A happy “last leg of winter” greeting to all of our AFS-MCC members !

Thanks to all of you for renewing your memberships and indicating that you would like to be part of the Mid-Canada Chapter.  Our membership has increased from 34 members as of October 2009 to 50 members as of February 2010 !

Our meeting with CARS and presence at CCFFR was a great success, it was wonderful to meet new members and catch up with old friends. Being at CCFFR reminded me of all the valuable contributions to fish and fisheries research that are made by our members, and how organizations like CCFFR and the AFS provide a forum for sharing and advancing our cumulative knowledge and understanding. We have a number of top-notch scientists and technicians in our region and it is one of our hopes that the revival of the Mid-Canada Chapter will contribute to more events, more sharing, and more advancements in knowledge for all of our members.

The CCFFR also provided an opportunity for students to present their research and meet and mingle with a number of experienced fisheries professionals. I also had the opportunity to participate in a workshop for students at the NCD conference last December. Being able to meet and talk with some of the students was like a booster shot of inspiration. It was a good reminder of one of the reasons why we do the work we do. The transfer of experience and information is vital to the advancement of fish and fisheries research.

To that end, we would like to announce that Brianne Lunn, a MSc student at the University of Alberta, has volunteered to start up a student sub-unit of the Mid-Canada Chapter. Brianne was president of the Lake Superior State University student sub-chapter in Michigan as an undergraduate (they were awarded the most active student sub-unit of the year by the parent society in Nashville last fall).  She has a lot of experience organizing meetings and working on committees within the Michigan AFS unit, and we are very excited and happy to have her on board with us.

Other Chapter news:

• Chapter Website – the initial set-up of the Chapter website has been completed, and the interim executive committee (excom) is in the process of updating the format and information. The interim excom will continue to contact members by email.
• Chapter Newsletter – our communications team will be posting old copies of the “Fishing Lines” newsletter on the Chapter website, and is busy working on a current newsletter for distribution to the membership. Members will be able to retrieve a copy of the newsletter from the website or can request a copy by email.
• Revision of Existing Chapter Bylaws – The interim excom will be posting the existing Chapter bylaws and a set of proposed revised Chapter bylaws on the MCC website. The bylaws will be posted for about two weeks. During that time we would like all MCC members to vote and/or comment on the proposed revised bylaws. No response will be counted as consent to pass the revised bylaws as proposed. Please note that only Active Members of the Society may vote, hold office, or chair a committee in the Chapter.
• Online Election – the interim excom would like to hold an online election for the new Chapter excom by early April. The elected excom would take office in September to coincide with the annual AFS meeting.  Over the next two to three weeks, we will be asking the membership to provide nominations (including self-nominations), which should be seconded by one other person.  Members seeking election must be active AFS members, and should be able to attend meetings out of province.  We are encouraging nominations from throughout the range of the Chapter. Additional information on the election will be sent out in a separate message via email and on the Chapter website.
• Information from Members – please send any information you may have on job postings, events of interest, or any news items that you think would be of interest or relevancy to our membership to the interim excom and we will distribute it on the website and newsletter.

Please feel free to contact myself or any member of the interim excom if you have any questions or comments.

Best regards,

Maureen Forster, M.Sc.

Interim President, Mid-Canada Chapter

Please review the following two sets of bylaws. We will be voting on the new proposed bylaws by email soon.

Original Mid-Canada Chapter Bylaws – 2010 (PDF)

Proposed Bylaws of the Mid-Canada Chapter – 2010 (PDF)