Huntingford Medal Winner and Runner-Ups 2023

The Huntingford Medal

The Huntingford medal is awarded to a member of the society with the most impactful paper in the Journal of Fish Biology.


Professor Felicity Huntingford is a highly esteemed and influential behavioural biologist who has been a pioneer in the utilization of fundamental behavioural knowledge to promote health, welfare and production in cultured fish, in order to support sustainable aquaculture. Throughout her career, Professor Huntingford has been a staunch supporter of many early career researchers around the world and has written many high impact books and papers, thus making her name on this medal highly appropriate.


2023 Runner Ups

Following a stringent selection process, 64 papers were identified as meeting the criteria for assessment. The quality and value of each paper was exceptionally high this year. In recognition of the outstanding quality of the top papers, two runner-ups and one overall winner have been selected.

Runner Up 2023

Edna de la Llata Quiroga

Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional

Runner Up 2023

Dr Tiffany Sih

Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, JCU

Overall Winner 2023

Sofia Graça Aranha

CCMAR-Centre of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve

Promoting Equity Diversity and Inclusion within the FSBI


Call for tender for a consultancy to support promoting Equity Diversity and Inclusion within the FSBI


The FSBI is interested in promoting Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) within the society itself and in fisheries biology at large.

Deadline;
July 17th 2022

Budget £3000 Inc. VAT

Download Call for Tender Doc

Project Overview

 We envision three phases for this process.
(1) The first phase is an information-gathering step, which will be used as a spring-board for internal discussions and as a means for increasing participation in the Taskforce. The first phase is the object of this call for tender.
(2) In the second phase, with an expanded Taskforce, we intend to host inclusive discussions/workshops with members and key stakeholders to help develop initiatives to implement EDI goals.
(3) In phase three, the proposals emerging from the discussions will be taken forward to deliver concrete outcomes. The outcomes are expected to include, in addition to improved or new activities, a public EDI mission statement, a ‘hub’ on the FSBI website for useful links and updates, and a long-term strategy for implementing changes and promoting EDI.

Terms of Reference

i) Review the current activities of the FSBI eight committees for potential barriers or opportunities to promoting EDI, and specifically:
• Terms of Reference of the committee (usually 1 page)
• Accessibility of application forms of the grants/events administered by the committee
• Scoring criteria used for the awards (usually 1 page)
• Diversity in composition of the committee members
• Diversity of awardees (using available statistics, likely only on country and gender)

ii) Expert advice on specific elements of a membership survey we are developing, namely: a quick review of any gaps in the survey itself; advice on a call for volunteers to join the EDI Taskforce that would accompany such a survey. Through this call, we aim to increase the membership and diversity of the Taskforce.

iii) Initial recommendations on how to operationalise next steps to enter phases (2) and (3)

The FSBI key point of contact (Katie Longo and Holly Shiels) will ensure access to relevant data and
materials required for the review (e.g., statistics on grant awardees of recent years, copies of application
templates, etc). These will be shared under agreed confidentiality rules.

How to submit an expression of interest for PHASE 1 of the project. (Note: Phase 2 and 3 will be considered separately).

If interested, please send a description of the proposed work, including a timeline, a proposed start date and a budget (2 pages max) along with your CV (and/or equivalent links to relevant web pages). Please note that we expect a maximum budget of 3,000£ including VAT.

Please send the proposal to the following email addresses by July 17th:

katie.longo@msc.org, Cc:
Holly.Shiels@manchester.ac.uk

3rd IFM Tagging and Telemetry Conference- Call for Abstracts

3rd IFM Tagging and Telemetry Conference


Advancing the science

10 th –11 th May 2022
Clayton Hotel, Dublin,Ireland

Submission dedline 28th Feb 2022


A Call for Abstracts information

 

The technology and techniques employed to monitor fish have developed at a pace since our last event and we will reflect these developments in the programme.We intend to cover a range of research areas in both the freshwater and marine fields and will also welcome speakers from other research areas who are tracking aquatic animals.

The organising committee would welcome submissions from people working in the following areas:
1. Project planning
2. Fish migration
3. Fish passage assessment
4. Monitoring fish in difficult environments
5. Predator prey interactions
6. New technology and emerging techniques
7. Data processing

All abstracts should include the following information in this order:

Title of the paper,
Authors’ full names with presenter’s name highlighted,

Affiliation and country of origin for each co-author,
Full address of the presenting author,
Email address of the presenting author,
100 – 200 word abstract on the paper’s content,
Oral or poster presentation
All talks will be 20 minutes in length

The Steering Group will review all submissions and will aim to ensure a good balance of topics and geographic areas. If requests for oral presentations are oversubscribed a poster presentation may be offered instead.

