Meeting Information
2023 Western Division & ICAFS Annual Meeting
Managing Aquatic Ecosystems and Shifting Baselines: Challenges and Opportunities
Join us May 8-11, 2023 Boise Center on the Grove, Boise, ID
Nearly one-quarter into the 21st century, fisheries professionals are challenged as never before by a changing climate. In terms of managing aquatic ecosystems, Dr. Daniel Pauly coined the term "shifting baselines" to refer to the loss of perception of ecological change from one generation to the next, but for the purposes of this meeting, we use the term to refer to unrelenting transformation of the earth's climate that will likely continue for many decades and that will clearly require seismic shifts in how we manage and conserve aquatic ecosystems. A new thought process is emerging to address fisheries and wildlife management and conservation in the face of such dramatic climate change: Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD). Resist represents the traditional practice of implementing actions to counteract changes and restore ecosystems to prior conditions. Accept is when decisions are made to allow ecological conditions to change without implementing restoration actions, perhaps to divert energy away from "lost causes" and focus efforts where positive outcomes are more achievable. Direct is attempting to forecast future conditions and implement actions that attempt to steer ecosystem changes so that some sort of ecological function persists, though the former ecosystem may not. Three plenary speakers and other invited speakers will provide a forum to explore RAD and other resource management frameworks from various avenues of research, management, and conservation.
Aquatic Film and Photography Festival
We invite you to submit a film and/ or photograph to be showcased as part of a film and photography festival. The festival will run during the 2023 WDAFS Annual Meeting. Applications are due March 31, 2023, with final film and photo files uploaded by March 31, 2023. Complete details are here.
2023 Annual Awards
- Idaho Chapter awards are given out annually at the Chapter business meeting. Deadlines for submittal of all ICAFS award nominations is March 1, 2023. Check out the information about all our awards here.
- Western Division awards are given out annually at the Western Division business meeting. Please click here for more details to submit nominations for Western Division awards.
Child Care Options
Child Care Referrals