1997 NANFA Annual Meeting Summary
Portland, Oregon, August 9-10

Reprinted from American Currents fall 1997 issue.

On Saturday August 9 at 10 AM Meeting Coordinator Norm Edelen welcomed the attendees to the 1997 NANFA National Meeting. Present were: NANFA members Jennifer Bayer, John Bondhus, Louise Christensen-Zak, Jay DeLong, Norm Edelen, Lisa Hayashi, Dan Logan, Amy Luedtke, Layn Luedtke, Rachel Lusby, Joe Middleton, Shawn Van Doren and Don Winn (Shawn and Don became our newest members at the meeting.); Greater Portland Aquarium Society members Joan Glascock, Alan Gray, Roland Holtz, Steve Lundblad, Chris Tewes, Jim Van Doren and Wayne Yamashita; Greater Seattle Aquarium Society members Dave Sanford and James Maney; and Amy Rush and Julie Z from Phoenix, AZ.

Dan Logan then presented John Bondhus and Konrad Schmidt with framed certificates of appreciation signed by the Pacific Northwest NANFA members. This was to honor them for being deservedly named NANFA Fellows this year. He also presented them with cedar pencil boxes made by members of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe of Sedro Woolley, WA. John said he would hand-deliver Konrad's gifts.

Dan then introduced the speakers, whose talks and slide presentations lasted until mid-afternoon. They were: John Bondhus- History of NANFA; Jay DeLong-Observations of South Carolina Stream Fishes; Dan Logan- Fishes and Fishing in Aboriginal Klamath Basin; Lisa Hayashi- Indigenous Freshwater Fishes of Hawaii; Joe Middleton- Aquarium Rearing of Marine Invertebrates of Oregon's Rocky Intertidal Zone; Louise Christensen-Zak- Strategies for Maintaining Biodiversity and Our Quality of Life; Jennifer Bayer- Columbia River Minnows; Amy Luedtke- The Dos and Don'ts of Releasing Fish.

We then drew the winning fish art raffle winners and they were:

1st prize-Bob Moody, Lanesboro, MN
2nd prize-Dennis Brown, Mendota Heights, MN
3rd prize- Eric Isaacson, El Cajon, CA
4th prize-Leonard Juska, Costa Mesa, CA

We then embarked on a naturalist-led tour through the Oak Bottoms, a Portland nature preserve.

During the day we enjoyed looking at several aquaria containing native and introduced minnows, sticklebacks, sculpins, catfish, sunfish, mosquitofish and killifish, all caught in Oregon lakes and streams. Also on display was a beautifully planted aquarium brought by Shawn Van Doren and highlighted by colorful Mexican goodeids.

We also enjoyed browsing a table covered with donated aquarium and fish-related items, in preparation for their auction. NANFA members each chose one item free before the auction (Surprisingly, not a single member objected to this!). Steve Lundblad played the part of auctioneer and everyone had a good time bidding on their favorite items. Money raised through the auction will be used to fund our regional newsletter.

Day one ended with a delicious dinner prepared by Dan's wife Christine and her culinary assistants, Dan's parents. The highlight of the meal was fresh tuna, caught only two days earlier.

Day two was a field day, and we spent a long day at two sites on the Columbia River.

At Sauvie Island, we sampled two lakes and collected bluegill, white crappie, black crappie, pumpkinseed sunfish, largemouth bass, mosquitofish, brown bullhead, prickly sculpin (the only native species we found), yellow perch, European carp (normal and leather carp) and goldfish.

We then went to the Sandy River and collected chiselmouth, mountain whitefish, rainbow trout, chinook salmon, reticulate sculpin, prickly sculpin, threespine stickleback, speckled dace, mountain sucker, largescale sucker and Northern squawfish. These are all native species. The sweltering heat enticed nearly all of us to enjoy a swim in the river.

The meeting was a success and great fun for all. Especially rewarding was getting to meet John Bondhus. After the meeting John proceeded south to California with his wife and young children. We wish the host region for the 1998 meeting success, too!

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