Applying Research: Bridging the Gap Between Aquatic Animal Health Research and Inspections

University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont

July 24 – 27, 2023

Registration

Agenda

The 2023 Annual Meeting of the AFS Fish Health Section will be held jointly with the Northeast Fish Health Committee (NEFHC) for the first time on July 24-27, 2023 in Burlington, VT! The theme for the meeting is “Applying Research: Bridging the Gap Between Aquatic Animal Health Research and Inspections”. The venue for the meeting is the University of Vermont. Room rates are extremely affordable for summer in New England; $79 per night for single and $59 per person per night for a double. The University is on beautiful Lake Champlain and only three blocks from the Church Street Marketplace – Vermont’s award-winning open-air mall featuring over 100 places to shop and dine.

The FHS looks forward to co-hosting this meeting with the NEFHC and provides a tremendous opportunity for learning more about fish health research and topics unique to the Northeast US and provides an opportunity to attract our Canadian colleagues to the meeting.

The meeting will begin on July 24-25 with the Northeast Fish Health Committee Meeting, followed by a Continuing Education Course on July 25^th, and the FHS meeting will occur on July 26^th-27^th. We are planning the following special sessions: (1) “Fish Health Research/Topics in the Northeast US, (2) The Role of Thiamine in Fish Health and (3) Freshwater Mussel Health What We Know and Don’t Know, plus several general sessions.

 

Call for presentations and posters

Poster and Presentation Guidelines

Best Student Presentation and Poster Award Announcement

Please email abstracts to amk0105@auburn.edu by July 13, 2023.

PowerPoint presentations must be uploaded to here by July 17, 2023.

Early registration ends July 13, 2023. The registration fee (U.S. dollars) includes a reception on Wednesday evening with heavy hors d’oeuvres, electronic workshop proceedings, refreshments at breaks, breakfasts and luncheons on each of the two full days of the workshop (Wednesday, Thursday), and a banquet dinner on Thursday night. Late registration will incur an additional fee of $50 (U.S. dollars), for each registration category. Early registration prices are:

• NEFHC Meeting Registration (July 24-25): $135
• Continuing Education Session (July 25): $125
• FHS Meeting Member Regular Registration (July 26-27): $375
• FHS Meeting Non-Member Regular Registration (July 26-27): $425
• FHS Student Registration: $250
• One-Day Registration: $188
• Additional Banquet Ticket: $60
• Additional T-Shirt (one is included in general registration cost): $20

 

Lodging

University of Vermont

Rooms for the conference are $79/night for a single and $56/person/night for a double, plus taxes and fees. Room at the University Heights are within walking distance of the conference venue.

There are hotels available in the area if you wish to stay off-campus. We do not have contracts with any of the local hotels.

Directions/Travel

The meeting will be held at the Dudley H. Davis Center, 4th floor, 590 Main Street, Burlington, VT 05405.

The University of Vermont is only minutes away from Burlington International Airport. Transportation from the airport to the hotel, such as taxis, Uber, and Lyft, are readily accessible from the airport.

Rental cars are also available from the airport, and if this option is used, the University does charge $10/day for parking.

Enjoying Mother Nature in Burlington Vermont

(Prepared by: Joshua Morse and Tom Jones, Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department)

Burlington is a great city to fish from! Consider hiring a fishing guide to put you onto some world class bass and lake trout action. Please be sure to pick up your Vermont Fishing License.

If you want to fish closer to home base, pack some light bass gear and hit the post spawn on the rocky shores right off Burlington’s waterfront and bike path! The green by the ECHO Leahy Center Museum offers beautiful shoreline access, and a great chance to sample the local delicacy “maple creamee” soft serve at Burlington Bay on your way down to the water. Oakledge Park on Flynn Ave. also provides great shorelines to cast from and is within walking distance of Burlington Beer Company’s taproom and grill.

Bike, run, or walk to the Champlain Islands! A short drive north of town will bring you to Causeway Park in Colchester, where you can travel the scenic Champlain Causeway that offers a 10 mile out-and-back journey across the lake to the Champlain Islands. The Causeway not only provides great bike riding along the Burlington Bike Path , but it also provides some excellent shoreline fishing. Bikers can access the same route from other points along the Burlington Bike Path, while runners and walkers can park at the Colchester trailhead.

Test your birding identification skills at Red Rocks Park! Burlington sees plenty of breeding bird diversity right in its municipal parks. Red Rocks Park on South Central Ave in South Burlington offers plenty of walking trails and a canopy that is home to many warbler species and other forest birds who can be readily heard despite the leaf cover this time of year.

 

Student Travel Awards

Snieszko Student Travel Award Announcement

Please email applications to sirisaac_standish@fws.gov by May 8, 2023.

The AFS-FHS is pleased to announce that the Snieszko Student Travel Awards will be available to help students with the cost of attending the 2020 Joint Meeting of the NEFHC and the AFS-FHS. These awards of up to $2000 to allow students (undergraduates, graduates, or veterinary) post-docs or residents to give an oral or poster presentation at the conference.

 

Continuing Education

A full day of Continuing Education, entitled “Molecular biology tools: from diagnostics to understanding epidemiology to guide aquatic animal health management”, will be held on July 25^th. Molecular biology has revolutionized the aquatic animal health lab, providing accurate and sensitive methods to detect pathogens. As the technology is constantly improving and the price continues to drop, molecular biology techniques can be applied in innovative ways to improve our understanding of aquatic animal health. Though the technology has significantly improved disease diagnostics and pathogen discovery, it has also enhanced our understanding of epidemiology. This continuing education course will cover some of the basics of molecular biology, how such techniques have been used to advance aquatic animal health, and benefits of this research to fish health managers and aquaculturists. Pending final CE committee approval, this session will provide 6 RACE CE credits.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the meeting in July. For additional information please contact: Anita Kelly amk0105@auburn.edu (334-624-4016) or Tom Jones Tom.Jones@vermont.gov (802-793-6781).

 

This event is made possible thanks to support from our sponsors

The Annual Meeting of the Fish Health Section (FHS) takes place every year, either on its own or in conjunction with another workshop or symposium. A Business Meeting is held every year during that same time and an update on the activities of the Section for the previous year is provided to all members of the Section that choose to attend. The minutes recorded for each of those meetings are provided below.

Year	Location	Meeting	Meeting Minutes
2022	Santiago, Chile	FHS Annual Meeting and 9th International Symposium on Aquatic Animal Health
2021	Virtual	FHS Annual Meeting	2021 Minutes
2020	Virtual	FHS Annual Meeting	2020 Minutes
2019	Ogden, UT	FHS Annual Meeting and 60th Western Fish Disease Workshop	2019 Minutes
2018	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada	FHS Annual Meeting and 8th International Symposium on Aquatic Animal Health	2018 Minutes
2017	East Lansing, MI	FHS Annual Meeting	2017 Minutes
2016	Jackson Hole, WY	FHS Annual Meeting and 57th Western Fish Disease Workshop	2016 Minutes