adult.
The fish ponds could be earthen, concrete or in pens.
The water and its quality is checked constantly and changed.
Poor water quality causes diseases that kills off fish in large numbers.
Feeding the fish with proper protein –energy ratio is essential for its growth performance.
The harvested fish can be sold fresh or preserved.
Preservation could be canned, dried, frozen or smoked.
Problems in Nigeria has always been poor research and lack of funds.
In developing countries, the fish advantages cannot be over emphasized.
Employment opportunities is a crucial advantage.
Fish as food provides good nutrition and health.
Exports increases the cash base of the nation.
Fish tourism is an investment for any nation.
Education can be enhanced with lectures, workshops, trainings and conferences.
Research in breeding brings about better species.
Good government policy ensures a sustainable economy.
Now fish farming has improved but there’s room for more improvement.
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HOOK, LINE AND THINKER
Issue: 2015-1
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
U P C O M I N G E V E N TS
OFFICERS
Ken Snow
Eugene O’Leary
Jean Lavallée
James Gray
John Levy
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Past President
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
Bill Bond
Hubert Boutilier
Dr. Fraser Clark
Josh Fricker
Garnet Heisler
Peter Hurley
Alex McDonald
Craig Nickerson
Junior Risser
Angelica Silva - Scientific
Program Committee Chair
———————————————————
Communications Committee
Newly-Elected Chair: Magali Grégoire
Download the full conference program
here.
FSRS
P.O. Box 25125
Halifax, NS B3M 4H4
Phone: (902) 461-8119 Fax: (902) 461-0541
E-Mail: dinadesveaux@gmail.com
Web Site: www.fsrs.ns.ca
Editor: Dina Desveaux
© Fishermen and Scientists Research Society, 2015