American Fisheries Society 2005-2009 Strategic Plan Summary

• Published in: Fisheries (Bethesda) 2004-12, Vol.29 (12), p.31-37
• Main Authors: Bireley, LE, Claussen, JE, Costa-Pierce, BA, Daley, W J, Geubtner, J, Jolley, J, Knuth, B, Parsons, B G, Rassam, G, Stevens, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0363-2415

The American Fisheries Society's 2005-2009 Strategic Plan is a revision of the 1999-2004 Strategic Plan and has features that are similar to the earlier Plan. It is organized around three focus areas that are identical to the "major goals" detailed in the 1999-2004 Strategic Plan. Each focus area contains a series of goals ("subgoals" in the previous plan) and there is a historical and current analysis for each of the goals. The Where We Are sections describe AFS activities and context from the late 1990s through mid-2004. The Where We Want to Be sections describe the desired conditions for AFS by 2010. Several differences between the two plans also exist. First, the AFS Governing Board took an active role in prioritizing the elements of the 2005-2009 Plan. Second, the Plan indicates the most appropriate entity responsible for either completing a strategy/target or reporting achieved results. Ten strategies and 21 targets were deleted and 15 strategies and 43 targets were added. Tables have been added that provide a cross reference between the number system used in the two plans. The 2005-2009 Strategic Plan is posted in its entirely on the AFS web site (www.fisheries.org/html/fisheries/governance/afsplan.shtml). A summary of the revision process and a description of the five highest priority goals are provided here.