Previous Conferences

Québec City, Québec, CANADA, June 2025

48th Larval Fish Conference

LFC48 Abstract Book

Topical sessions

  1. Moving north: Effects of anthropogenic disturbances and global change on early life stages of native and non-native species
  2. Laboratory experimentation to inform ecological and physiological processes in early life stages
  3. Larval and juvenile feeding, growth and survival: towards an improved conceptual framework of the Growth-Survival Paradigm
  4. Early life-history traits in diadromous fishes: Implications for biodiversity conservation in a changing climate
  5. Feeding connections: Trophic interactions between zooplankton and larval fish in aquatic ecosystems
  6. Exploring biodiversity through the taxonomy and morphology of larval fish
  7. Contributed papers: Any other contribution of high qualité not fitting the above – mentioned sessions will be considered here
Convening Committee
  • Caroline Bouchard – Université Laval
  • Eva Enders – Institut national de la recherche scientifique
  • Marc Mingelbier – Ministère de l’Environnement, Lutte contre les changements climatiques, Faune et Parcs
  • Olivier Morissette – Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
  • Dominique Robert – Université du Québec à Rimouski
  • Pascal Sirois – Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
  • Réjean Tremblay – Université du Québec à Rimouski
  • Gesche Winkler – Université du Québec à Rimouski
Keynote speakers
  • Marta Moyano (Norwegian Institute for Water Research): Larval feeding dynamics in a changing ocean – lessons learned from Atlantic herring
  • Céline Audet (Université du Québec à Rimouski) : The challenge of studying the ecophysiology of fish larvae
  • Ken M. Jeffries (University of Manitoba): Investigating the long-term cellular effects of heat shock during critical developmental windows in Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
  • Pierre Pepin (Fisheries and Oceans Canada): From looking for general principles to focusing on individuals – lessons learned from the study of the early life stages of fish
Award winners
  • Sally Leonard Richardson Award for Best Student Presentation:
    Kazuha Takai (University of Tokyo): Juvenile habitat use experience drives river-sea migration patterns of subadult and adult in Japanese seabass
  • John H.S. Blaxter Award for Best Student Poster:
    Janie Sanborn (University of Virginia): Larval sablefish exhibit spatiotemporal shifts in response to interannually variable environmental conditions
  • Elbert H. Ahlstrom Lifetime Achievement Award:
    Pierre Pepin (retired from Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Sponsors
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Huron, Ohio, USA, May 2024

47th Larval Fish Conference

LFC47 Abstract Book

May 12-16, 2024

|

Sawmill Creek Resort

Themes

  1. Temporal variability in habitat use and spatial distribution of early life stages
  2. Causes and consequences of variability in larval fish foraging and growth
  3. Recruitment across a freshwater-to-marine continuum: seeking generality
  4. Impacts of human-driven environmental changes on early life stages
  5. Advances in systematics, early life history, and population demographics: tools of the trade
  6. Aquaculture and mariculture: advancements in egg, larval, and juvenile rearing success
  7. How it started and how it is going: the value of long-term ichthyoplankton time-series
Scientific Planning Committee
  • Stuart Ludsin (Local Organizer), Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, The Ohio State University
  • Raul Laiz Carrion, Spanish Institute of Oceanography, Spanish National Research Council
  • Audrey Geffen, University of Bergen
  • Frank Hernandez, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Tomas Hook, Forestry & National Resources, Purdue University
Keynote Speakers
  • A selective review of early life history research on capelin (Mallotus villosus) with some new insights
    • Kenneth Frank, Research Scientist (Emeritus), Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Adjunct Professor, Queen’s University
  • Small pelagic fish: from the lab to fisheries management
    • Susana Garrido, Senior Researcher, Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute
  • Some perspectives on the value of long-term ichthyoplankton surveys
    • Edward Rutherford, Research Fishery Biologist, NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
Award Winners
  • Sally Leonard Richardson Award for Best Student Presentation: 
    Charlotte Gauthier, Otolith chemistry reveals habitat use by early life stage Atlantic halibut in the Gulf of St. Lawrence
  • John H.S. Blaxter Award for Best Student Poster: 
    Imanol Boussion, Size-selective mortality of Yellow Perch in Lake Saint-Pierre during their first winter
Sponsors
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Lisbon, Portugal, May 2023

