Minutes of the Southern Division Reservoir Committee Meeting
Held on February 10, 2005, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Submitted by Elizabeth Heitman

Attendees:
Elizabeth Heitman (U of Arkansas – Pine Bluff)	Fred Heitman (American Aquatics)
Tim Churchill (Tennessee)	Lawrence Dorsey (North Carolina)
Mark Webb (Texas)	Fred Janssen (Texas)
Gene Gilliland (Oklahoma)	Kurt Kuklinski (Oklahoma)
Chris Horton (BASS)	Kevin Yokum (West Virginia)
Vic DiCenzo (Virginia)	Ken Kurzawski (Texas)
Dave Terre (Texas)	Bobby Farquhar (Texas)
Bill Provine (Texas)	Greg Summers (Oklahoma)
Mike Maceina (Auburn U.)	Larry Pugh (Mississippi)
Mike Allen (U of Florida)	Patrick Cooney (North Carolina State)
Mark Rogers (U of Florida)	Jason Farmer (USDA Forest Service)
Matt Catalano (U of Florida)	Melissa Woods-Jackson (U of Florida)
Scott Hendricks (Georgia Power)	Wade Bales (South Carolina)
Jamie Sykes (Corps of Engineers)	Michael Abney (Georgia Power)
Mike Colvin (Missouri)

• The meeting was convened by outgoing president, Fred Janssen.  Fred thanked the committee members for their hard work and talked about how much he had enjoyed being chair.  Incoming chair Mike Colvin thanked Fred for his commitment to the committee and presented him with a past-president’s plague. 
• The minutes for the summer, 2004 meeting in Baton Rouge were approved (Fred Heitman moved, Wade Bales, second).
• Mike Colvin presented the financial report.  Committee assets were $38,542 on December 31, 2004, which was an increase of approximately $3,000 for the calendar year.

Old Business

• Scholarship – Gene Gilliland reported that we had five applicants for the one new scholarship to be awarded in 2005.  Mark Rogers (University of Florida) is the recipient this year for his work on processes that affect age-0 largemouth bass survival.  Lori Davias (North Carolina State University) will also be receiving a second-year scholarship for her work on factors that affect striped bass growth.  The committee also provided travel assistance to Lori and to Jessica Thomas, one of the recipients of the scholarship in 2004.

Patrick Cooney thanked the committee for our $1,000 donation supporting this year’s Student Colloquium where 80 students attended.

• Fourth International Reservoir Symposium Arrangements – Scott Hendricks reported that the committee discussed holding the symposium at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta Buckhead and presented a draft contract.  The cost for holding the symposium at this hotel was quite high, especially the food and beverage requirement.  Scott also presented a draft contract prepared with the Airport Hilton Atlanta that had a considerably lower food and beverage requirement ($18,000 versus $40,000).  There was a lengthy discussion about the two facilities with the general consensus being that we should keep costs as reasonable as possible.  Scott thought that the Hilton Airport Atlanta would be doable with a registration fee of $250-$300, and that we might even be able to sponsor an off-site social if we can get enough outside sponsorship.  He reported that even though the Hyatt in Buckhead was closer to the hub activities of Atlanta, there were several nice restaurants and recreational establishments (bars and clubs) near the Hilton Airport.  Also, transportation to downtown areas via MARTA was available.

The consensus of the committee was to pursue a contract with the Airport Hilton, which Scott agreed to do with the help of Tim Churchill, Lawrence Dorsey, Chris Horton, and Wade Bales.  Fred Heitman moved that we let Scott and his group negotiate a final contract with the hotels and make the final decision on the venue.  Mike Allen seconded and the motion passed.  (Note:  a contract was subsequently signed with the Airport Hilton Atlanta for June 7-9, 2007).

