[Coral-List] 14th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration - Sterling Scotland

[Antonio Agüera]

More information at www.aqua.stir.ac.uk/shellfish2011
The 14th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration (ICSR) comes this
year to the United Kingdom for the first time in its 26 years history. The
conference will be held at the University of Stirling in the heart of
Scotland and its title and theme will be “Shellfish: our undervalued
resource”. The conference will run from the evening of August 23rd to the
morning of August 27th with a gala dinner and ceilidh on the evening of
August 26th at the Management Centre at the University of Stirling. The
programme will feature invited keynote and panel presentations, case
studies, and contributed oral and poster presentations. All sessions will be
presented in English.

The theme of the conference, “Shellfish: our undervalued resource”, reflects
the UK perception of shellfish as something that is good to eat, often in
upmarket restaurants. Shellfish fisheries and aquaculture are indeed a very
important part of the UK economy; shellfish reefs however form an ecosystem
that provides myriad benefits (“ecosystem services”) many of which have been
lost through acute fishing pressures, disease, pollution and other factors.
On a global scale, shellfish reefs are considered amongst the most
threatened habitats. This conference hopes to change perceptions of the
value of shellfish as a resource by bringing scientists from all over the
world to discuss how we can learn from experience overseas, particularly in
the USA, where there has been considerable investment and community-based
efforts to restore and enhance shellfish populations.
Cheers
Antonio Agüera
Wageningen IMARES.