For Release: IMMEDIATELY

Thursday, July 17, 2003

For More Information:

Jeffrey Malison, Conference Chair, (608) 263-1242, jmalison@facstaff.wisc.edu

Jill Ladwig, UW Sea Grant Communications Specialist, (608) 262-6393, jill@aqua.wisc.edu

Stephen Wittman, UW Sea Grant Program Information Specialist, (608) 263-5371, swittman@aqua.wisc.edu

 

Experts to Examine Status of Perch Fisheries Worldwide

 

MADISON, Wis. (7/17/03) - Experts from almost 30 countries will gather here July 20-24 to discuss the status of one of the most important fish in the Great Lakes.

 

Percis III, the Third International Percid Fish Symposium, is a forum for sharing knowledge about the biology, management and aquaculture of percid fish, which include valuable food and sport fish such as yellow perch and walleye. The goals of the meeting are to enhance international collaboration and foster the exchange of ideas among researchers, and to help scientists in the United States and abroad identify priority areas for future research on the fish.

 

"We want to continue a dialogue among the leading experts in the field that will catalyze management of the world's fisheries," said conference organizer Jeffrey Malison, director of the UW-Madison Aquaculture Program.

 

Percis III will feature poster sessions and seminars on the status of Lake Michigan's yellow perch fishery, management options, and the aquaculture potential of the popular food fish.

 

Drastic reductions in the yellow perch population in Lake Michigan have demonstrated the need for more information and improved management of the fishery. Recent research has addressed life-history dynamics, overfishing, predator-prey relationships, and the impact of such environmental stressors as global climate change on the yellow perch and the European perch, perca fluviatilis. But organizers say there is still more to be learned.

 

The management session will largely focus on walleye and darters, as well as the impact of exotic species, such as round goby and ruffe, on the native fishery. Darters, a small, bony freshwater fish, which are closely related to perch, are known as a "sentinel species" because they indicate the overall health of an ecosystem. "When a system is perturbed or threatened, darters often disappear," Malison said.

 

The conference will feature a symposium on the ecology and evolutionary biology of darters, which will include topics such as biogeography, hybridization, life-history and conservation biology of these vividly colored fish.

 

As the populations of important food fisheries dwindle, many countries are investing more resources in aquaculture. One special session at the convention will be dedicated to recent breakthroughs in percid aquaculture and will highlight such topics as feeds and feeding strategies, pond fertilization techniques, optimal culture conditions, stress and growth, disease prevention, and commercialization success stories.

 

"Yellow perch aquaculture has a lot of potential," Malison said, "and the synthesis of this international group is important to solving the key problems that are constraining the growth of this industry."

 

Key components in the fisheries and ecology of waters around the world, percids have become the focus of intense research by biologists, aquaculturists and fisheries scientists worldwide. This attention has led to the convening of two international symposia on the biology, management and aquaculture of the species-Percis I, held in Ontario, Canada, in 1976, and Percis II, held in Vassa, Finland, in 1995.

 

The meeting is sponsored by the UW Sea Grant College Program, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, North Central Regional Aquaculture Center, University of Minnesota Sea Grant College Program, Ohio Sea Grant College Program, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University Biological Field Station, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the UW-Madison Aquaculture Program.

 

For a complete schedule, please see the online program. 

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Conceived in 1966, Sea Grant is a national network of 30 university-based programs of research, outreach and education dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of the United States' coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources. The National Sea Grant Network is a partnership of participating coastal states, private industry and the National Sea Grant College Program , National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration , U.S. Department of Commerce. The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program is administered by the Sea Grant Institute on the UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

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last updated 24 June 2002

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