International Flatfish Symposium

Flatfish (Pleuronectiformes) are an important component of the coastal ecosystems around the world, and provide substantial ecosystem services in the form of food provisioning for hundreds of millions of people.

Starting in 1989, the International Flatfish Symposium (IFS) has been an international platform of high scientific quality with the aim to (1) exchange of ideas and results and (2) strengthen international cooperation on research on flatfish ecology, evolution, and fisheries. To meet these aims, the topics of the symposia have been chosen to develop a research agenda for the domain.

Thus far, the aims have been achieved: the number of participants has been 100-150, allowing for active involvement of all participants in discussions; the topic of each symposium was based on the results of the previous symposium and the contributions were, after a critical reviewing procedure, published in special volumes of international scientific journals.

After a long hiatus because of the COVD19 pandemic, the IFS will be organized again, this time in the Netherlands.

The goal of the symposium is to reconnect the global network of marine scientists working on flatfish research, and once again set a common research agenda for the next decade.