46th Larval Fish Conference

LFC46 Abstract Book

May 11-17, 2023

| Gulbenkian Foundation Headquarters

Themes

  1. Global change effects on early life stages
  2. Recent trends in marine larviculture
  3. Larval trophic ecology
  4. Integrating and modelling early life history processes and connectivity
  5. Larval survival and recruitment variability
  6. Application of “omics” in larval research
Scientific Committee
  • Ana M. Faria (Portugal, Local Organizer)
    • MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET – Aquatic Research Network, ISPA, Instituto Universitario, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Susan Garrido (Portugal, Local Organizer)
    • IPMA – Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Alexandra Teodosio (Portugal)
    • CCMAR – Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
  • Ana Machado (Portugal)
    • IPMA – Instituto Portugues do Mar e da Atmosfera, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Filipe Ribeiro (Portugal)
    • MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET – Aquatic Research Network, Faculdade de Ciencias de Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Laura Ribeiro (Portugal)
    • IPMA – Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere, EPPO – Aquaculture Research Station, Olhao, Portugal
  • Nuria Baylina (Portugal)
    • Oceanario de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Pedro Re (Portugal)
    • MARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/ARNET – Aquatic Research Network, Faculdade de Ciencias de Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
Plenary Sessions
  • How do the temperate pelagic fish larvae recruit to a suitable habitat (i.e. find a home)?
    • Maria Alexandra Teodosio, Center of Marine Sciences, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
  • Direct and indirect effects of ocean acidification on herring (Clupea harengus) and cod (Gadus morhuaI) larvae – a comparative approach
    • Catriona Clemmesen, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre of Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel Germany
  • The shape of things to come: Resiliency of marine fish early life-stages in a changing world
    • R. Christopher Chambers, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Highlands, New Jersey, USA
  • Dispersal-relevant behaviour of fish larvae – measuring it, putting it into models and using a dispersal model incorporating behaviour
    • Jeff Leis, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  • How did we get so far from where we began? Looking back on our team’s research on maternal effects
    • Lee A. Fuiman, The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Port Aransas, Texas, USA
  • The importance of prey selectivity for revealing relationships linking prey availability to larval feeding success and survival potential
    • Dominique Robert, Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski, Universite du Quebec a Rimouski, Canada
Sponsors

San Diego, California, USA, August 2022

45th Larval Fish Conference &
13th International Larval Biology Symposium

LFC45 Abstract Book

August 29 – September 1, 2022

|

Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Themes

  • Applications to management and aquaculture
  • Behavioral and physical processes influencing transport, settlement and recruitment
  • Climate variability & change and other stressors
  • Taxonomy and systematics
  • Technological advances
Planning Committee
  • Noelle Bowlin
  • Lanora Vasquez Del Mercado
  • Megan Human
  • Emily Gardner
  • Anne Friere
Keynote Address
  • Are ephemeral fine-scale oceanographic features hotspots for ichthyoplankton? Testing the potential of eddies to entrain, sustain and retain larvae
    • Iain Suthers, Sydney Institute of Marine Science

Connecticut, USA, June 2021

44th Larval Fish Conference

LFC44 Abstract Book

June 24 – 26, 2021.

|

Virtual, University of Connecticut

Themes

  • Climate change effects
  • Commercial & ornamental aquaculture
  • Form, function, development
  • Larval assemblages
  • Recruitment processes
Scientific Steering Committee
  • Hannes Baumann, University of Connecticut
  • Eric Schultz, University of Connecticut
  • Jackie Webb, University of Rhode Island
  • Paul Anderson, Coral Reef Aquarium Fisheries Campaign
ELHS Early Career Committee
  • Kelsey Swieca
  • Lysel Garavelli
  • Michael Swat
  • Kelia Axler
Keynote Speakers
  • Field of dreams: Maximizing the value of ichthyoplankton datasets
    • Su Sponaugle, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University
  • Sweat the small stuff: How local conditions can shape the sensitivity to climate change
    • Andrea Frommel, University of British Columbia
  • Meeting aquaculture needs with research and production
    • Judy St. Leger, President & Founder of Rising Tide Conservation
Sponsors

Palma de Mallorca, Spain, May 2019

43rd Larval Fish Conference

LFC43 Abstract Book

May 21-24, 2019 |

Melia Palma Marina

Themes

  1. Settlement: Quantification of processes and habitats
  2. Environmental and anthropogenic effects on early life stages
  3. ELHS and Predation: From mortality to food web effects
  4. The behavioral side of ELHS: From individuals to ecosystems
  5. Improving assessment and management models: Contribution of ELHS research
  6. Ontogeny, systematics and new technologies
Planning Committee
  • Ignacio Catalan (Spain, Local organizer)
  • Patricia Reglero (Spain, Local organizer)
  • Itziar Alvarez (Spain, Local organizer)
  • Pilar Olivar (Spain)
  • Su Sponaugle (USA)
  • Marta Moyano (Germany)
  • Akinori Takasuka (Japan)
  • Raul Laiz (Spain)
  • Dominique Robert (Canada)
Keynote Address
  • Spatial, environmental, and temporal constraints on fish distribution during early life history stages
    • Lorenzo Ciannelli, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University
Sponsors

Conferences before 2019

For information on conferences held before 2019, visit the Early Life History Section website.