International Symposium on Flatfish Ecology

1. History

The concept of the flatfish symposia was initiated at the 1988 ICES Early Life History Symposium in Bergen, Norway. Ray Beverton challenged a group of young scientists to set up an international forum to discuss and exchange their ideas and results on fish ecology with respect to their research on flatfishes. His support was not restricted solely to a verbal investment ("motivating and stimulating the young dogs") as he also actively contributed to the organization of the first symposium. An organizing committee was formed and in 1990 the first international symposium was held at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Texel, The Netherlands. At the first symposium a need for continuation was deemed imperative and it was decided to continue organizing an international symposium on flatfish ecology with a three year interval for as long as this need remained.

In the beginning, NIOZ played a central role by hosting the first three symposia in 1990, 1993 and 1996 and by offering generous financial and material support. The flatfish symposium 'left' NIOZ and subsequently has been organized by North Carolina State University (1999) in Atlantic Beach NC, USA, The University of Liverpool’s Port Erin Marine Laboratory (2002) in Port Erin, Isle of Man, Kyoto University (2005) in Maizuru, Japan, and the University of Lisbon (2008) in Sesimbra, Portugal. The 2011 symposium is scheduled for October-November to take place in the Netherlands, organised by IMARES, Wageningen University.

From the beginning, the basic underpinning philosophy of the symposia has remained the same: it should be an informal international platform of high scientific quality for exchange of ideas and results and for the strengthening of international cooperation. To meet these scientific goals, the symposia should be challenging and the topics should have continuity over time (e.g. develop a research agenda). Thus far the objectives have been achievable: the number of participants has not been excessively high over the years (100-150 persons to enhance the active involvement of all participants in the discussions); the topic of each symposium was based on the results of the previous symposium and the contributions were, after a critical reviewing procedure, published in special volumes of an international scientific journal.

The past is clear, the future will depend on whether there will remain a need for such a three-yearly international symposium on flatfish ecology.

2. Previous symposia

1990: 1st Flatfish Symposium, 19 - 23 November 1990

Topic: Life cycles

Host: Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands

Proceedings: Part I: Neth. J. Sea Res. (1991): Vol 27: 197-467

Part II: Neth. J. Sea Res. (1992): Vol. 29: 1-280

Organizing committee:

Rüdiger Berghahn, Ray J.H. Beverton, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Henk W. van der Veer

1993: 2nd Flatfish Symposium, 30 September - 6 October 1993

Topic: Recruitment

Host: Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands

Proceedings: Part I: Neth. J. Sea Res. (1994): Vol. 32: 101-233

Part II: Neth. J. Sea Res. (1994): Vol. 32: 235-460

Part III: Neth. J. Sea Res. (1995): Vol. 34: 1 - 244

Organizing committee:

Rüdiger Berghahn, John M. Miller, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Henk W. van der Veer

1996: 3rd Flatfish Symposium, 2-8 November 1996

Topic:Systems dynamics of flatfish

Host: Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Texel, The Netherlands

Proceedings: Part I: J. Sea Res. (1997): Vol. 37: 181-341

Part II: J. Sea Res. (1998): Vol. 39: 1-181

Part III: J. Sea Res. (1998): Vol.40: 1-177

Organizing committee:

Rüdiger Berghahn, John M. Miller, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Henk W. van der Veer

1999: 4th Flatfish Symposium, 18-23 October 1999

Topic: Using our knowledge

Host: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC USA

Proceedings: Part I: J. Sea Res.(2000): Vol. 44:1-168

Part II: J. Sea Res (2001): Vol. 45: 173-328

Organizing committee:

Kerry Duchon, Robin N. Gibson, John M. Miller, Pierre Pepin, Jake Rice, Masaru Tanaka, Henk W. van der Veer

2002: 5th Flatfish Symposium, 3-7 November 2002

Topic: The role of flatfishes in benthic ecosystems

Host: University of Liverpool, Port Erin Marine Laboratory, Isle of Man

Proceedings: Part I: J. Sea Res. (2003): Vol. 50: 85-270

Part II: J. Sea Res. (2004): Vol. 51: 167-332

Organizing committee:

Kevin M. Bailey, Audrey J. Geffen, Richard D.M. Nash, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Stuart I. Rogers, Josianne G. Støttrup, Masaru Tanaka, Henk W. van der Veer

2005: 6th Flatfish Symposium, 20–25 October 2005

Topic: Habitats in relation to recruitment variability- Generation of future direction

Host: Kyoto University, Maizuru, Japan

Proceedings: Part I: J. Sea Res. (2007): Vol. 57: 89-235

Part II: J. Sea Res. (2007): Vol. 58: 1-112

Organizing committee:

Richard D.M. Nash, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, David H. Secor, Josianne G. Støttrup, Masaru Tanaka, Henk W. van der Veer, Yoh Yamashita

2008: 7th Flatfish Symposium, 2–7 November 2008

Topic: Environmental changes effects on flatfish productivity

Host: University of Lisbon, Sesimbra, Portugal

Proceedings: to be published in the Journal of Sea Research.

