Open Symposium on Capelin Research

Photo: Sigurður Þór Jónsson

On 10th November, a symposium will take place at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute about results of an extensive capelin research project that has been ongoing since 2018 with special funding from the Ministry.

The symposium starts at at 9:00 and finishes around 15:30. Around 15 presentations will be given showing the main results.

The symposium takes place at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute headquarters at Fornubúðir 5 in Hafnarfjörður.

All interested are welcome to attend. A live stream will be accessible through MFRI's Youtube.

Capelin in a Changing Environment

• 09:15 - 09:20 Opening address
• 09:20 - 09:30 Background of the symposium

Long Term Changes in Distribution and Life History

• 09:30 - 09:45 Analyzing the route and timing of capelin migration over a quarter century using logbook data
• 09:45 - 10:00 Climate driven response of the Iceland-East Greenland-Jan Mayen capelin distribution
• 10:00 - 10:15 Changes in life history traits of capelin consecutive to a spatial shift

10:15 - 10:30 Coffee Break

Spawning and Early Life History

• 10:30 - 10:45 Effects of environment on distribution of capelin (Mallotus villosus) early life stages
• 10:45 - 11:00 Cultivation of capelin in the aquaculture research station in Grindavík
• 11:00 - 11:15 A Lagrangian particle-tracking approach to detecting capelin spawning events

Feeding Ecology

• 11:15 - 11:30 Feeding ecology of capelin at the new feeding grounds
• 11:30 - 11:45 Capelin distribution in east Greenland water masses during the feeding period

Predator-prey Dynamics

• 11:45 -12:00 Capelin for cod

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch

• 13:00 - 13:15 Capelin and harbour porpoise prey-predator relationship in Icelandic waters
• 13:15 - 13:30 Whale abundance in relation to capelin abundance in east Greenland waters in autumn

Stock Assessement

• 13:30 - 13:45 Verification of macroscopic maturity staging
• 13:45 - 14:00 The influence of capelin movement and physiology on target strength

14:00 - 14:15 Coffee Break

• 14:15 - 14:30 Benchmark Assessment 2022

Synthesis and Future Perspectives

• 14:30 - 14:45 Capelin in a changing envrionment
• 14:45 - 15:00 General discussion, wrap-up, closing

Extended abstracts, slides and the final report will be posted here.