International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium

The 8th fish and shellfish larviculture symposium (larvi '24) will be held in Ghent University, Belgium, from 9-12 September 2024.

Closing the life cycle of aquaculture species of economic importance is critical for the ultimate success of aquaculture. Predictable & cost-effective availability of high-quality fry, fingerlings, postlarvae, seed, spores, etc. remain the key for a successful aquaculture venture. Knowledge generated at many different levels can further increase the success of the sector. Much progress is being made in knowledge-based insights on e.g. the genetic make-up of the broodstock, steering the ontogeny, the importance of first feeding, steering host microbial interactions and its immunological consequences, automation, etc. Research in these fields are increasingly supported and stimulated by a variety of novel and sophisticated techniques such as omics’ and artificial intelligence tools. They generate an unprecedented and often fascinating insight into biological processes. Although they generally also raise new research questions, they stand for a major leap forwards as compared to the empirical approach of a relatively recent past.

Capitalising on the previous “larvi” symposia (in ’91, ’95, ’01, ’05, ’09, ’13, ‘17), the Aquaculture R&D Consortium of Ghent University, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and SINTEF Ocean have joined again in the organizing committee for “larvi’24” and are inviting the academic as well as the private sector to attend the 8th Fish and Shellfish Larviculture Symposium. Bringing together European and non-European stakeholders, once again the latest progress in academic research and in the production sector will be reviewed, problems identified and avenues for future collaboration explored.

Includes the IAAC conference

The first conference of the International Artemia Aquaculture Consortium (IAAC) will be organised on 9 September as part of the same premises as the larvi conference. In the morning session (open to all larvi participants), the following IAAC members will give presentations: Yeong Yik Sung (Malaysia), Patric Sorgeloos (Belgium), Simon Wilkinson (Thailand), Sui Liying (China), Stephanie De Vos (Belgium), Brad Marden (USA), Phil Brown (USA), Yathish Ramena (USA) and David Johanson (Belgium). Participation in the IAAC conference is free, but you are requested to indicate your interest to attend it on the larvi registration form.

Scientific programme 

Over 190 contributions from 23 different countries have been submitted for an oral or poster presentation at larvi 2024. The Scientific Committee has performed a selection and finalised a program of 44 oral presentations (limited to pertinent reviews and/or discussions of multiple experiments with one or preferably several species). During the Opening Session 2 keynote presentations will be presented, one from the academic sector, one from the industry. Each of the 5 conference sessions will start with a keynote presentation.

SESSION I. BROODSTOCK MANAGEMENT, MATURATION AND SPAWNING
zootechniques, nutrition, egg and larval quality, domestication, sperm quality, genetics, germplasm preservation, genomics and proteomics, transgenics and GMOs.

SESSION II. DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND DEFORMITIES
Ontogeny, developmental biology, behavior.

SESSION III.  LARVICULTURE AT COMMERCIAL SCALE
Culture systems, environmental requirements, socio-economic aspects.
 
SESSION IV. LARVAL NUTRITION
Nutritional requirements, feeding schemes, live food and its substitutes.

SESSION V. DISEASE PREVENTION, PATHOGEN CONTROL, BIOSECURITY AND HEALTH
Prebiotics, probiotics, diseases and pathogens, microbial management, viral and bacterial challenge tests, vaccination, phage therapy.

Publications

All symposium participants will receive a digital version of larvi 2024 comprising the abstracts of the oral presentations and the mini-papers of the poster presentations which will be reviewed/selected by the scientific committee. Authors of oral presentations are encouraged to submit their paper to “Aquaculture International”. These papers will be peer- reviewed by the journal and posted online as soon as the paper is accepted. All Larvi papers will finally get published together as a special issue of “Aquaculture International”

Date and place

The symposium will start on September 9, 2024 with registration for the larvi conference and the Artemia workshop (program will follow). All sessions will be held at the 'De Grote Post' in the city center of Ostend. The official opening session and reception will take place in the evening of September 9. The scientific sessions will be held from September 10 through September 12.

Ostend is a cosmopolitan city by the sea and is known as the 'Queen of seaside cities'. The wide sandy beaches, the attractive boulevards and the beautiful casino form the face of the seaside resort. Ostend is the most important coastal city in Belgium with a large fishing port and marina harbor, but Ostend is also a shopping city where you can go all year round. Happy to welcome you all there!  

Registration

Please register online at your earliest convenience, in order to receive further updates on the conference.

Instructions for payment will be given in the second announcement.

Registration fees in Euro

	Prior to 31 May 2024	Prior to 1 August 2024	Later
Private company	445	550	800
Academic	295	370	800
Student*	210	320	800
Accompanying person (opening reception banquet and guided tour)	180	220	300

The registration fee includes admission to all symposium sessions, reception, coffee breaks and receipt of a symposium satchel, programme brochure and a digital version of the book of short communications.

Organisers

Annelies Declercq
Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center
Ghent University, Belgium

Kjell Inge Reitan
Center of Fisheries and Aquaculture
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

Gunvor Øie
SINTEF Ocean
Trondheim, Norway

Secretariat

Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center
Ghent University, Belgium

Conference chairperson

Annelies Declercq
Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center
Ghent University, Belgium

Honorary conference chair

Patrick Sorgeloos
UGent Aquaculture R&D Consortium
Ghent University, Belgium

Scientific committee

• Annelies Declercq, Dominique Adriaens, Tom Defoirdt, Hans Nauwynck, Patrick Sorgeloos, Wim Van Den Broeck, and Vincent Vermeylen
  UGent Aquaculture R&D Consortium, Ghent, Belgium
• Kjell Inge Reitan, Ingrid Bakke,Yngvar Olsen, and Olav Vadstein
  Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
• Gunvor Øie and Maria Bergvik
  SINTEF Ocean, Trondheim, Norway
• Patrick Kestemont
  University of Namur, Belgium
• Peter De Schryver,
  INVE Aquaculture, Dendermonde, Belgium
• Parisa Norouzitallab
  Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
• George Koumoundouros
  University of Crete,Greece
• Constantinos Mylonas
  Hellenic Center for Marine Research, Crete, Greece
• Luis Conceição
  Sparos Lda, Algarve, Portugal
• Erick Ogello
  Maseno University, Kenya
• Ronaldo Cavalli
  Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil
• Ana Farias Molina
  Universidad Austral de Chile, Puerto Montt, Chile
• Gonzalo Gajardo
  Universidad de Los Lagos, Osorno, Chile
• Ian Butts
  Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA
• Atsushi Hagiwara
  Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
• Vu Ngoc Ut
  Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam
• Yeong Yik Sung
  Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.
• Liying Sui
  Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, China
• Meezanur Rahman
  WorldFish, Bangladesh
• Julie Ekasari
  IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia

Sponsorship

larvi 2024 is organised under the patronage of His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium.

• Platinum sponsor: INVE Aquaculture.
• Gold sponsors: Skretting, BioMar, ADM (BernAqua)
• Silver sponsors: Sparos, Imaqua, Nutrakol, Trislot, Ocean Nutrition, Great Salt Lake Artemia.
• Bronze sponsors: Inalve, C-Feed, Planktonic.
• Institutional sponsors: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU.

Further information

Please down the larvi 2024 brochure and programme linked below. For further inquiries contact the conference secretariat:

Laboratory of Aquaculture & Artemia Reference Center
Ghent university
Coupure links 653, Blok F
B-9000 Ghent, Belgium
Phone : +32-9-2643754
http://www.aquaculture.UGent.be
e-mail: [email protected]