Organizing committee:

Henrique N. Cabral, Richard D.M. Nash, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Josianne G. Støttrup, Henk W. van der Veer, Yoh Yamashita

3. Upcoming symposium

2011: 8th Flatfish Symposium, October – November 2011

Topic: to be decided

Host: IMARES, Wageningen University

Proceedings: to be published in the Journal of Sea Research.

Organizing committee:

Henrique N. Cabral, Janet T. Duffy-Anderson, Richard D.M. Nash, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Josianne G. Støttrup, Henk W. van der Veer, Yoh Yamashita

4. Structure of the symposia

In principle, the Flatfish Symposium is organised once every three years. A Steering Committee is responsible for the continuity of the symposia, with respect to timing, general topics etc. and for the selection of the host and location of the next symposium. During each symposium, the host and location of the next symposium is selected. Two years before the next symposium, the Steering Committee meets with the local Organising Committee to discuss the general topic of the next symposium, the scientific programme, publication of the proceedings and other aspects of interest. The local Organising Committee is responsible for the organisation of the symposium. In principle, at least one member of the Steering Committee also participates in the Organising Committee.

5. Steering Committee

The Steering Committee consists of a few members. The committee is a self-renewing body and at each symposium, the Steering Committee meets and selects its members for the following three years. One of the members is the chairperson. There is no central fund for the Steering Committee, therefore all costs related to the functioning of the committee are met by the members themselves. The main tasks of the Steering Committee are [1] the selection of the host and location of the next symposium at each flatfish symposium, and [2] the selection of the general topic of the next symposium, the scientific programme, publication of the proceedings, ensuring that the costs of participating in the symposium are not excessive and other aspects of interest during a meeting with the local organising committee two years prior to the next symposium. At present the Steering Committee consists of:

Josianne G. Støttrup (chairperson) (jgs@aqua.dtu.dk)

Henrique N. Cabral (hcabral@fc.ul.pt)

Janet T. Duffy-Anderson (Janet.Duffy-Anderson@noaa.gov)

Richard D.M. Nash (Richard.Nash@imr.no)

Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp (Adriaan.Rijnsdorp@wur.nl)

Yoh Yamashita (yoh@kais.kyoto-u.ac.jp)

Henk W. van der Veer (secretariat) (veer@nioz.nl)

The Steering Committee can be contacted at flatfish@nioz.nl.

6. Local Organising Committee

The local Organising Committee is responsible for the organisation of the flatfish symposium. In addition to the scientific component, this committee is responsible for the complete programme, and all financial affairs concerned with the symposium. Each symposium is organised as a single event. The local Organising Committee is also responsible for any budget windfalls or deficits. The members of the local Organising Committee are selected by the host of the symposium. In principle at least one of the members of the Steering Committee also participates in the local Organising Committee.

7. Proceedings

The Steering Committee is responsible for the continuity of the proceedings. To date the proceedings of the flatfish symposium have been published in the Journal of Sea Research and at present there is no reason to change this. The Steering Committee is responsible for the negotiations with the publisher concerning costs, numbers of issues and numbers of pages. Members of the steering committee act as guest editors of the proceedings and will be responsible for the process of reviewing and publication. In addition, the local Organising Committee adds one or more guest editor(s) to the editorial board. The costs of the proceedings are paid for by the local Organising Committee.

8. Future symposia

Those who are interested in organizing a symposium are invited to contact the secretariat of the Steering Committee, preferably not later than a few months before the upcoming symposium. At the flatfish symposium, the Steering Committee will select the host of the next symposium. The Steering Committee would like to announce the location of the next symposium at the end of the current one. Therefore, requests to organise and host the next symposium need to be accompanied by a commitment to both the location and the costs. The Steering committee reserve the right to consider the most appropriate location in regard to maintaining the broad spectrum of interested flatfish biologists from a wide selection of countries across the globe.

Updated: November 2008