EEA Meeting 2010 in Galway, Ireland

The 14th European Elasmobranch Association (EEA) Scientific Conference was hosted by the Irish Elasmobranch Group (IEG) from the 10th to 12th November 2010. The conference was held at the Marine Institute in Galway, Ireland.

About 90 delegates from all over Europe and countries outside Europe, such as the Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Reunion Island and Canada, attended the conference. Thirty speakers presented their work in six theme sessions. Aside from the oral presentations, a range of posters on all kinds of chondrichthyan research, were presented.

The conference was opened by the keynote speaker Dr Nicholas Dulvy of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSG) with a presentation detailing threats and extinction risks in sharks, rays and chimaeras. Sessions on the first day also included presentations on the porbeagle shark, molecular studies, and fisheries. Presentations on the second day focused on research and policy in management and conservation, and on general biology and tagging studies.

Just prior to the scientific conference, on November 9th, the IUCN Shark Specialist Group held a one day workshop on the assessment scheme of the red listing process for SSG members.

The EEA’s Annual General Meeting took place at the National University of Ireland in Galway, just before the conference was kicked off with a welcome reception at the Galway Atlantaquaria, on November 10th.

A charitable auction at the conference dinner on the 12th, which raised 600 € and that will be used to fund student bursaries to attend EEA conferences, rounded off four packed days of research and conservation on cartilaginous fishes from Europe and beyond.