Mitigating Impacts of Natural Hazards on Fishery Ecosystems

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<em>Abstract.</em>—Hurricane Katrina (landfall 29 August 2005) and Hurricane Rita (landfall 24 September 2005) devastated large portions of Louisiana and Mississippi and caused significant impacts to Alabama, Florida, and Texas. Immediately following these storms, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) established the AFS Hurricane Relief Task Force (HRTF). The HRTF was composed of AFS chapter officers from Louisiana and Mississippi as well as state and government agency personnel and university faculty and staff from the impacted region. Because essential members of the HRTF were dealing with personal, professional, and agency needs in the months immediately following these storms, a meeting of the HRTF could not be scheduled until 13 January 2006. This 1-d meeting, held on the campus of Louisiana State University, resulted in the drafting of the AFS Hurricane Relief Initiative Action Plan. During January–February 2006, the HRTF worked primarily through the organizational structure and leadership of the Louisiana and Mississippi chapters and coordinated these activities with the southern division of AFS (SDAFS), and the parent society’s officers, governing board, and executive director. The AFS Hurricane Relief Initiative Action Plan was approved and renamed the AFS Disaster Relief Program by the governing board during its midyear meeting in March 2006. In accordance with the approved program, administration and programmatic responsibility for the initiative were transferred from the HRTF to the SDAFS in June 2006, and funds to support the program were made available to the chapters through the SDAFS.