All submissions and enquiries should be sent directly to the conference administrator
info@ifm.org.uk
Please note that speakers will still be required to register as a delegate for the conference.

Closing date for submission: 28 th February

The FSBI’s COP26 letter

Adding our voice to the COP26 call

View the Full Satement Here >>


 

Global societal consensus on the effects of climate change on fisheries and other aquatic resources

Below is a condensed version of the letter sent to the Rt Hon Alok Sharma (the President of COP26) and to Mr Nick Bridge (the UK Special Representative for Climate Change) from our President, Professor Colin Adams, on behalf of the FSBI.

Towards the end of 2020 the FSBI joined 111 other societies, representing 80,000 scientists across the world to call for urgent action to reduce emissions to avoid catastrophic impacts to commercial, recreational and subsistence fisheries, aquatic ecosystems, human health, and global economies (Read More on that Here).

 

The Urgency of Carbon Emission Reductions

It is very clear that there is an urgent need to reduce carbon emissions to ensure the sustainability of this vital global food source. We also seek to underscore the importance of protecting the integrity of healthy aquatic ecosystems and restoring degraded systems, and eventually reversing, the effects of climate change.

 

Climate change will result in fish species range reductions, species extinctions, and the expansion of invasive species. Delaying action to stop underlying causes of climate change will have economic, environmental, and societal consequences.

Many of these changes are and will be, irreversible.

But, they will continue to worsen if we persist on our current trajectory with a mounting toll on vulnerable ecosystems, human societies, and local and global economies.

 

Mitigation and Adaptation to Help Protect Aquatic Resources

As part of any climate solution, we must protect the integrity of our healthy aquatic ecosystems and work to restore degraded systems in order to maintain their role in the storage of carbon as a crucial part of halting and eventually reversing the effects of climate change.
In addition, coastal ecosystems are being transformed, degraded, or lost, either largely or in part due to carbon emissions causing global ocean acidification. Not only does the affect primary production, from coral reefs to kelp forests, but is also tied to the survival of organisms especially shellfish.

Furthermore, climate change is interacting with other stressors such as excess nutrient input, overharvesting, and novel species interactions to further suppress marine ecosystems.

[click_to_tweet tweet=” Thus we must mitigate the impacts of climate change on fish and fisheries and plan for the adaptation required to ensure the long-term health of freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems.” quote=”Thus we must mitigate the impacts of climate change on fish and fisheries and plan for the adaptation required to ensure the long-term health of freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems.” theme=”style1″]

The economic and environmental value of the ecosystem services provided by global aquatic resources is of the utmost importance to the future of us all and safeguarding these resources must be of the highest priority. We urge you to further exercise your leadership on the global stage to achieve even greater progress in the face of this climate emergency.

 

 

The Unique Opportunity for Global South Members

Hi I am Daniela Souza. I am a Brazilian genetic and evolutionary biology masters working for aquatic wildlife conservation trying to to promote real life actions to the conservation of wildlife.

When I saw the ‘FSBI Global South’ reduced fee I knew that I had to attend!

As a Brazilian woman from a poor socioeconomic background the Global South Initiative set up by KU Leuven and the FSBI was perfect. It allowed me to interact with researchers around the world and listen to the wonderful talks including world leading researches like Dr Pauly, Dr Hayden and Dr Maan.

 

 The symposium has already helped me expand my knowledge, networking and scientific vision.

All of the lectures and posters during the symposium were of significantly high quality and really helped facilitate my understanding of many new concepts that I have not come across within my research focus.

For example, the lecture presented by Dr. Hayden illustrated the “winter ecology” concept.  Where winter ecological variations could impact on both feeding habits and ecotyping diversity which in turns, could affect the invading capability of non-native species!

This concept presented in lecture was entirely new for me, and as such, opened my horizons to new analysis outside my focus in my future projects making me a better/completer professional.

[click_to_tweet tweet=“The question is not whether you are a pessimist or optimist, it is whether you will do something” Dr Pauly @FishBaseProject – One of the important quotes that resonated with  @BioSouzaDaniela as a Latin-American researcher  ” quote=”The question is not whether you are a pessimist or optimist, it is whether you will do something” Dr Pauly” theme=”style4]

 

 

As a Latin-American researcher working through the adversities of financing,  governance issues and lower international impact of research this quote by Dr Daniel Pauly resonated strongly with me. Although this quote was made in reference to climate change and the sate of our oceans, I strongly believe that it is highly important for all areas of research in science and fisheries research.

 

I believe that science that is more communicative, inclusive and diverse is also more efficient.

It was also made very clear to me in the communication workshops he importance of social media for science, especially twitter and professional webpages. Not only can networking help initiate the exchange of research experiences but also help expand the globe reach and impact of your research. This can help bring out stronger collaborative efforts in your work which may help you become more efficient in producing results or writing about them.