• Fourth International Reservoir Symposium Program – Mike Allen, Mike Maceina, and Steve Sammons are co-chairing the program committee.  The overall theme for the symposium will be “Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems.”  Mike Allen is organizing the plenary theme of balancing fisheries issues with basin-wide water uses while Mike Maceina and Steve Sammons are organizing the fishery manager’s toolbox sessions.  The plenary session will be entirely invited speakers while we will have varying numbers of invited speakers in other sessions.  A draft symposium outline with action items and assignments is located at the end of these minutes.  This outline captures the essence of most of the discussion concerning the symposium program.

Other program items that were discussed included a poster session and a timeline for completing needed tasks.  There was interest among committee members in giving poster authors the opportunity to submit manuscripts for publication. This would be desirable especially for sessions that were mostly composed of invited papers.  Lawrence Dorsey suggested that we might do posters as management briefs.  Steve Sammons suggested that we extend formal invitations to invited speakers by the fall of 2005, and that we need to make sure that invited speakers are not contacted twice by different committee members.  Mike Allen suggested that we require manuscripts around the time of the meeting and not let the submittal process drag out too long.

Mike Colvin agreed to organize subcommittees for publicity and fundraising.  Timelines and protocols for these activities need to be developed.  Mark Webb agreed to serve on the fundraising committee.

New Business

• Chris Horton updated the committee on the Southeast Aquatic Resource Partnership (SARP).  Chris reported on the aquatic habitat portion of the partnership.  They are seeking input into five areas:  sedimentation, dredging, habitat improvement, water-level management, and water quality.  Chris had previously asked committee members to contribute potential projects that could be included in SARP.  The partnership is hoping to have a rough draft of this by April.  Tim Churchill indicated that he will be helping with this.  For more information on SARP, committee members can go to:  http://www.sarpaquatic.org/. 

• Tim Churchill asked if the committee should or could support an effort to have the SEAFWA journals available online.  There is support for this from several states.  There needs to be financial backing to make this happen and at the present time the status of such backing and outcome of this effort are unknown.

• Vic DiCenzo agreed to host the summer meeting in Virginia.  Vic promised excellent smallmouth bass fishing!  Mike Colvin and Vic will set the meeting dates after consulting with Mike Allen.  Mike Colvin suggested that the summer meeting in 2006 be held in our host hotel in Atlanta.

• The group roundtable discussion followed and the meeting was adjourned; Fred Heitman moved and Lawrence Dorsey second.

The draft symposium outline follows.

Southern Division American Fisheries Society
Reservoir Committee
4th International Reservoir Symposium

Balancing Fisheries Management and Water Uses for Impounded River Systems

June 2007
Atlanta, Georgia

Program Chairs: M. Allen, M. Maceina, and S. Sammons

Draft Symposium Outline

Balancing Fisheries Issues with Basin-wide Water Uses – Chair: Mike Allen

• interconnected aspects of impounded river hydrology and fisheries
• incorporating watershed impacts into reservoir fisheries decisions
• balancing water allocation with fisheries uses
• establishing minimum flows for fisheries in impounded systems
• working with multi-discipline teams and stakeholders
• Examples
  1. White River Basin (Mark Oliver and Mike Armstrong)
  2. Missouri River Basin (Wayne Nelson-Stastny, SDGFP)
  3. Tennessee River Basin (Wayne Poppe and Tim Churchill)
  4. Arizona Reservoir (Scott Bryan and Marianne Meding, AGF)
  5. Kissimmee River Basin (David Anderson and Marty Mann)
  6. Lake Billy Chinook Oregon (Don Ratliff, Portland Electric)

SECTION NEEDS

Roanoke River Basin – Lawrence Dorsey email Allen to provide contacts
Allen call Miranda
Rio Grande - Janssen check on this and report to Allen
ACT from Georgia DNR: Hendricks provide Allen with contact(s)
Nebraska –Gabelhouse: Sammons contact
-Bruce Kimmel – not sure who brought this contact up
FERC relicensing Jennifer Hill, Scott Robinson, Henry Meiling: Chris Horton, Hendricks provide Allen w/contacts
Allen contact Besler re SD trout committee

