Drs. Sarah Gaichas and Kerim Aydin were invited to participate in the symposium "Ecosystem Approaches to Marine Fisheries Science and Management" at the American Fisheries Society (AFS) annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 12-16 September 2010. The symposium with poster session was organized by Michael Fogarty, Jason Link, William Overholtz, and Paul Perra (NEFSC). The symposium was intended to be a progress report on implementing an ecosystem approach to marine fisheries management, with examples of scientific analyses and management applications.
Dr. Gaichas presented "From the Aleutians to the Arctic: integrating ecosystem approaches within the Alaska fishery management process," which reviewed the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's (NPFMC) Aleutians Fishery Ecosystem Plan, the Arctic Fishery Management Plan, and the annual Ecosystem Considerations appendix to the stock assessment and fisheries evaluation (SAFE) report.
Dr. Aydin presented "The use of models in ecosystem assessment processes in Alaska (experiences from the Alaskan Fisheries Council Process)," which emphasized the suite of ecosystem models in use and development at the AFSC, as well as current groundfish diet analyses relevant to the NPFMC's review of the August 2010 Steller sea lion Biological Opinion.
The symposium was well attended and featured a closing discussion panel with fishery management council members and NMFS Regional Office staff from throughout the United States.