The FSBI 2021 symposium handed me a unique opportunity that I will never forget.

In just the three short days of the FSBI 2021 symposium has had a significantly developed the way I think about research and has positively impact on my hopes to achieve my academic dreams in the future.

I would advise any global south participants to leap at the chance to participate in any future online symposiums, especially if you are like me an aspirational early career researcher!

 

 

 

Ada’s experience on applying for an FSBI studentship

Hi, I’m Ada, a first-year PhD student funded by the FSBI Studentship program.

My path to a PhD place started in 2018 when I decided to apply for a research-focused masters  in freshwater and fish ecology in the UK.

The first decision was to contact Prof Anne Magurran, at the University of St Andrews, after reading some of her exciting work, and ask whether there would be any opportunities to do a project with her group.

Right after my first email, I received a very nice and positive response. With Anne’s help, I was accepted to do a project studying temporal diversity change in freshwater fish communities on the Caribbean island of Trinidad!

The great experience I received through this masters made me confident that I would enjoy embarking on a longer PhD project.

 

Take time to find out whether you enjoy the day-to-day aspects of your research

 

Firstly, find out if you enjoy the academic research lifestyle. There is no point doing a PhD if the way the academic world works frustrates you.

If you are unsure of what academia is like, then I would advise undertaking an internship or masters by research.

 

Start planning you PhD studentship proposal well in advance

 

Secondly, start writing your proposal as soon as you get a PhD idea that you are excited about. It takes longer than you think!

Start by writing a brief outline, making your objectives and hypotheses clear.

Then, take it to your supervisor or contact your desired future supervisor and pitch it to them! They can help you develop your proposal and give you the direction needed.

In my case, having great guidance from my supervisors and the help & encouragement of all the members of the research team was very important. I doubt I would have achieved anything had I not been in this environment.

Furthermore, attending conferences and symposiums is a great way to get your name and ideas out there to relevant and proactive supervisors, just like Joe Perkins did!

The FSBI PhD studentship is a wonderful opportunity!

 

Without the opportunity offered by the FSBI this project would have not been possible.

Fish are incredibly interesting and an essential resource for humans. It is fantastic that there is an organisation dedicated to research on all aspects of their biology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

JFB Special Issue on Stable Isotope Analysis (SIA): A call for submissions


Stable isotope analysis (SIA) has emerged as a powerful and widely used tool for understanding the physiology, ecology, evolution, conservation, and management of fishes. Submission Deadline; 1st Feb 2022 Click here to submit an enquiry to the SIA JFB team


 

Research themes may include but are not limited to;

  • The dynamics of isotopic turnover and discrimination of both bulk tissues and individual compounds
  • Development and or/utilization of isoscapes to better understand movement and habitat use
  • Application of SIA to niche theory and to trace energy flo within and among ecosystems
  • Historical perspectives on temporal shifts in fish ecology resulting from climate change and other anthropogenic disturbances

[click_to_tweet tweet=”The JFB are calling for Research Articles, Review Articles, Brief Communications and Opinions for a new special Issue on the applications of Stable Isotope Analysis to fish biology. Submission Deadline Feb 1st 2022! https://fsbi.org.uk/2021/03/09/jfb-special-issue-on-stable-isotope-analysis-sia-a-call-for-submissions/#enquiry” quote=”The aim of this JFB special issues is  to provide a global perspective, synthesizing recent advances in the application of SIA to fish biology” theme=”style6″]

Submissions are invited across the breadth of formats published by the journal: Original Research Articles, Review Articles, Brief Communications and Opinions.

We discourage submissions of original research articles that are based on single species or those describing general trophic ecology unless the work makes a significant conceptual advancement, which should be clearly stated in a cover letter upon submission.

Submission Deadline; 1st August 2022

Have any questions? Fill in the form below

Email your enquiry to us here

FSBI and IFM Collaboration Announcement

FSBI and IFM


A new collaboration to foster integration of science and policy across the fish and fisheries communities


What We Plan to Do (Summary)

  • Joint Membership Option

A key objective for both societies is to promote dual involvement to improve the connectivity between our members by offering a dual membership package.

  • Increase Our Social Networking Associations

This aims to improve the signposting of opportunities available to members and greatly improve the awareness of grants and useful training courses to strengthen links between science and practice for all members.

  • Collaborate on Mutual Advertisement and Development of Taining Events/ Workshops

We want to enhance the quality of our future workshops and events by having IFM as the practical experts in applying current academic research to real-world applications. Such as; How to carry out quantitative stock assessments (IFM lead) with new genetic techniques (FSBI lead).

