Pam Thiel and Ron Nassar pose for a photo with the Director and Vice General Director of the Division of Aquatic Wild Fauna and Flora Administration with the Ministry of Agriculture for the People's Republic of China. - FWS photo

Pam Thiel, La Crosse FRO, was part of the 10-member U.S. delegation to the Second International Symposium on Ecology and Fishery Biodiversity in Large Rivers of Northeast Asia and Western North America, held recently in Harbin, China. 

Her presentation was “Habitat Restoration on the Upper Mississippi River System: What We Have Learned and Where We Are Going.” 

Charlie Wooley chaired the delegation for the event organized by the Service’s Division of International Conservation in Washington.  The meeting was also attended by 30 Russian and 60 Chinese scientists and managers. 

The goal of the symposium was to build on the results of the first symposium held in Khabarovsk, Russia in 2002, by presenting and discussing new information on conservation and management of fish and their habitats, threats to biodiversity of large rivers, and prospects for increased international cooperation. 

Future proposal for the Amur River ecosystem discussed by participants, especially for salmonids and sturgeons included:

§         Development of Sino-Russian measures to conserve water quality.

§         Development of a common strategy to conserve fish species and biodiversity.

§         Establishment of an effective federal-level program to combat poaching and a propagation program.

§         Amendment of federal and regional laws to designate protected areas.

§         Assessment of the desirability of construction of dams on the main stem of the River.

In addition to attending the Symposium, Thiel and Ron Nassar, from the Service’s Lower Mississippi River Fisheries Coordination Office, met with the Director of China’s Ministry of Agriculture, the Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Fishery Bureau, and the manager of the local Fisheries Recovery Center to exchange current activities of the perspective agencies and to discuss future collaboration opportunities. 

They were also hosted on a Songhuajiang River trip by personnel from the Provincial Fishery Bureau.   

All of the participants left the Symposium with a heightened enthusiasm about cooperation between the U.S., China, and Russia on large rivers issues.  A third symposium on ecology and fishery biodiversity in large rivers is proposed to be held in the U.S. in 2009.