InFish Session at 147th Annual Meeting of American Fisheries Society

Sui Chian Phang (Ohio State University); Doug Beard (USGS); Julie Claussen (University of Illinois); Steve Cooke (Carleton University); Ian Cowx (University of Hull); Abby Lynch (USGS);

Ashley Steel (US Forest Service); Bill Taylor (Michigan State University)

Global policies, such as the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Initiative, and the Convention on Biological Diversity Strategic Plan are directed to influence government policies and priorities for a sustainable future. Inland fish and fisheries are often conspicuously absent from these global policies, even with the growing body of research that demonstrates the large role that they play in contributing to livelihoods and food security. This omission illustrates the severe lack of understanding of the value of inland fish, as well as the importance of healthy freshwater ecosystems, in economic and policy arenas. Poverty reduction, human health, clean water, and economic opportunities are just a few of the areas that inland water and fisheries play a significant role, and global policies are missing the opportunity to highlight their true value or to elevate their importance in policy discussions. This symposium combines new research, case studies, and policy overview presentations that identify opportunities for inland fish and fisheries to contribute to achieving existing conservation and development policy goals. We will end the symposium with a panel discussion building on the combination of perspectives from the contributed presentations to discuss how best to build strategies to insert inland fisheries into future global policy. The organizers and speakers will write a summary paper detailing these strategies.