This will provide highly valuable material that will significantly improve the experiences, collaborations and skills gained for all attending members.

  • Support Policies of Mutual Interest to Both Societies

This aims to increase the impact of international statements made by the societies on issues such as; climate change, marine fisheries, over-fishing, invasive species, environmental impacts, habitat and biodiversity loss.

 

 

Read the in-depth breakdown of the new collaboration below

Alternative link to the PDF! 

The FSBI has Joined a Worldwide Rallying Call for Urgent Action on Human-Caused Climate Change

A worldwide statement from 110 societies calls upon urgent action on climate change 

View the Full Satement Here >>


 

The World Climate Statement

Below is a condensed version of the statement from above, drafted by the AFS, that outlines the challenges presented by climate change, the science based evidence for human-caused climate change and the needed responses. 

 

The Challenges

1.Increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and land use changes are driving current climate change.

2. Impacts already occurring range from increased frequency, intensification, and severity of; meteorlogical events, hydrological disasters; ocean acidification and deoxygenation. These changes are currently causing an unprecedented ecological backlash on our environment at a global scale.

 

These challenges are precursors of more damage to fisheries, biodiversity, and human society at large.
Delaying action to stop underlying causes of climate change will have economic, environmental, and societal consequences.

 

Changes, Reductions and Loss;  Marine Environments

In the marine environment shifts in species composition, behaviour, abundance, and biomass production is an increasing trend. For instance lobster, cod, mackerel, coral reef fishes and other species important to fisheries are moving poleward to deeper waters or declining.

In addition coastal ecosystems are being transformed, degraded, or lost, either largely or in part due to carbon emissions causing global ocean acidification. Not only does the affect primary production, from coral reefs to kelp forests, but is also tied to the survival of organisms especially shellfish.

Furthermore climate change is interacting with other stressors such as excess nutrient input, overharvesting, and novel species interactions to further suppress marine ecosystems.

Freshwater Environments

Freshwater ecosystems cover less than 1% of the planet’s surface but support one-third of vertebrates, 10% of all species and is more vulnerable to terrestrial changes with less capability to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Abiotic changes can alter species abundance, predator–prey dynamics, expansion of invasive species, growth, recruitment of species, and novel species interactions. Leading to declines in the number and diversity of freshwater aquatic organisms.

This will impact recreational and commercial fish harvest because of the increased frequency and severity of droughts and floods, damaging the quality of freshwater.

The prominent influence of climate change on these hydrological and meteorological events combined with lower adaptation capability often results in; poor recruitment, inability to access habitats, increased algal blooms from runoff, reducing water quality and re-emergence of diseases. More worryingly, these diverse and small-scale changes combine to create multiple, cumulatively stressful challenges to aquatic species.

 

Climate Change Puts Food Security, Public Health and Ecosystem Services at Risk

 

All life forms need clean and sufficient water.

 

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, fish accounts for 17% of animal protein consumed globally. Furthermore, fishing and aquaculture directly employ almost 60 million people, and global trade in fish products has reached US$152 billion per year, with 54% originating in developing countries.

Furthermore, the warming of waters elevates bioaccumulation of heavy metals increasing the prevalence of waterborne pathogens affecting both human and animal health.

Overall fisheries catch is projected to decline related to increasing declines in water quality and aquatic science shows need for immediate climate action primary production as a result of climate change, with corresponding effects on food security.

It will also impact many businesses that are dependent on local ecosystems for; sustainable diving, snorkelling, angling, marine mammal and bird watching, and other recreational activities.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Climate change impacts on aquatic ecosystems are affecting incomes, food security, key cultural dimensions, and livelihoods of resource-dependent communities.- World Climate Statement 2020″ quote=”Climate change impacts on aquatic ecosystems are affecting incomes, food security, key cultural dimensions, and livelihoods of resource-dependent communities.” theme=”style1″]

All of Society Must Take Rapid Action to Halt Human-Caused Climate Change

Rapid action to curb release of greenhouse gas emissions and to remove and store CO2 from the atmosphere is needed to ensure the prevention of calamitous consequences of human-caused climate change.

Global and national targets are necessary to protect and restore carbon dense ecosystems and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Governments, industry, academia, and sectors of society must prioritize actions in a concerted way to halt human-caused climate change.

A rapid transition towards green energy sources, accomplished by all governments by immediately acting on the advice of specialists.

To better understand other environmental stressors that act synergistically with climate change we must provide resources for mapping and research. This will arm natural resources agencies with the tools to mitigate these impacts and plan for changes in aquatic ecosystems.

Movement to curtail human-caused climate change can result in advanced, novel technologies; strong economies; healthier aquatic ecosystems; greater food security; and human well-being.

 

 

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