Oceans Research at the 3rd International Fish Telemetry Conference
Posted by Dylan Irion on August 14, 2015
Oceans Research Director, Dr Enrico Gennari, together with other world-experts, presented at the 3rd International Conference on Fish Telemetry (ICFT), in Halifax, Canada, the past July.
This year marked the 20th year since the first fish telemetry conference and was the 11th conference in the series, which began as the Conference on Fish Telemetry in Europe and expanded in 2011 to become an international event.
Over 250 researchers and students from 25 countries gathered in Halifax, Nova Scotia (headquarters of the Ocean Tracking Network) to present the latest in aquatic animal telemetry research from around the world. Presentations fell under traditional themes like behavioural ecology and large-scale movements, while emerging themes like new frontiers and conservation physiology yielded exciting talks around technological advancements in telemetry and management implications, respectively.
WORKSHOPS & COLLABORATIONS
Several specialized workshops facilitated introductions to, or built on previous knowledge of, modelling and data analysis, acoustic telemetry design and application, and science communication.
Additional workshops formally brought together groups of researchers conducting telemetry studies—the nascent European Aquatic Animal Telemetry Network (EAATN) hosted its first meeting under the AtlantOS Horizon2020 project; Brazilian telemetrists united for the Tropical Fish Telemetry meeting—and new projects were formed including a French-led international collaborative tracking study in the Kerguelen Islands.
SPEAKERS & PRESENTATIONS
“There have not been more exciting times working with fish telemetry” – Chris Holbrook
Dr. Gilles Patry, President of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, made a special trip to Halifax to offer opening remarks on Canada’s international ocean research commitments during the welcoming reception on Sunday evening. Similar welcoming remarks were given by Dalhousie VP Research, Martha Crago, and Ocean Tracking Network Directors, Fred Whoriskey and Sara Iverson.
Four distinguished plenary speakers—Rory McAuley (Australia), Chris Holbrook (USA), Sara Iverson (Canada) and Francisco Chavez (USA)—each opened a different day of the conference speaking to different telemetry themes from both fresh and salt water.
Of 92 total oral presentations, over 50 percent focused on applied research with the majority falling into the behavioural ecology theme, followed closely by anthropogenic impacts.
Eva Thorstad, chair of the ICFT International Steering Committee, closed the event on Friday afternoon with a conference summary presentation.
Useful links:
3rd ICFT summary presentation (E. Thorstad)
Information on conference proceedings
View available speaker presentations