Fishery Manager’s Toolbox – Chairs: M. Maceina and S. Sammons

Aquatic Habitat – Gene Gilliland, organizer

• challenges to aquatic plant management
• long-term changes in habitat and fisheries
• watershed management and impact on reservoir fish habitat
• regional trends, differences in habitat and fisheries
• Dave Houser (PA DNR)
• Arizona/Utah - Artificial
• Mike Smart – overview of plant mgmt with water
• Mike Netherland – USACOE
• Quist???
• Hal Schramm – Tenn-Tom (water allocation)
• Arkansas contact (Gilliland has this)
• Lake Seminole (Sammons contact on drip system)
• USACOE on Seminole (user groups)
• Speaker about safety of herbicides in lakes (Maceina)
• Miranda-
• Toxic algae (golden algae in Texas)

SECTION NEEDS

Sammons contact Gilliland to discuss and coordinate section.

Human Dimensions – Wade Bales, organizer

• future of human dimensions research in fisheries assessment and marketing
• see W. Bales handout
  • Wattendorf online surveys**
  • Jeff Reed toolbox approach MN**
  • Steve McMullin
  • SC trophy striper fisheries
  • Mike Armstrong (citizen advisory committee)**
  • Mike Costello (SAS) on marketing plans**
  • Bob Ditton**

**indicate OK to invite.

SECTION NEEDS

Bales is in control, discuss with Bob Ditton and coordinate with other speakers already lined up.  Discuss with Mike Costello as well.

Catch and Release and Use of Regulations– Mike Maceina and Scott Hendricks, organizers

• does voluntary catch-and-release remove harvest as a “tool” in our toolbox?
• data from creel surveys and population trends
• angler motivations regarding catch and release
• BASS Survey (Chris Horton, Maceina, Sammons)
• GA Biologist
• Eufaula example
• Maceina – translocation issues on growth, mortality
• Texas reservoirs
• length limits for multiple black bass species

SECTION NEEDS

Maceina and Hendricks begin to pencil in speakers.  Contact Kevin Hunt at Miss. St. to gauge interest regarding a BASS angler survey and resulting paper.

Stocking Issues – Mark Oliver, organizer

• Virginia – stripers
• Texas – largemouth bass
• North Central Division – walleye
• Imagine good contributed papers here
• Dave Wahl (stocking and economic)

SECTION NEEDS

Oliver – update group on thoughts.  This section may be mostly contributed papers and has a high overlap with recent AFS symposia.  We may not need to include this as a separate section in symposium. 

Allen contact  Dave Wahl to discuss submitting paper to symposium.

Assessment and Analysis – Sammons and Janssen, organizers

• progress since AP:P?
• linking shifts in fish communities to fishery management
• spatial analyses as alternatives to traditional population indices
• tying measures of habitat to fish population metrics
• high contributed papers
• standardized sampling (check with Scott Bonar)
• statistical power issues (i.e., Sammons)
• catfish regulations
• displacement of native fish by stocked reservoir fisheries
• commercial paddlefish study

SECTION NEEDS

Sammons lead, coordinate with Janssen

 

OVERALL NEEDS AND ASSIGNMENTS

• Allen - contact AFS re money for book publication, editing, review, etc.
  Poster sessions can be published in the book?
  -short communication? – check with AFS on these

• Janssen – send logo to Allen and Colvin

Publicity

Colvin – assign a committee charged with develop timeline, flyer, artwork, advertisement schedule, etc.

Sources:
Fisheries
NALMS
EPRI

Fundraising

Colvin – assign a committee for this and have them develop timeline and sources list.

Members:
Mark Webb

Sources:
-Martin McDonald – Bass Pro Shops
-BASS
-SeaPro, BASF (contact Horton)
-FLW?

OVERALL:

Colvin is in charge of making sure everyone is doing everything.