Hello Everyone,

I hope that you found some respite in the recent Thanksgiving break and are looking forward to winter holidays, whatever form that might take for you.

We are writing to inform you that we have made the decision to hold the Annual Meeting of the New York Chapter American Fisheries Society virtually February 24 – 26 2021. We arrived at this decision following events that have unfolded in the past year, including continued restrictions on large gatherings and reduced travel budgets. In addition, all SUNY (and many private) Colleges will have a delayed, remote start to the spring semester, with most institutions beginning any planned in-person activities during the first and second week of February when we usually hold our annual meeting.

We anticipate that the meeting and associated content will be made available to registered NYCAFS members for free this year, including workshops being organized by member volunteers.

It is our hope that this virtual meeting will provide you with many of the same benefits and experiences that you have come to expect in our 50-year history of meetings, albeit in a different way. We are well underway in planning a program that aims to conserve experiences related to professional development, social and professional networking, diversity and inclusion, science and information exchange and more. We are working hard to finalize decisions about the virtual meeting app we will use for the conference and how best to align live content with the new work/home lives that many of us now lead.

A few guaranteed experiences include:

• Virtual R workshops preceding the annual meeting
• Plenary speakers on topics ranging from coastal ecology to promotion of diversity in fisheries
• Pre-recorded contributed talks and posters with live Q & A sessions
• The annual Women in Fisheries networking event
• The annual business meeting, officer elections, and presentation of awards
• Other social and professional networking opportunities

We will be sending separate communications about the meeting theme and program, event registration, abstract and presentation submission, award nominations and applications, and workshops regularly between now and the meeting in an effort to streamline communications leading up to the meeting.